Rocca, a new restaurant in Glen Rock

[tommy]

well in your defense i've often been presented with the fish and then it has been fileted (although chinese and thai restaurants routinely plop a whole fish on the table and you go at it). i'm trying to think of times when it wasn't, but i don't order whole fish all that often because i don't want to deal with a whole fish...kinda like you.

Edited September 23, 2004 by tommy (log)

[tommy]

rocca received 2 1/2 stars in yesterday's bergen record.

the review read a bit better imo, but i'm sure it's a good thing for the restaurant.

[menton1]

Actually, 2 1/2 stars is unusual for the Record--- I think it's a rare moment when any restaurant they review gets other than 3 stars. Just about all restaurants they review-- good, bad, or indifferent get 3 stars. We have discussed the Record reviews here before, it seems that they are basically lining up the restaurant to advertise with them. No credibility at all in their reviews.

I wonder what this place did to lose 1/2 a star!!

[fatcatbrew]

Has anyone been here lately?

[jtphjl]

I was there early December, and gave a holiday gift certificate to my Mother who used in within days -- always a great meal -- always professional staff ---

[tommy]

Has anyone been here lately?

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a few times in the past few months. we're not as enamored with the newish fall/winter menu as we were with the first, perhaps more babbo-inspired, menu. but it remains an above-average and solid local choice, with some shortcomings that are excusable for an above-average and solid local place.

i'd also recommend the market at rocca for sandwiches and other goodies. a great mid-afternoon stop on a saturday.

Edited January 8, 2005 by tommy (log)

[Curlz]

Rocca gets a Good from David Corcoran in tomorrow's NYT New Jersey section. Corcoran is more pleased by the entrees than by apps, but ends the article with "As the cooking becomes more consistent, word of mouth will take over, and Rocca will be a hard secret to keep."

And yes, Rosie, he mentions the truffles!

[Rosie]

It is interesting that David didn't mention anything about the service. I really liked the food alot here even though I didn't get any truffles. The service the one time I was there was awful. Will get back to Rocca eventually.

[tommy]

It is interesting that David didn't mention anything about the service. I really liked the food alot here even though I didn't get any truffles. The service the one time I was there was awful. Will get back to Rocca eventually.

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in the sidebar he does make note of the service. paraphrasing: "professional and attentive, and amatuerish and eager." or something like that.

i feel for restaurants. it's got to be hard to get good servers; i've got 50 bucks burning a hole in my pocket that would go to any kid willing to shovel my sidewalk, but there're nowhere to be found. and something tells me they're not practicing the pronunciation of 'foie gras'.

[Curlz]

Maybe you can hang a sign out of your window that says $50 for shoveling AND waitering tips...?!?

[Rail Paul]

Having heard so much about the gnocchi, Dee and I stopped by Wednesday night.

The resto had about 6-7 tables filled at 8pm, by 915, there were perhaps 3 that I could see in the two rooms.

Warmly greeted, seated, given time to order. Maria did an excellent job, with time estimates where necessary. I don't think anybody came in after we did.

The beet walnut and greens salad was good, nicely drizzled in olive oil. The eggplant wasn't impressive. The skin of the eggplant was chewy / stringy, Dee cut it off. Sauce was OK, but seemed flat, and plain. Cheese was good.

Gnocchi was very good. I'd rank it as better than any I've had in a year other than two trips to Hearth in NYC. Hearth's gnocchi is better, but this is certainly good. I think the pasta may have absorbed a little more of the sauce than it should have by the time it was served. The sausage with fennel was wonderful.

Several of the service lapses noted by others happened here, too. Forks and knives not removed at the end of a course, plates left for five minutes after both had finished. Oil dish left on the table after bread plates were removed, minor stuff, but noted.

Nice place, friendly service. Price was quite fair. With a pasta, a salad, one entree, one dessert, tax and nice tip, the bill came to about $65

[Rosie]

Thanks for your report Rail Paul. I 'm sorry to hear that the service issues have not been resolved.

[Lutece]

Going to Rocca tonight.  I hope it is as good as Tommy says.....he could be a ringer too!

what did you think?

just so i'm clear, i've based my comments on only 2 meals, which is not enough for me to really say that this place is excellent. they might have problems with consistency or a variety of other issues that i've yet to uncover. it could be luck so far. it could get worse when the summer's gone and kids (servers) go back to college. a lot of things could happen. but i think the chef can cook, and he's put together a menu that reads great, especially for this area.

i should also mention that the pasta dish from my first meal didn't have cinghiale as i reported, but rather guanciale, which bacon from hog jowls. it wasn't pancetta as far as i could tell.

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Went there sat nt with another couple

Service was not too professional but acceptable

Nice atmosphere

Food was good but not the best I ever had. The seafood salad appetizer was the best of everything we ordered. Very fresh, a huge portion , mostly calamari though a few shrimp. The dressing was just light and perfect

The scallop entree was so strange...almost like a vanilla scallop creme brulee with these fancy greens all over it so you couldn't even see the scallops. Nice presentation the sweetness of the vanilla overpowered the taste of scallops

I liked the homemade pasta but the sauce was a little salty and made of probably sun dried tomatoes, had the eggplant and fresh mozzarella dish. It was good but not great. Friend had the mussels he seemed to love and devour them.

All and all , it was good. Not the greatest...

[menton1]

OK, so lots of folks LOVED this place, but has no one been back since March of '05? It seems that a great deal of these places in NJ have these "Supernova" events, and then burn out quickly.

Maybe the person who started this post (seems like he IS a shill) could explain.

Anyone been to Rocca recently?

Edited January 3, 2006 by menton1 (log)

[jwjojo]

Checked out their pasta tasting menu, and glanced at their dinner menu. I remember this place being more adventurous, and the menu is now typical Italian. What happened?

[tommy]

Checked out their pasta tasting menu, and glanced at their dinner menu.  I remember this place being more adventurous, and the menu is now typical Italian.  What happened?

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the laws and principles of economics no doubt kicked in. our loss, and red sauce lovers' gain.

[Mangia Mangia]

I still think that Rocca is adventurous, there are specials every night and also the Chef's Specials . a plus for everyone.

[menton1]

Mangia, do you know smoramora? Are you affiliated in any way with Rocca? 6 of your 9 posts are about Rocca over an 18 month period...

Edited June 8, 2006 by menton1 (log)

[tommy]

Mangia, do you know smoramora?  Are you affiliated in any way with Rocca?  6 of your 9 posts are about Rocca over an 18 month period...

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it's one of those things that people don't realize when they're not very active on the internet: everyone assumes mangia is related to the restaurant, so, even if he/she is just a big fan, nobody takes his/her posts seriously. it (this pattern of posting) does nothing but hurt the restaurant, ultimately. which is a shame.

[chefdavidrusso]

(Notice of full disclosure - I know Craig and Stacy to a limited extent, and call on him professionally as a potential customer)

My wife and son and I went to Rocca for their Pasta menu this past Tuesday. The Mrs. ended up having the special menu, I ordered ala carte.

She: Rocca Salad (basic mixed greens)

Linguini with spicy tomato sauce

(that was "the deal")

Me: salad with Fried atrichokes and olives in a lemon aioli dressing

lasagna Bolognese

The food was good - my only piece of constructive criticism would be that everything was a bit over dressed/sauced for my taste. My salad had a bit too much dressing (though it was a mighty fine dressing), and the plain pasta with butter that we ordered for our 2 1/2 year old was fairly well swimming in butter.

My assesment of the Tuesady pasta night adventure....it's a great value ($9.95 per person) if, like us, you've got a family and don't feel like cooking on a random mid-week night and want some good, inexpensive pasta. We haven't tried the Thursday night Pasta Tasting menu yet.

We also commented that the menu seemed more "typically" Italian than our memory. But the specials did appear to be a bit more "forward thinking"

We also went there for Mother's Day brunch, and it was VERY good, albeit a more typical American-stlye plated brunch...omelet, eggs bene, pancakes, etc. Again, all done creatively and very well executed.

We have always had very good service; in fact we had the same server fo MD and pasta night, were quite pleased. One night Stacey (the chef/owner's wife) was running the dining room , and sat my wife for dessert and coffe as they were cleaning up, which we felt was very generous.

Overall I think it is a very good, successful restaurant (which is never a bad thing, and quite an accomplishment in it's own right) that is a nice addition to the local scene. I think it puts to shame the Ridgewood Italian places, and I like being able to support a good chef in my own town.

[tommy]

i'm glad they finally have a website.

they should probably ramp up the descriptions of the dishes though. the fried calamari, for example, is some of the best in the area, but the menu listing of "fried calamari" doesn't do much to make me want to run down there to try it. a website is probably the single most important and cost-effective piece of marketing for a business like this. they should really take full advantage of it.

the lasagna is quite good here. i'm with chef david in that it's a great place to go for some good pasta. but i'm also with others who wish there were more challenging and interesting dishes to choose from.

[eyedoc]

It's been 2 years since last post. How is this place these days?