Trattoria Corrado?

[Rosie]

Has anyone been here?

[Curlz]

Never heard of it--which doesn't mean it doesn't exist, of course...

Do you have an address or any nearby landmarks?

[Rosie]

Trattoria Corrado 7 Station Square Rutherford 201-935-6606 Across from train station

[Cook456]

Rosie,

I was there several years ago, when it first opened. It's one of the nice places I've forgotten about. As I remember it, it was a very small restaurant. The pasta dishes were excellent, and the fish entrees were perfectly prepared.

Hmm...think I should make a trip over the Union Ave Bridge and enjoy this place once again.

Oh...and it's a BYOB !!!

[Rosie]

Please let us know. Thanks.

[zeman]

I had lunch there about 2 years ago and have wanted to go back ever since.

[Curlz]

Call me crazy, but if this place is so good, why haven't people gone back? And why haven't more of us heard about it? Just b/c it's so small?

[Cook456]

Curlz,

My dining habits have changed in the last few years and I don't get out quite as much. Having returned to the single life, it's not in me to "dine out" alone.

Maybe that should be another thread... Do any of you go out to dinner alone?

Also are there any singles dining clubs in the Bergen / Passaic area?

[nizza]

I too had eaten there several times when it first opened. Then the owner left and opened another really great restaurant in Lyndhurst called Vivo. It's on Valley Brook Avenue near the corner of Stuyvesant. The food is delicious.

Curlz - there are just so many good restaurants to eat in that sometimes it takes a good while before you get back to trying them again.

Edited August 17, 2004 by nizza (log)

[ghostrider]

I've posted about Corrado at least twice in related threads, since I've been there at least a dozen times, though I've never started a separate thread about it. Anyway.....

A good local place if you live in the area - comfortable, casual, decent food. Homemade raviolis, when available as a special, & dishes involving mushrooms seem particularly good to my palate. First rate olive oil for dipping the bread into.

They're gonna have some serious competition from La Reggia Bistro, just around the corner & the subject of its own thread. Reggia does some things better, particularly the rigatoni amatriciana - Corrado uses standard American bacon in their version. Reggia also has better bread, & herbed dipping oils, but I like Corrado's pure oil better.

Same general reasonable price range. Both places offer good value, I think. I need a few more meals at Reggia before I can really compare the two.

[ghostrider]

Went back to Corrado last night on the spur of the moment - too burned-out to cook & couldn't tolerate another Chinese takeout, so we did a small splurge.

The room has been completely redone since we were last there, it's much brighter now. I'm not completely sure that I approve, it seems to kind of shrink the room, but it's easier to read your menus now.

The menus have been revamped - a few dishes have been subtracted, actually, & there's now a slot on the back of the menu for the daily specials. The prices haven't changed though, that's good. $7.95 - $8.95 for pastas, $9.95 - $12.95 for regular entrees as I recall; some of the specials go up to $16.95 - $18.95.

Our host was warm & friendly as always. We started with a simple house salad - romaine & some mesclun greens - which he dressed with oil & balsamic vinegar after I mentioned my low-salt thing, since the viniagrette was already salted. I appreciated that.

The dipping oil was still green & wonderful, & the bread fresh & crusty.

We both ordered the same $16.95 special - fettucine with shrimp, artichokes, olives & fresh tomato - sorry I don't have more dishes to report on! It proved to have a balsamic-based sauce that added a touch of smokiness to the flavor. Every ingredient was perfectly cooked, and they had timed the fettucine so that it remained genuinely al dente. Very satisfying.

We skipped dessert; I was sorely tempted by the pecan torte (looked much like pecan pie but with a crumb-type crust), but having recently been through a major blood-sugar spike & diabetes scare, I summoned my will power and said "no."

Corrado to my mind remains exactly what a trattoria should be: it's comfortable, the folks in the kitchen really pay attention to what they're cooking, and they deliver a solid value every time. I still feel lucky to have a place like this right in my town.