Italian lunch buffet?

[all-u-care-2]

Anybody crazy enough to do Italian lunch buffet in northeastern NJ?

I don't count P---a Hut.

[BrianYarvin]

Count me in!

[Curlz]

I think all-you-care-2 was asking if we knew of one, Brian, but you can go with him! The only one I know of opened recently in (shock) Lyndhurst. It's nearby; as soon as I can make a pass, I'll get the name for you. No clue if it's any good or not!

[BrianYarvin]

Curlz:

This is what I had feared!

Down here in Edison, there are Indian buffets and Chinese buffets and even a Chinese buffet that has a strange pizza and garlic bread section where you see huge tables crowded with Chinese people eating things like stewed tripe in ginger sauce, lotus leaves stuffed with peanuts and sticky rice, and red-cooked pigs knuckles with a heaping pile of garlic bread and pizza slices on the side. But an Italian buffet?

Like I say, count me in!

[tommy]

what would one expect to see at an italian buffet in new jersey? i can think of about 3 italian restaurants that are serving decent and interesting food during normal service, so i can't imagine what i'd see over sternos.

[BrianYarvin]

Tommy:

Glad to hear that you see it my way!

I want to go to an Italian Buffet precisely because I can't imagine what they'd serve.

Indeed, the whole point - I might even call it "excitement" - of going to buffets is discovering their oddities. Chinese places with garlic bread, "mini" versions of Indian classics (I had mini-uttapams at lunch yesterday) and who knows what else are the main attraction of these places.

When are we going?

[tommy]

i'll have what he's having.

the point of course, brian, is that any "italian buffet" that might possibly pop up in NJ is likely going to be a big pile of shit.

but please go and give us a full report on your findings.

has anyone experienced an italian buffet that this might be modeled after? i've had sliced meats and cheeses and bread in italy, and i do love it, but i don't think that's what we're thinking here. or is it.

Edited November 5, 2004 by tommy (log)

[BrianYarvin]

Tommy:

I think you're expectations are way to high in the New Jersey Italian quality arena - and maybe in the buffet arena too. No matter what the owners might claim, buffets are almost never about quality, instead variety and surprise rule the day.

Am I expecting excellent Italian food at this buffet? Of course not! What serious student of New Jersey cuisine would? But I suspect there will be a lesson in it somewhere. Buffets are great teachers for those students who are willing to open their eyes.

So...where is this place and when are we going?

[tommy]

i don't expect to see anything in a buffet in NJ that i wouldn't see on a menu in NJ. and i haven't seen much on italian menus in NJ to convince me to line up at a steam table for a meal. but i want a full report.

[Rosie]

This is not what you are looking for but Berta's Chateau, 7 Grove St, Wanaque has wine dinners that start with an extensive antipasto typical of the region highlighted. Otherwise I know of no restaurant that serves an Italian buffet at lunchtime. The only place I have had an Italian buffet is at a wedding.

[all-u-care-2]

what would one expect to see at an italian buffet in new jersey?  i can think of about 3 italian restaurants that are serving decent and interesting food during normal service, so i can't imagine what i'd see over sternos.

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Just so we're on the same page, drop their names, puh-lease...

[tommy]

what would one expect to see at an italian buffet in new jersey?  i can think of about 3 italian restaurants that are serving decent and interesting food during normal service, so i can't imagine what i'd see over sternos.

←

Just so we're on the same page, drop their names, puh-lease...

←

fascino in montclair. rocco in glen rock. that's all i can come up with right now. neither uses steam tables or sternos as far as i know.

[lovebenton0]

Just jumping in here from TX! I couldn't resist your thread.

Actually, one of the Omni hotels in Austin had a great buffet at lunch. On the cold tables were all the usual, though high quality offerings of ham, turkey, lots of salad fixings, breads, wonderful soups (and always a big pot o' chili -- hey TX, remember) etc. So you hit that first.

But twice a week they had Italian "buffet." (Other focus on other days.)The only thing over sterno was the sauces (at least three) to keep warm for the chefs. Three or four chefs would stand behind tables. First, fresh ingredients, meats, astounding assortment of fresh vegs, and olives/peppers, fresh herbs, garlic. You would pick whatever you wanted. The chef would toss it for you in OO in his saute pan over open flame. Pick your pasta next, always an assortment (they were pre-cooked, of course, but well-kept), then the sauce. Each chef cooked individually for one person at a time. It was damn good stuff. Of course if you didn't have an idea of what was going to be even marginally sympatico among ingredients I imagine you could get a less than satisfying meal.

Then on to extras -- Shredded fresh Parm, red pepper, garlic sticks.

Not bad stuff. And a very pleasant arboretum to dine in. A perfect walk away from the office. So, you guys have anything like that up there?

[jwjojo]

That new Italian restaurant in Rutherford...the one that plays the Italian music loudly...near the circle....they have a lunch Buffet. I don't know the name though..there is a thread on it here. Too lazy to look