FASCINO

[Rosie]

Hank--I'm thrilled that you have found another NJ restaurant that you love. And how thoughtful of you to think of me and the polenta fries. It is true, I lust for them!

[tommy]

ryan gets a place in New Jersey Life magazine's top 25 toques.

congrats on a well-deserved nod.

the above link will self-destruct in a few weeks.

[scarlet knight]

We had another great meal at Fascino on a Wednesday night. Easier to get in than on a weekend.

Fascino was crowded, but we passed a slew of empty restaurants. The light were off at Liberte; does anyone know if they are still open?

I had a Parsnip Puree soup. It was very good. Topped with croutons with pesto. Great with the never-ending cold winter.

My wife had an arugula salad with portobello mushrooms and shaved cheese. Great combo!

For an entree, I had the Chicken breast with escarole and addictive polenta fries. The chicken was moist. This shows me the skill of the chef. It's hard to keep the breast that moist.

The other entree was a Niman ranch pork chop. Very good and the cherries with it were a good compliment.

Anthony, Ryan' brother and maitre d', is very nice to talk with. These guys are running a great restaurant in terms of food and service. We haven't been disappointed in any way yet (and if we ever are disappointed there, they would fix it!). These guys are young, but they realize how important it is to make a personal connection with their customers. We will be happy to come back and to recommend this restaurant.

[fascino]

Hi,

Just wanted to let everyone know....we have a food tasting on Sunday May 23rd. This is a one time event. We are doing a series of tastings called Fascino Around the World. Thes tastings consist of authentic cuisines OTHER then Italian. Our chef, Ryan DePersio, has skill with many styles and wishes to showcase his talents with these tastings. Our first one will be an Asian tasting. Most of the dishes will have a Japenese and Thai influence. We will be having 5 authentic Asian courses for $75. Still BYO. These dishes will NEVER be on our menu and can only be sampled by coming to this tasting. I'd like to formally invite everyone from E-Gullet. We are only doing one seating so it's first come first served. About 1/3rd of the tables are taken already.

Please come and ENJOY....

Fascino Around the World : Asia

Thanks,

Anthony DePersio

[Rosie]

OUCH!!! Already have plans for that date. Please give me more notice next time.

[Wiener]

This is not a complaint, however, I have called at least 5 times for a reservation in April and can never get one. Have tried for a Tuesday, Thursday and a Friday, in April, always called over two weeks in advance, and could never get a reservation. Even bought an excellent bottle of Italian wine for the occasion. People on the phone are always pleasant to deal with but could never accomodate me. Unfortunaley, April is my limit for dining out in northern NJ as I will be in Cape May for the summer. Hopefully, I can get in sometime in the fall. What's the secret?

[Rosie]

Call earlier. Really. They are booked on Monday's also. Not sure if they have a waiting list but ask to be put on it.

[birder53]

Going to Fascino tomorrow night. Can't wait!

[adegiulio]

Fantastic, please let us know what you think...I love Fascino, but havent been in over a month. I haven't even seen the new menu, so I am curious what they are serving...

Order the polenta fries as soon as you sit down as a little snack while you look over the menu..A little tip from our leader, Rosie...

A

[birder53]

Enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Fascino on Saturday. Started with orders of calamari, squash blossoms stuffed with lump crabmeat and the ravioli of the day - wild mushroom with a cheese I was unfamiliar with in a truffle sauce. All were excellent and my father, who did not want an appetizer at all, couldn't stop eating the calamari! Entrees were hazelnut crusted salmon over wilted spinach with mussels, porcini dusted sea scallops over 'farro risotto' and a pork tenderloin dish that I've forgotten the details of. We also had and enjoyed the mascarpone polenta fries! Desserts were the molten center chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato, a bread pudding, a blueberry crostata and something else with strawberries. Good coffee and espresso rounded out this wonderful meal. Service was excellent, the room is lovely and we now have a reason to trek a bit farther than usual for this gem of a place.

As we left the restaurant, a young man who works there was standing outside and asked how we enjoyed the meal. He then commented that we were the first to use Open Table to book a reservation. In fact, he said they had not been on line with the service for even an hour when our reservation came through. I felt fortunate to be able to get a reservation so quickly - Thursday afternoon for Saturday evening. However, the 5:00PM seating was the only one available and fit the rest of our day's schedule perfectly. We will return!

[fascino]

That was me

I was pretty excited to see somebody get in using Open Table.

by the way adeguilio, if you like Foie Gras It's on the menu now and one of my favorite new dishes...

Foie Gras Wrapped in Wild Boar Prosciutto with Sliced White Peaches

[adegiulio]

We're on our way!

[Curlz]

WOW. Wait'll Tommy hears that!!!

[tommy]

i'm on it like stink on poop.

[njfoodie]

I had another exciting dinner at Fascino's, between this and my other favorite - The Petite Cafe - I will never get bored.

[jtphjl]

Are folks tired about hearing how good this place is?

Using opentable.com, we managed a 6:30 seating last night and devoured: Clams in a fennel spiked broth from heaven, Hans had the fresh mozerella and heirloom tomatoes, we switched plates half-way but with a fight.

Main course for me was the hazelbut encrusted salmon, the "other side of the table" had a plate I could not reach despite many pleads...the Bronzini I believe, and we had a side of broccoli w/ oliv oil and garlic.

Dessert:the bittersweet chocolate cake with homemade vanilla gelato, ahh but I had the special, two sorbets, a Margarita sorbet and a coconut sorbet ...

total cost $106. plus tip to an outstanding serving team!

jan

[adegiulio]

It's been a while for us, but we finally went back to Fascino last night after a three month hiatus. As always, the Depersio family was everywhere, warmly greeting everyone. The chef Ryan was in the dining room when we arrived, and after handshakes and kisses asked if we wanted a tasting menu. ABSOLUTELY!!

We started with a delicious tartare of salmon belly marinated in raw clam, with mint and oven dried tomatoes. This was stupendous. The clam added an additional layer of ocean flavor, without being overly clammy. The tomatoes added a bit of sweetness, while the mint offered an herbal presence that was right on. I made some grilled salmon with a mint gremolata a few months before, and was thrilled to see how well the two flavors worked together. It was perfect tonight, and this dish was fantastic. Only available with the tasting menu, so GO FOR IT.

Next was Halibut with shaved fennel, grapefruit, and Kalamata olives with a blood orange sauce. Best dish of the night and one of the best dishes I have eaten at Fascino. Halibut was seared then roasted (i think), cooked to perfection. Halibut is my favorite fish, but unfortunately it can go from underdone to overdone very quickly. this was great. The garnish and sauce was right on. A real winner and new addition to the menu as of last night.

Next was a zuchinni blossom stuffed with duck confit and foie gras, fried, and served with a spiced port reduction and organic peaches. Peaches were a perfect foil for the super richness of the blossom. The foie and confit filling were wonderfully seasoned and very flavorful. The sauce was lovely, though the juniper aroma threw me a bit. Overall, the dish was outstanding.

And next was Niman Ranch Pork Chop over corn, peas, and morel ragout, served with a black currant and caper emulsion. Not a fan of pork chops, as I think they are usually too dry and flavorless. The garnish and surprisingly good sauce helped, but in the end it was still a pork chop, though it was cooked to a juicy medium-rare/medium. A very good dish if you like pork chops, still quite good if you don't.

Desserts were a summer chocolate cake served with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream, and a serving of both hazelnut and espresso gelato. Both desserts were, of course, fabulous.

As I mentioned to Cynthia last night, after a year, Chef Ryan's cooking has evolved wonderfully. The cooking was very good last year, but you can sense the additional refinement in his dishes and cooking. They should be very proud of this and the whole family's continued dedication to their clientele. Most restaurants are failing after a year, Fascino just gets better. If you haven't been in a while, go to Opentable.com and make a reservation now, you will be happy you did.

[Tracey868]

Finally after all the talk my hubby and I went.

Iw was an amazing meal.

After anguishing over whether to order straight from ther menu or try the tasting menu we opted to order off the menu to see if we liked the food first.

Started with mussels in a white wine garlic sauce. The mussels were large and extermly tasty. Hubby had the fried Calamari. This was breaded with corn meal and had a tomoato/fennel compote. This calamari was the best I have had in awhile. Finely sliced and the breading gave it a nice flavor. A must try.

For our main meal I had the sea scallops, 6 large breaded scallops accompanied by this mashed artichoke concoction. Really nice.

Huby had the chicken breast with garlic and sage. Nice size and very moist.

We shared a strawberry cheesecake for desert. ( wasnt thrilled about desert menu)

All in all ,can't wait to go back and do the tasting menu. Sounds fun with a group of people.

Cheers

Tracey

[EDS33]

I cooked in restaurants for 8 years and I wish I had the chance to work in a place like Fascino. I ate there last night and rarely does a place live up to the "hype", but I had one of the best meals I ever had. The Zuchini Flower stuffed with Lump Crab Meat, a yellow tomato compote, and oregano oil was perfection. The foie gras with wild boar proscuitto, fresh peaches, and port blew me away. The Halibut with Grapefruit, Kalamata Olives, and Blood Orange sauce was a great summer dish, light with a lot of flavor. The two deserts : pluot and fig crostada, and blueberry bread pudding were... well can I say ridiculous. (in other words, very very good.) The staff was extremely nice, attentive, and very well informed about the food. I can't wait to go back.

[markk]

We ate here the other night, and had just a wonderful meal, again! What a relaxed and freindly place, with the perfect balance of casual elegance. And what warm, wonderful people they are. Of course, lots has been said here about how nice the whole family is. But their attitude is obviously contagious (unless the waiters are actually related, too and I don't know it). We had a young server who couldn't have more perfectly achieved the balance of "professional" and "friendly". He even astounded me at the end of the meal by remembering, from our visit a month ago, that I had food allergies related to dessert (chocolate and strawberries); This was most impressive, but then again, so is everything about this place.

We had a tasting menu, highlights of which included some new items to the menu. Most notable were the starter of "Braised Beef and Gorgonzola Cannelloni with a Baby Arugula, Sweet Almond, and Watermelon Radish Salad". The cannelloni were superb and we were eating them in tiny bites trying to make them last the night. The salad was a sheer delight, both from the excellence of the arugula, and the perfect, actually exciting balance of flavors in the dressing and condiments.

Also outstanding were a Puree of Butternut Squash Soup, and of course, the "Strozzapreti" pasta with Black Tiger Shrimp, Italian Eggplant, English Peas, and Shellfish Reduction. (I'm just crazy for this dish.)

Last but surely not least was a new dish, "Slow Baked 'White Tuna', Manzanilla Risotto Cake, Tuscan Bean Puree, and English Peas Mariated in a Sweet Marjoram Oil". White Tuna is actually "Escolar" (which I have loved in the past but haven't seen for years) - it's a wonderful fish, and Ryan's treatment of it is sheer perfection.

A great meal, and a great dining experience!

[adegiulio]

We had the white tuna dish a few weeks back and it was stupendous. Last weekend we went to Village Green and I ordered escolar (not knowing what it was, though the waiter happily compared it to tuna). Of course the two fish tasted the same, though the one prepared at Fascino was a little better as I recall.

If I may cross-post here, the relevence of that meal at Fascino and your (markk's) recent meal at Rocca show how winning restaurants handle customer displeasure, as compared to their less learned competitors. One of the courses in our tasting was a double cut lamb chop served with some sauce and garnish I don't remember (it doesn't matter now). I quietly mentioned to my wife that this wasn't my favorite expression of Ryan's cooking, and the dish as a whole felt contrived and lacking polish. Our waiter picked up on this and we briefly discussed it. Of course he asked to replace it or if there was anything else he could do to make it better. I had already eaten almost all of it (hey, a bad Fascino meal is still pretty darn good), so I thanked him and said it was fine the way it was. Two minutes later, Ryan comes storming out of the kitchen with a cleaver in his hand, screaming "Get out of my restaurant before I cut your liver out and serve it with fava beans!!! Fvvvvt Fvvvvt Fvvvvt!!!" Oh wait, no, he came out and lightheartedly asked me how I liked the chops. I talked to him about it, he listened to my criticism, we laughed, and everything was fine. Point is, they cared enough to take the initiative to FIRST see that something was wrong, and SECOND try to rectify it and gain some feedback.

A post started by Lreda recently asks what restaurants can do to be better. Listening to your customers is pretty high up on that list. Remembering that you are in business to serve them is pretty important. Forget that and your customers will forget you...

Edited September 20, 2004 by adegiulio (log)

[markk]

Funny how that works, isn't it.

That's a great story, and a point very well made!

[Rosie]

Chef Ryan DePersio from Fascino, 331 Bloomfield Avenue. Montclair, will be featured on WNBC (Channel 4) "Weekend Today in NY" on Sunday Sep. 26th at 8:45 AM. Chef Ryan will be preparing a new fall appetizer, "Ricotta and White Mushroom Cannelloni with a Baby Arugula, Watermelon Radish, and Candied Almond Salad." For restaurant reservations call 973-233-0350. BYO.

[lano]

Had a phenomenal dinner at Fascino the other night. First, we were presenmted with an amuse of wild mushroom puree with truffle oil that was served in a shot glass-- flavor was incredible. I started with the Salmon Tartare-- great preparation. was chopped with a light vinaigrette topped with thinly sliced red onions and watercress. My main course was the veal shank with gremolata, served on top of a squash puree and some type of red wine based sauce/braising liquid. Veal was perfectly cooked and paired well with the autumnal squash puree. also had an order of polenta "fries"-- these were ok, not so exciting. while generally i'd say anything fried is good, these need some type of sauce-- whether it was some sort of creamy sauce or a spicy tomato preparation. Anthony mentioned that in the past they've tried a mascarpone sauce for them, which they are contemplating again. fried polenta would hold up to a lot of flavors and I'd recommend that they try something to jazz them up a bit.

My wife had the canelloni appetizer and chicken breast main course-- sorry, I can't be much more descriptive, but I had a couple too many glasses of wine...

Service was very attentive, as well as did well recommending dishes. Only thing that was a touch off was the speed at which appetizers came out of the kitchen-- we hadnt even finished the amuse when appetizers came out. all in all though, it was a great experience.

came out to about $85 + tax/tip.

[kimmyb72]

i am taking my boyfriend for his birthday on november 11. i can't wait to eat!! i've read so many good things and now i'm finally going. i will report back.