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Fortunato Ristorante

Rosie

By Rosie
in New Jersey: Dining

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Cook456

Cook456

Posted
Posted

I had the pleasure of dining at Fortunato's last evening .

My friend and I decided to order from their Fixed prix menu, which included many items that were also on their regular menu.

My friend really wanted the grilled shrimp appetizer but isn't fond of the shaved fennel that accompanied it. She politely asked for a substitution, and the shrimp were served over a nice bed of greens, instead. She was very happy. I was tempted to also have the shrimp ( I LOVE shaved fennel ), but had to have the eggplant tower that has been mentioned here. It did not disappoint.

The entrees we chose were the sauteed striped bass, topped with capers and olives and the risotto of the day, Mushroom Risotto. Both were excellent. My risotto was nice and creamy , and flavorful, but could have used a bit more parmagiano.

I also decided to try the sangiovese that Curlz raved about...very nice indeed. Good choice!

For dessert we both chose the marscarpone cheese cake which came topped with a sauce of chopped mango. It was dense and luscious, and the decaf coffee was good.

There was only one disappointment, and it definitely can be improved upon. With so many good local bread bakerys in our area, I was surpised to find the bread soft. It was also served cold.. :-(

That withstanding, we really enjoyed our meal at Fortunato's and will be back.

Oh..Anthony mentioned that he now has a Wine Dinner every month. Perhaps that could be an E-Gullet get together...

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Curlz

Curlz

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Posted

Great news!!

And I'm hoping Jeff is happy he had a web site to include with the review... :wink:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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  • 3 weeks later...
Anonymouze

Anonymouze

Posted
Posted

This place is way WAY too good for Lyndhurst it should by all means be in Ridgewood or Upper Montclair or in the Saddle River area... at the least.

The owner was very cordial and the chef is a god... okay not a god, but pretty close. (and don't tell my husband I said this but the chef's cute too... 'cept for the tattoos!) hee-hee

We had a 6? course menu with a to die for soup, 2 appetizers - very tasty, a salad (looked great but I was getting full so I skipped it), 2 main courses (each fantastic in both taste, preparation and presentation!) and 2 desserts to share both very tasty and enchantingly delicious... and each item was so yummy, scrumptious... oh my goodness it was very good. This delightful meal was shared with nice folks.

I wish I was rich I'd hire him as a personal chef I bet he could even make a diet look good! LOL :wub:

Now I have to find a way to get back there... now that I know where it is.

Stacey C-Anonymouze@aol.com

*Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads!-G. B. SHAW

JUST say NO... to CENSORSHIP*!

Also member of LinkedIn, Erexchange and DonRockwell.

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richl2214

richl2214

Posted
Posted

Very good food but the prices seem a bit high for a place in Lyndhurst that has a liquor license. Must be mucho rent.

"My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." ~Winston Churchill

Morels- God's gift to the unworthy human species

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Rosie

Rosie

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Delicious dinner. Congrats and thank-you to Chef Anthony Pinto for creating a wonderful menu:

Lamoreaux Landing Finger Lakes Gewürztraminer (http://www.lamoreauxwine.com)

Amuse of sweet potato soup

Haricot verts with frisee, cucumbers and lime vinaigrette with fresh herbs and a drizzle 1st cold press olive oil from Sicily

Sweet pumpkin ravioli with butternut squash and crushed amaretti cookies

2001 La Macolina Sangiovese

Herb-crusted eggplant tower with tomato fondue and eggplant caviar

Basil and pignoli-crusted tilapia with rock shrimp and a natural fish reduction with parsley

Braised short ribs with Parmigiano and herb risotto

Volcano cake with vanilla gelato

Mascarpone cheesecake with pineapple and mango topping

Coffees, cappuccinos, and teas (including Mighty Leaf, which comes in those gorgeous silk bags)

Everything was "perfect" but my favorties for the evening were the sweet pumpkin ravioli with the luscious butter and the short ribs with a rich Bordeaux sauce. The salad was very light and refreshing and would have also been good after the meat course.

Rich12214--don't agree with you about the prices. Fortunato is not a dive but a restaurant that serves quality food with exemplary service.

Rosalie Saferstein, aka "Rosie"

TABLE HOPPING WITH ROSIE

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted

I want to add my thanks and kudos to both the chef and owner...we had a wonderful dinner!! :wub: The salad, btw, was STUNNING. I described it to someone this morning as bright, light, and somehow, not too Spring for January. The combo of flavors was dead on delicious, and the lime was an unusual and excellent twist. The ribs put me over. Actually, it was the risotto. Well worth it, but up until that course, I wasn't feeling stuffed. They were just fantastic--definitely another 'regular' dish to add to my list of favorites there!

Rich, I have to disagree with your comment as well--I think the prices at Fortunato are very reasonable for a restaurant of its caliber. I don't care where they're located or whether or not they're BYO--creative food made by a very talented chef using fresh ingredients shouldn't come cheap! We were all looking at the regular menu last night and commenting on how reasonable it is, in fact. Apps and salads all around $10 (some less), pastas for $15-18, and iirc, not an entree over $25...

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted
curlz, please stop ordering my La Macolina or else there'll be none for me when i go back!

I swear--I didn't order it this time! Chef did. :wink:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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fatcatbrew

fatcatbrew

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Posted

I thought all of the food was very good.

Haricot verts with frisee, cucumbers and lime vinaigrette with fresh herbs

and a drizzle 1st cold press olive oil from Sicily

Sweet pumpkin ravioli with butternut squash and crushed amaretti cookies

***Herb-crusted eggplant tower with tomato fondue and eggplant caviar

The above items were my three favorites. And, I don't really like eggplant - I guess I can't say that anymore.

In response to Richl2214: In my opinion, the menu items were priced fairly and that the wine list was reasonably priced and diverse.

An observation I had was that the restaurant could use a litttle bit more ambiance - possibly some dimmer lighting, music, perhaps better window treatments to hide being on a busy road.

All in all a nice dining experience.

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted
the man, clearly, has good taste.  exceptional taste.  :biggrin:

In customers. :wink:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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pete ganz

pete ganz

Posted
Posted
This place is way WAY too good for Lyndhurst it should by all means be in Ridgewood or Upper Montclair or in the Saddle River area... at the least. 

Believe it or not, there are people in Lyndhurst who actually appreciate good food and are willing to pay for it. It's nice not to have to drive over a half hour to get a great meal. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed Fortunato the one time we went, especially the rigatoni with truffle oil.

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richl2214

richl2214

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Posted (edited)

I don't quite agree about the "exemplary service." I thought it was below par. Our server didn't ask us for drinks when we got there. We waited almost 10 minutes before our waiter arrived. When we did get them he forgot one of our wines. Never brought it until asked again. Got the wrong salad from what I ordered(it was still great) Had to go back to the front to brush up on the specials in the middle of presenting them to us. This is far from "exemplary" service. Guess he was new? Regardless, I'd go back as I did think the food was excellent. The service is really what made me feel the place was overpriced, not the food. Some of the wines were marked up nearly 50%

Edited by richl2214 (log)

"My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." ~Winston Churchill

Morels- God's gift to the unworthy human species

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scarlet knight

scarlet knight

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Posted

Rich, several of us attended an absolutely awesome tasting dinner at Fortunato on 1/20/06 and it's going to be hard to get any criticisms by us. Granted, the staff knew we were e-gulletters, but the food and service could not have been better.

I'm not a big fan of tilapia or short ribs, but both courses were great. A couple of other attendees said that they don't like eggplant, but they liked the eggplant course. All the courses featured fresh ingredients , flavor-packed taste and attractive presentations. There were no misses. Everything worked .

We were happy to attend because we first noticed chef Anthony LoPinto's talent at Sweet Basil's in West Orange. This place is first rate. We wish we lived closer, but we'll try to meet Bergen County friends there.

We prefer BYOs because of wine markups. If I'm not mistaken, most wines are marked up 100% or more at restaurants. If we think the wine list is overpriced at a restaurant, we'll order a glass or two. But if we really like a restaurant and it has a wine list, we just bite the bullet. Sometimes, the restaurant has hard to get, allocated wines.

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tommy

tommy

Posted
Posted (edited)
  Some of the wines were marked up nearly 50%

i assume you're acknowledging that this is a good thing? as i mentioned in an earlier post i found the wine list to be extremely well-chosen and reasonably priced. the markup on the La Macolina that i tend to order there is along the lines of 125% . not bad at all percentage-wise. and, 38 dollars for a bottle of hard-to-find and interesting wine from emilia-romagna is just dandy to me.

i haven't had enough meals there to make a determination about the service. but i can't help but notice that you characterized the prices as "high" due to its location and because it's not a BYOB. not because of the service you received.

disclaimer: i should add that i was "known" to the restaurant on each of my visits (though not so much the first, as it was, well, my first visit. i think i was recognized during that visit as someone excited to be eating there). however, given that i'm not a complete idiot, and since i tend to watch servers and how they work the room, i could tell that the staff, for the most part, was very attentive and operating at a level i'd expect from a place like Fortunato. i hope they've kept that level of service up. it's hard to find and keep good help in NJ.

Edited by tommy (log)
tommy:eats.com
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tommy

tommy

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Posted (edited)
We prefer BYOs because of wine markups.  If I'm not mistaken, most wines are marked up 100% or more at restaurants.  If we think the wine list is overpriced at a restaurant, we'll order a glass or two.  But if we really like a restaurant and it has a wine list, we just bite the bullet.  Sometimes, the restaurant has hard to get, allocated wines.

scarlet, not to get off on a tangent about wine markups (various discussions can be found all over the internet and on this site as well i'd think), but the average markup is probably 250-300% or so. and more often than not, you're getting utterly and completely screwed with markup when you order by-the-glass. a bottle is almost always a better deal (assuming you're drinking that much). and the selection is always better by the bottle (as you suggest). and the wine hasn't been opened and sitting around behind the hot bar for 3 days. etc etc.

it might seem a bit painful to order that ravenswood for 28 bucks a bottle when you know you can get it for 9 at Bottle King, but it's better than buying three 9 dollar glasses of swill, which comes out to about the same price, and most likely consists of a lot less wine.

Edited by tommy (log)
tommy:eats.com
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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted (edited)

Deleting the duplicate post...dunno how that happened.

Edited by Curlz (log)

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted
Granted, the staff knew we were e-gulletters

Actually, they didn't know that we were eG'ers--what I told them was that it was a bunch of people who are really into good food! Of course, I'm now a regular customer, and they had met Rosie before, but the rest of the group was there for the first time. And not everyone who was at the table is on eG.

I will now attempt my first-ever upload of photos in to ImageGullet, b/c I have some good shots from this dinner! Please stand by... :blink:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted

ZIP IT, Tommy!!! :laugh:

I've got the pics in an album, but haven't quite figured out how to get them HERE. Sigh...

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted

Okay...album is now public, and I'm hoping this first pic works...

Sweet Potato Soup (Amuse)

Dammit!! Well, the link works, so I'm going to put them all up, but I can't get the photos to show here. Maybe after a night's sleep. Or some help from Tommy. :rolleyes:

Here are the rest of the pics from last night's dinner...

Haricots verts with frisee, cucumbers and lime vinaigrette

Sweet Pumpkin Ravioli

Eggplant Tower (one of my personal favorites...)

Basil and pignoli-crusted Tilapia with Rock Shrimp

Braised Short Ribs with Parmagiano Risotto

Volcano

Mascarpone Cheesecake with Pineapple and Mango

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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