This North Jersey restaurant needs to be on your fall bucket list
Grocery store apple cider donuts, Franken Berry and oatmeal that smells like Yankee Candles — there are a lot of terrible fall foods. When the season rolls around, eaters go crazy for mediocre bites disguised by nostalgic themes; genuinely believing that their slice-and-bake Pillsbury ghost cookies actually taste good.
But, when you strip the rustic imagery and childhood memories away, you’re left with condensation-covered butternut squash ravioli, bad desserts and too many restaurants trying to make venison work. And we accept this adequacy (at best) because, you know, “it’s fall y’all”!
Well, North Jersey residents, good news: a seasonal oasis exists at Viaggio. So, while they still may be downing pumpkin mocktails and overcooked lamb in West Virginia, you don’t have to.
On Robbie Felice and Felix Gonzalez’s Wayne turf, autumn culinary perfection is the name of the game.
Serving delicious fall food in Wayne
Viaggio’s fall menu was designed in collaboration between owner and founder Robbie Felice and his current chef de cuisine Felix Gonzalez. After receiving a written teaser of some of the dishes from the latter, I booked a table.
On the night of my reservation, I was served tender meats, umami pastas and savory vegetables that had me convinced the pair was an Italian food power duo. Acknowledging the fall flavors — but in original ways — all of their creations packed nostalgia into new covers; successfully striking the balance between classic heart and novelty (in the most delicious ways).
So, in other words, unlike Pumpkin Spice Pringles, the menu didn’t fall flat.
Here’s a glimpse into everything I ate at Viaggio last week.
Busta di Funghi
Ok, so I didn’t eat this dish first, but I liked it the best, so I’m going to talk about it first.
If you know food lingo; Viaggio’s Busta di Funghi is an envelope shaped pasta stuffed with mixed cheese and porcini filling — each piece of which is topped with smoked parmesan espuma and mushroom fritti. And if you are new to the foodie scene? It’s a mushroom ravioli in fancy cheese sauce.
Whether you speak the culinary tongue or not, though, it’s rich, decadent and delicious. The parmesan espuma (foam, it was more of a foamy sauce) is super creamy and sharp, and tastes awesome when you cut an envelope in half and it soaks into the mushroom filling.
Butternut Squash Barchette
Viaggio is known for its stellar pastas, of which this new autumn barchette a prime example. Featuring boat shaped pasta (which were notably cute) floating in a sea of fall-spiced agrodolce and brown butter, the dish carries a warm sweetness characteristic of the season. Fried sage, which is sprinkled over the plate, juxtaposes the aforementioned with a touch of salt.
Combine that flavor profile with the al dente cook of each little pasta piece, and you get a dish that is just as texturally nuanced as it is visually appealing and comforting to the palate.
Charred Little Gem Insalata
I don’t have a picture of this dish because I ate it before remembering to snag one. I have an almost unjustified level of love for salad, though, so this won’t be the last time that happens.
Regardless; the starter featured little gem lettuce heads, cut into spears and charred. Laid into a line of five on a sleek, black plate, the leaves were then topped with apple, fennel, pecorino cheese and a hazelnut crumble.
Though I loved the crunchiness of the nuts, my favorite thing about the salad was that it was served warm; a trend I’ve seen becoming more common in the fine dining restaurants of the area (and that I can totally get behind).
Spinach Fettucine
I love spinach pasta — but am not super into meat sauce — so when I saw this dish described on paper (as topped with “veal ragu and parmigiano”), I wasn’t sure how it was going to land with my taste buds. Once it arrived at the table, however, I was a lot more enticed.
First, the fettucine was not covered with a ragu, in the traditional sense, at all. Called “ragu bianca” by the chefs, the sauce was actually more of a white sofrito with super finely minced pieces of veal blended into it. The texture, therefore, wasn’t thick or lumpy at all, but rather smooth to the point that the meat almost felt puréed. There were no tomatoes in it (thankfully) either.
To me, this dish was the biggest sleeper hit on the menu. The white sauce was very unique in flavor, and the butteriness of the meat was incredibly indulgent. I’d definitely eat it again.
Calamari Fritti
This isn’t new.
But I ordered it anyway because the calamari at Viaggio is the best on the planet.
Roasted Beet Insalata
I ate my vegetables twice at Viaggio. The first time, because I’m a salad fiend. And the second? Because they came thin-sliced and topped with pistachio, citrus and aged ricotta.
Lancaster Amish Chicken
If you’re into chicken marsala, this entrée — which is the restaurant’s play on the homey staple — is the dish for you. With house-made stuffing layered between the tender meat and its crispy skin, however (and a marsala-glazed pile of pearl onions and mushrooms on the side), it’s definitely an elevated take on the familiar.
Owing in part to the juiciness of the breast, and part to the savory gravy, this was my second favorite dish of the night.
Fall-Spiced Olive Oil Cake
Gotta give a shoutout to 21-year-old pastry chef Meichan Saechao for holding down the dessert fort in one of North Jersey’s most esteemed restaurants. Crafting sweets from panna cottas to poached, pastry-wrapped fruits, the youngster has an admirable taste for the refined.
Take her Fall-Spiced Olive Oil Cake, for example. Sweet — but with a touch of gentle heat — and plated to perfection, the dessert was an upscale ode to the season in which it was created.
The takeaway
Viaggio is known for being one of those restaurants where you can point blindly at the menu and end up with a dish you like. The new fall line up, with all hits and no misses, is no exception.
So, when drafting your fall foodie bucket list this year; forget the Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
The black chairs and wooden tables of Wayne are where its at.
Viaggio is located at 1055 Hamburg Turnpike in Wayne. The restaurant can be reached at 973-706-7277.
Kara VanDooijeweert is a food writer for NorthJersey.com and The Record. If you can’t find her in Jersey’s best restaurants, she’s probably off running a race course in the mountains. Catch her on Instagram: @karanicolev & @northjerseyeats , join our NorthJerseyEats Facebook group , and sign up for her North Jersey Eats newsletter..