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These are big chunks of free range, organic chicken with peppers and a vinegar sauce served on the side. This seemed more like a French dish to me, but the chicken was juicy with a nicely crisped skin, and the vinegar sauce was not tangy. The restaurant has a kind of retro feel, from the reminiscent-of-the-80s revival art deco logo, to the cocktail menu; there’s even an old phone booth (which I loved) inside. The staff does some things well and others I didn’t really understand. It’s Italian, but they handle some of the classics in some non-traditional ways.
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Rather than set rules, more New York restaurants are using their restaurant story or narrative to encourage parents to bring kids to restaurants — or not. “How do you have something that’s family-friendly and still accommodates the 9 p.m. Baked clams were all about breadcrumbs; my guests and I made a game of finding the clams. Nettie’s chicken Savoy was the wrong side of pink the night we had it, and the vinegar sauce was wan. (However, it was served with a clever fried-to-order breaded confit of chicken leg.) Another evening, the spaghetti in clam sauce was watery and shudderingly gritty. (It has since been replaced with an intriguing-sounding spicy squid in tomato brodo pasta.) We also were served a link of housemade fennel sausage that had burst its seams and dried out.
This Restaurant Wants to Remain Kid-Free. Will Others Follow?
This carbonara, lighter than most, let its few ingredients shine. (Having grown-up with my mother’s carbonara, a more buttery, cheesy version she learned from a lovely lady in Milan in the 1960s, I found Nettie’s on the bland side.) Tortellini stuffed with mortadella, prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano floated in a mild broth. It would be as at home in Emilia-Romagna as it was in Tinton Falls. Pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, sausage, bacon --- which is cured in house --- and desserts, are all house made. Chef Calabrese oversees a limited menu of well-executed Italian dishes with a mix of regional Italian lighter sauce dishes, served as small plate offerings to encourage sharing and sampling. Executive Chef Chris Calabrese received his inspiration for cooking from his grandmother and her memorable Italian dishes.
Nettie's House of Spaghetti, Tinton Falls, NJ:A Restaurant Review
Restaurants banning kids seems like cyclical news, with this round noteworthy because many young kids just hadn’t been out in restaurants because of COVID. We were served a basket of really good sesame-crusted bread and picked our appetizers. The showiest was the Fried Hen of the Woods and shiitake mushrooms with lemon. It’s dusted with za’atar seasoning which does include oregano, but is more often seen in Middle Eastern dishes. These are deep-fried and super crunchy, and the mushroom inside were sweet and tender. I would have liked a little dipping sauce of some sort on the side.
Feeding the Kids
No kids allowed: New Jersey Italian restaurant bans children under 10 - FOX 5 New York
No kids allowed: New Jersey Italian restaurant bans children under 10.
Posted: Sat, 11 Feb 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
I had to be convinced by my guests to order the fresh mozzarella. Around the Garden State, everyone and their nonna makes it fresh, right? True as that may be, not as many manage to produce mozzarella with the same creamy, melting qualities of Nettie’s. Standouts included log-shaped arancini (not the traditional orb). A favorable increase in crunchy exterior relative to warm, cheesy interior. Minimally sauced meatballs were crusty and caramelized, delicately showcasing meat and parsley inside.
The flavors change daily, and we had chocolate espresso on our visit. It had a nice chocolatey taste and paired well with the delicious coffee. This includes mozzarella, sausage, ricotta and bacon, which is cured in house for spaghetti carbonara. The restaurant's namesake dish is also topped with traditional marinara, meat sauce, crab sauce or spicy arrabiata, and comes in small and large portions ($9 to $28). His restaurant offers a kids’ menu of greatest hits like pasta with butter, grilled cheese, sliders with American cheese, and chicken fingers.
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The dessert menu offers two choices, and we enjoyed them both. The Sicilian Orange Cake is a dense, heavy cake with a distinct orange punch. It comes covered with an aromatic orange glaze and is sprinkled with sea salt and served next to big scoop of whipped cream. It’s a pretty little thing, with a perfectly rounded scoop of ice cream, wearing a topping of whipped cream and a cherry.
But it’s more mid-century design conscious, less Olive Garden. Calabrese’s small-plate approach is a welcome break with Italian-American tradition. Bring people who love to share, and enjoy the varied wine list and each other’s company. For all my quibbles, my guests and I always left Nettie’s in a jolly mood. The combination of good food, happy staff and convivial atmosphere will do that. The chef has a heart for vegetarians (his wife is one), and the vegetable-focused appetizers were nearly all worthwhile, especially the meltingly soft roasted fennel on housemade ricotta, crowned with parsley gremolata.
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Nettie's House of Spaghetti is open for dinner 5 days/week. Closed Monday & Tuesdays.Reservations necessary. This popular restaurant fills up early, especially on weekends. Dishes are scratch made, with high quality ingredients, both imported and locally sourced ingredients that change seasonally.
We have served over 3 million meals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and over 9 million meals since the inception of our program. Providing access to nutritional food, stable housing, and job training for youth. The methodology used is research, analysis driven --- as opposed to that of a single restaurant critic or a social media platform, viewer comment posting board. "It's a scratch-made kitchen, every day," he said. "Everything is made in house. We don't open jars of anything. Tortellini is made every day, wrapped around the finger. Cavatelli is made with the paddle."
“Between noise levels, lack of space for high chairs, cleaning up crazy messes, and the liability of kids running around the restaurant, we have decided that it’s time to take control of the situation,” the announcement reads. My heart goes out to well-meaning, modern chefs like Chris Calabrese who open places like Nettie’s House of Spaghetti with a Southern Italian bent. While there’s room in this world for heaps of chicken parm blanketed in molten cheese, that’s just not Nettie’s.
Find classics respected, revered and fashioned with craftsmanship at once time-honored and modern at a restaurant that relies on the familiar without resorting to cliché. "I do like consistency, to have dishes people come in for week after week," Chris said. "This fell into our laps," Chris Calabrese, 40, said one recent weekday from his seat at the bar. Until owning a place of his own, he said, he had been "a cooking gun for hire." Nettie’s House of Spaghetti in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, isn’t a place others would want to hang with your kid. Sure, there are cushy banquettes and plenty of tables, and should we ever need to socially distance again, there’s ample space between them.
It’s easy to see how important dining out is to us all, and we hope 2021 will be a year full of great new recipes shared again in our favorite places. Pillowy bomboloni redolent of warm yeast and sugar were served with olive oil-enhanced whipped cream. The Sicilian orange cake, with its dense crumb and sticky orange glaze, was the star (especially when eaten with whipped cream from the bomboloni). In general, I would say that if you are looking for the creamy risottos, polenta and veal from Northern Italy, the coastal bounty of shellfish, octopus and squid, the robust pork, salami and ham dishes, or the cannoli, fruits and lobster of Sicily, this is not your place. But it’s a place to consider for a cocktail and a low-key dinner with friends.
It leans into the grade school motif in design and with a menu of dips, blooming onion, adult fish sticks, and a root beer float, childlike appetites. He also just recently just bought games for the restaurant like Connect 4 and Uno for kids to use in the space. Publications like Washington Post and Vogue have written etiquette assistance pieces for taking kids out in public while Eater has its own guide to kid-family restaurants in the city. Spaghetti arrabiata had a fresh-tasting red sauce touched with butter that balanced the heat of the Calabrian chilies. Others at my table liked the simple carbonara, the mango-yellow, egg-based sauce courtesy of some local chickens.
It certainly has its fans, and it was at capacity on our mid-week visit. Rather than a pounded cutlet, this dish is made with ground organic chicken thighs, formed into a circular patty and dusted with a good quality pecorino Romano and 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano, but there’s no gooey mozzarella. The patty was juicy, but its taste took me back in time too. At $25, I was surprised that it did not come with a side of pasta, especially in a place called Nettie’s House of Spaghetti.
Diner two selected a traditional Cavatelli with broccoli rabe, sausage and Parmigiano Reggiano. Though the pasta was well-cooked, the overall dish was so mildly flavored that he had to ask for some red pepper to give it a little kick. Our server made frequent, pleasant stops by the table, but we had to keep asking for things. I expected to be offered freshly ground pepper or side plates and serving spoons, so be sure to request all the little extras.
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