Fortunato Ristorante

[Anonymouze]

Wow I'm in good company: 3 eGullet Society Member(s): Anonymouze, David Corcoran, jwjojo

Anyhow... Lyndhurst is not on the top 10 beautiful cities book IMHO. But Fortunato is a beautiful taste treat. So after living in more beautiful cities myself I would have to defer to "WIKI" on this! Here is a brief note of what Wiki says about sunny Lyndhurst: Commerce

Lyndhurst was historically a producer of machinery and metal products. While most have closed down or left the city, one notable exception to this is Shaffer Steel, which is still operating.

I think that qualifies as a Factory!

[pete ganz]

Wow I'm in good company:  3 eGullet Society Member(s): Anonymouze, David Corcoran, jwjojo

Anyhow... Lyndhurst is not on the top 10 beautiful cities book IMHO.  But Fortunato is a beautiful taste treat.  So after living in more beautiful cities myself I would have to defer to "WIKI" on this!  Here is a brief note of what Wiki says about sunny Lyndhurst:  Commerce

Lyndhurst was historically a producer of machinery and metal products. While most have closed down or left the city, one notable exception to this is Shaffer Steel, which is still operating.

I think that qualifies as a Factory!   

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OK, we get it! Lyndhurst is a crappy, factory ridden, blue collar town....paling in comparison to the rarified air of River Vale.

[Curlz]

Interesting reporting by David Corcoran. Where exactly are the "factories" in Lyndhurst?

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Thanks for bringing this up, EMcD! I thought the same thing. It isn't exactly the green glorious 'burbs, but it certainly isn't a factory town! Just try to touch a piece of real estate for under $300K anywhere in the town.

[tommy]

Interesting reporting by David Corcoran. Where exactly are the "factories" in Lyndhurst?

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Thanks for bringing this up, EMcD! I thought the same thing. It isn't exactly the green glorious 'burbs, but it certainly isn't a factory town! Just try to touch a piece of real estate for under $300K anywhere in the town.

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corcoran (sp?) would have done well to say "ex-factory town." but then what would there be to talk about.

Edited May 23, 2006 by tommy (log)

[Curlz]

[David Corcoran]

Hi, all ... thanks for the feedback. I was obviously imprecise in my use of the word "factory," a holdover from my days as a meadowlands reporter for the Bergen Record in the 1970's. I guess if there's still a factory in town it wasn't exactly wrong, but I'll ask the Web site to adjust the wording in the online version.

Best, David

[Curlz]

Very kind of you to respond, David. Thanks!

[njduchess]

We had an incredible meal at Fortunato's last night. We had a table of ten, and we sampled 3 antipasti and 3 salads. They were all excellent, but I particularly enjoyed the eggplant tower and the calamari salad. My salmon with crab salad was outstanding as was my husband's gnocchi with braised rabbit. The osso bucco looked incredible as did most every entree out of the kitchen. Everything was so very good that I can't believe that it took us so long to get here.

Marie

Edited July 26, 2006 by njduchess (log)

[Rosie]

Be sure to read Chefs on the Move--Table Hopping With Rosie 7/26 for the latest information about Chef Anthony LoPinto.

http://www.njmonthly.com/rosie/chefs.html

[Beth E.]

Thanks for the info Rosie! I'll be interested in seeing where Anthony is next. He is a talented chef.

[Curlz]

Couldn't agree more...Anthony is an excellent chef, and I'm sorry he's no longer in my neighborhood, 'tho I haven't been able to get there in some time b/c of my new schedule. It is good to hear that someone had a good meal there recently, though; I take that as a sign that he was not only personally great at the stove, but that he left a well-trained staff as well.

[Susan]

Just wondering if anyone has been to Fortunato since the chef left and how it was? Do you know who is cooking there now?

[MJP]

My girlfriend and I just went tonight. The seasonal menu is still present and delicious, with an emphasis on the side of different types of squash as part of the meat, fish, and poultry.

We had the crispy goat cheese salad (amazing), she had pistaschio-crusted red snapper with a red wine and balsamic reduction over spaghetti squash, and I had risotto with peas and rock shrimp. I can't recommend the fish enough based upon the snapper; it was perfectly done and well-paired with the other dishes. Dessert was a lemon panna cotta, delicious. We weren't drinking. It came out to $79 with tax and around a 25% tip. The owner (I think it was him) came out and talked to us, which seems to be his trademark.

The service was fantastic despite a packed house with two big tables and every other table filled. This really and truly is perhaps the greatest restaurant in this area of Bergen county, new chef notwithstanding.

[Susan]

Had dinner at Fortunato's last night and it was delicious. I had the calamari and frisee salad to start. The calamari was extremely tender. My husband had the gnocchi with mushrooms and braised rabbit. Also very good. For dinner I had the scallops on the menu (they also had a special scallop dish) which is served over sweet potatoes and other vegetables - nicely seared and delicious. My husband had veal osso bucco that was served with something like a potatoe pancake of some sort. I forget what it was called but it very good. Great night. Looking forward to going back again.

[Josefinajoisey]

Hubby, son and I went out to eat tonight (doesn't happen very often...especially to restaurants that don't have ESPN on 10 screens). I was very happy that Fortunato's quality has not diminished from my first trip there. Enjoyed the goat cheese salad, my husband loved the eggplant tower, and the fish dishes were not heavy, but flavorful. The service is personalized and efficient. A great evening.

[MJP]

My parents, my girlfriend, and I went to Fortunato for the official new-job dinner. It was the parents' first time; they'd heard me talk it up many times.

We started off with the eggplant tower and the special appetizer that night, clams in a garlic butter (I think) with pancetta. It was a really surprisingly light clam dish; perfectly done, with the pancetta crispy and delicious. My dad referred to it as a "high-end pork and clams," but that's high praise coming from him.

We also had two half-portions of pasta as appetizers: the homemade gnocchi with rabbit and wild mushrooms off the menu and the risotto of the day, a wild mushroom and white truffle oil risotto. The girlfriend and I had the gnocchi before, which was why we pressed my folks into it, but the risotto blew everyone away. It was very light-bodied, with the essence of the mushroom in every grain of risotto and the truffle oil ever-present but not at all oily.

For the mains, we had a good spread. My mom had the veal osso bucco, my dad had a veal loin (I think) in a mushroom sauce (the rest of the details escape me), my girlfriend had sea scallops over white beans and escarole (a special, not from the menu) and I had the grilled salmon with blue crab claw salad over lentils with a white truffle reduction.

I think that the scallops were the best thing there, but the osso bucco was immensely delicious. The braising liquid was really present in the meat and the sauce, and it was very full-bodied but not too rich. The veal loin was also delicious; perfectly done. Chris' sea scallops were, as the steady case is at Fortunato, absolutely perfectly done. They should teach their technique at cooking schools everywhere.

I wasn't too flattened by my salmon. It was very good, but it was a dish where you really needed a bite of everything to get the fullest range of flavor. When I did, it was an amazing combination: the salmon balanced well with the truffle reduction, as did the lentils, and the crab salad was a good balancer. I was expecting something with a bit more salt to round it out, but I think I was spoiled by the seared salmon I had the first time at Fortunato.

My dad had a great time schmoozing with the guy who served our wine and my mom was beyond impressed with the quality. As always, Jeff was there to say hello, and since it was extremely cold, there weren't too many diners there, but there were enough people to make the place feel like a good business was being turned.

Still the best restaurant in the area.

Jeff mentioned that they're doing a series of monthy wine tastings, with each wine paired to a Fortunato dish. The last one was on 1/25, just days before, that produced a prosecco that was well-received by us. I may have to go back after a convention in mid-February to find out when their next tasting will be.