Advanced Member
Posted 17 April 2012 - 05:07 PM
“Spuntino offers 42 Italian wines by the glass and more than 100 wines by the bottle, including special reserve offerings. Spuntino showcases its 1,800 Italian bottles of wine in temperature-controlled glass cabinets. Spuntino’s resident Sommelier will be on hand to provide friendly wine education and assist with personal selections to perfectly complement each meal. In addition, nine Italian beers are also available.”
Advanced Member
Posted 20 July 2012 - 01:40 PM
Appetizers and entrées don't exist here; instead, the three-month-old restaurant offers a "wine bar and Italian tapas," applying the Spanish small-plates concept to Italian food. You can order tangles of Italian cured meats and piles of cheese, thickly cut bruschetta by the slice, 10-inch thin-crust pizzas, little plates of pasta, meat and fish.
The restaurant's name translates to "snack" in Italian, and the concept allows for a shareable meal that's as big or as small as you like. But aside from happy hour, most customers are ordering three plates each – which is what the restaurant recommends for a full meal, says Kerry Doherty, director of new concept development for Spuntino's owner, Allendale-based Doherty Enterprises.
(snip)
I overheard one waitress explaining to a table of confused customers that the pizzas were the biggest items available. I would have added that they are also one of the best — the tangy, made-in-house crust emerges from the 600-degree woodstone oven crisp and tender. It's best showcased in the margherita ($9), covered in fresh mozzarella and basil. A salumi pizza ($11) was covered in crumbled sausage and three different types of Italian cured meats that all tasted the same once bronzed in the oven.
Better to order the extensive selection of salumi and Italian cheeses in their unadulterated states – the other big highlight of Spuntino. What we sampled was of excellent quality – sharp Parmigiano-Reggiano; silky, funky prosciutto di Parma; and peppery cacciatorini, a Northern Italian air-dried salami ($10 for all three).
Thickly cut bruschetta is sold by the slice, and it's quite hearty: We ordered one heaped with goat cheese and caramelized onions, and another with Gorgonzola, apple, walnut and honey. A third was advertised with ricotta and roasted grapes, though our fruit was raw ($8 for three).
Advanced Member
Posted 19 January 2013 - 08:26 PM
NY Times has a generally positive review of the restaurant
You might want to pair your wine with some grilled crostini and a rewarding plate of salumi and formaggi, choosing from six meats (including terrific sopressata and prosciutto) and six cheeses, which are deftly paired with spreads — the Gorgonzola with fig jam, for instance, or the Parmigiano-Reggiano with a dollop of pesto.
The menu is overseen by Joshua Bernstein, the executive chef, a New Jersey native and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America whose previous restaurant, 9 North in Wayne, was well reviewed before it closed in 2009. It is nicely organized and descriptive, grouping dishes by variety and price: five of the six pastas, for example, are $8; the five types of meatballs, $6; and the five salads, $5. At the high end, the eight grilled dishes, including swordfish with a tapenade of eggplant, capers and raisins and a simply prepared piece of branzino with chopped herbs, top out at $12.
Those last two were excellent. Most of the other plates we tried were hit or miss.
http://www.nytimes.c...=rssnyt&emc=rss
I've now been to Spuntino three or four times, and have generally liked it. The wine is better priced and more diverse than at Zinburger up the road, and there's a lot more on the menu. There's likely going to be something on the menu for even the pickiest eater, I'd suspect. Scott Veale notes the sprawling menu as a weakness, and it seems to be, based on his reporting.
In my case, I've been there for late lunch, and an early in the week dinner. The place has not been more than half full, which may be an advantage in getting items as desired from the kitchen. I've been told the wait can be an hour on weekends, and the staff has been known to hustle people out the door.
Shannon Rose, a sister company, has done well in the cloning business, so I suspect this will be similar. If it was a little closer, I'd probably be there a few times a month.
