REVIEWS

Best 11 North Jersey restaurants of 2016

Esther Davidowitz
Food Editor, @EstherDavido

Need proof that 2016 was a good year? Go eat out.

In the mood for a delectable stuffed pizza tonight, or would you rather dine on a tender piece of filet mignon enveloped in a blue cheese Béarnaise?  Oh, you're craving a buttery lobster roll. No problem. You can find those dishes and many more — buttermilk-marinated fried chicken, meatloaf layered with ham and cheese, steamed spinach dumplings, to name (and salivate over) just a few — in the diverse restaurants in and around North Jersey that The Record has found to be among the best this year.

Indeed, 2016 has been one heck of a year. Eleven restaurants that this newspaper reviewed in 2016 have received at least three out of four stars. The following are excerpts from The Record's reviews.

BEST OF 2016: Cheap eats

FOOD CRAWL: Turkish scene around South Paterson

FOOD COVERAGEComplete NorthJersey.com food coverage

ARIANE KITCHEN & BAR *** ½

Where: 706 Bloomfield Ave., Verona, 973-744-0533, arianekb.com

Price: Appetizers $10 to $14, entrées $16 to $38.

Behold the dish that clinched chef Ariane Duarte's victory over Bobby Flay!

A regal filet of beef, perched atop a cake of Yukon gold potatoes and leeks, lavished with delectable blue-cheese Béarnaise sauce ($38). Last month, judges on the Food Network's reality show "Beat Bobby Flay" declared it better than a competing dish from celebrity chef Flay. And today it's one of the many highlights at Ariane Kitchen & Bar in Verona, a culinary playground opened 14 months ago by Duarte, the telegenic "Top Chef" alum who keeps her food, cocktails and décor fun and her cooking dead serious.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Ariane Kitchen and Bar in Verona

Behind each dish: thoughtfully composed ingredients. The chunks of tuna are as flawless as those served at the best sushi bar ($14). Pickled shallots, the spicy North African chili paste known as harissa and that fried green tomato balance out the rich Kobe-style burger patty for one of North Jersey's most craveworthy burgers — I barely minded that mine had been cooked past the medium I had requested ($16).

PORTO BY ANTONIO ***

Where: 8921 Old River Road, North Bergen, 201-941-7107, portobyantonio.com

Prices: Appetizers $7 to $13, or $22 for an antipasto for two; entrées $12 to $23.

The two must-order dishes at Porto by Antonio in North Bergen? Stuffed pizza and fried pizza.

Sure, this sounds suspiciously like a place intent on destroying pizza as we know it. But Porto, a small, 16-month-old restaurant tucked right off River Road mere feet from Edgewater, couldn't take its pizzas more seriously.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Porto in North Bergen

Its owner, Antonio Dinis, makes his own dough from delicate flour imported from Naples and slowly ferments it for a deep flavor. Then he covers it with his house-made mozzarella and blasts the pies for 90 seconds in his domed turquoise oven, also imported from Naples, until they have the most gorgeous blistered crust. His basic 12-inch Neapolitan pies are stellar — in particular, the super-rich pizza smothered in pistachio pesto and draped with paper-thin slices of the Italian pork cold-cut mortadella ($23) is worth a try. But his stuffed Vesuvio and the fried montanara are unforgettable.

ANGELO’S GREEK TAVERNA ***

Where: 245 Maywood Ave., Maywood, 201-845-4278

Price: Appetizers $4.95 to $13.95, entrées $6.95 to $16.95 (specials run higher).

Angelo's version of the traditional baked pasta known as pasticcio, a warm, meaty dish covered with a thick layer of creamy béchamel.

Fresh artichokes emerge hot and charred from the grill, smattered with herbs ($9.95). Greek salads — complimentary with most entrées — feature impeccably fresh vegetables tossed with evenly distributed crumbles of briny feta. Whole branzino, though small, takes a ride under a broiler and then a grill for a supple, luxurious texture ($27.95 with salad and two side dishes). And that's before a perfect, syrup-doused rendition of the Greek semolina custard known as galaktoboureko ($4.50).

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Angelo's Greek Taverna in Maywood

While the entrée selection is, as in most Greek restaurants, heavy on fish and meat, vegetarians will be delighted by a platter of moist, flaky cheese and spinach pies that includes a heap of smoky zucchini grilled to order ($13.95). The traditional baked-pasta dish known as pasticcio, a warm, meaty concoction under a thick layer of creamy béchamel sauce, is a must-order on cold nights ($13.95), and the usual lamb shish kebab was supremely moist ($16.95). Dishes come with your choice of side or sides — seasoned fries, lemon potatoes, rice, spinach — and we didn't have a bad one.

COMMUNAL KITCHEN ***

Where: 162 Main St., Nyack, N.Y., 845-535-3133, communalkitchennyack.com

Price: Appetizers $6 to $17, entrées $17 to $28.

Roasted rainbow carrots at Communal Kitchen in Nyack, N.Y.

Vegetables take center stage in several excellent dishes, including sugar-sweet multi-hued carrots crisscrossing a lush bed of whipped feta cheese ($15) and fried cauliflower, dipped into a mix of yogurt tahini and pomegranate molasses ($14). Owner/chef Jed Gidaly ferments the winter's Brussels sprouts into a fiery kimchi that contrasts beautifully with rich miso-flavored pork belly crisp skin ($16). And he serves an assortment of house-pickled cucumbers, carrots and cauliflower alongside a glass jar of his heady smoked trout mousse, flavored with parsley and dill ($17).

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Communal Kitchen in Nyack

Our house-made blackberry crisp ($9) was good, but the accompanying ice cream — from the Hudson Valley company Jane's – is worth ordering on its own ($8). And the velvety chocolate ganache cake filled with peanut butter ($9) is worth planning a dinner around.

JACK’S LOBSTER SHACK *** ​

Where: 1040 River Road, Edgewater, 201-224-2808, jackslobstershack.com

Price: Appetizers $7 to $12, entrées $8.50 to $18.50

A Maine lobster roll at Jack's Lobster Shack in Edgewater comes with house-made sides: piquant coleslaw and crackling potato chips.

At Jack's Lobster Shack, you can find bountiful lobster rolls, whole steamed lobster, even a grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with lobster. You can dine amid lobster traps and buoys — even if they’re just decorations — and peer into a tank of the live crustaceans brought in regularly from Maine. The full table service is quick and friendly, and the no-frills, no-tablecloths atmosphere is great for families. The 35-seat BYO serves 200 steamed lobster dinners and 400 lobster rolls each week, all on checkered red-and-white paper lining red plastic baskets and metal bowls. Those rolls ($18.50) are 4 ounces of lobster meat crammed into split-top hot dog buns and served with two superb house-made sides: piquant coleslaw and crackling potato chips.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Jack's Lobster Shack in Edgewater

The buttery Connecticut style was my favorite; the Maine, lightly dressed with mayonnaise, may be yours. I was just as thrilled with nearly all the other dishes I tried, starting with appetizers: The crunchy coating of fried oysters (a $12 special) did not obscure, but only enhanced, the taste of the delicate mollusks. A rugged breading encased a much more crab-filled crab cake than I expected for $11; it’s also served as a sandwich ($12). And creamy New England clam chowder did not skimp on the clams ($7).

BIDDY O’MALLEY’S ***

Where: 36 N. Van Brunt St., Englewood, 201-608-5545, biddyomalleys.com

Price: Appetizers $6 to $14, entrées $11 to $25.

The “Goffle Road Farm’s chicken” at Biddy O'Malley's in Englewood is pan-roasted with a mixture of wild mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and fingerling potatoes.

Executive chef Wilson Lindemann brings a chef’s panache to what sounds like fairly humdrum dishes. The best example is what the menu simply calls “Goffle Road Farm’s chicken,” this time pan-roasted with a hearty mixture of wild mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and fingerling potatoes. It was a deftly seasoned, comforting-but-not-heavy dish that could be enjoyed year-round — and is gluten-free, too ($22). Five enormous gulf shrimp and blistered cherry tomatoes were the hallmarks of a delicious orecchiette pasta dish topped with briny feta ($23). And the Biddy O’Malley’s burger continues to be a major standout, topped with pancetta and malbec butter that harmonize with the beef ($13). In one recurring special, a Goffle chicken thigh was confited, then fried for an unusually succulent texture, then placed atop buttermilk cornbread and garnished with grilled peaches; a chipotle-honey butter added a sweet-savory flourish ($13 as an appetizer, hearty enough for an entrée for those with smaller appetites, especially if ordered alongside a salad).

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Biddy O'Malley's in Englewood

TURTLE + THE WOLF ***½

Where: 622 Valley Road, Montclair, 973-783-9800, turtleandthewolf.com

Prices: Appetizers $4 to $14, entrées $20 to $27, large-format dinners $45 to $72 a person.

The chicken liver dish at Turtle + The Wolf in Montclair.

The stars of the menu at the Upper Montclair BYO Turtle + the Wolf — chicken liver mousse, white clam lasagna, brisket, fried chicken — are a significant change from the usual crab cakes and filet mignon you’d find at most upscale North Jersey New American restaurants. They also may seem less extravagant — but in fact, they’re so exceptional that they could make me forget about crab cakes and filet mignon for good.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Turtle + the Wolf in Upper Montclair

Roasted pig is one of two large-format dinners that must be ordered in advance ($72 a person, a minimum of six people). The other, fried chicken, is $45 a person, which sounded like a ridiculous sum, even if the chicken is house-butchered and buttermilk-marinated. However, that includes salad, half a chicken for each person, three seasonal side dishes, flaky biscuits and a shared dessert. It was all so delicious I left calling it a bargain. Also outstanding: Chef Lauren Hirschberg’s flavorful braised brisket, from Painted Hills Farm in Oregon. Order it in any season — we were fortunate to try it in spring, heaped with butter-braised wild ramps ($27).

FROM SCRATCH ***

Where: 44 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, 201-857-5188, fromscratchridgewood.com

Prices: Appetizers $15 to $18, or up to $28 for a large platter that can be shared among several, menu entrées $16 to $22.

At From Scratch in Ridgewood, diners can feast on Italian culinary creations from Rome-born Claudia Rovegno.

Rome-born Claudia Rovegno wraps smoky ribbons of zucchini around fat slices of buffalo mozzarella ($17), and tops a bountiful salad of arugula and pears with shards of crumbly aged Parmigiano-Reggiano ($15). And her tagliere misto, meat and cheese served on a wooden platter, is a must. It includes three thinly  sliced meats — generally, the air-dried beef known as bresaola, mortadella and a Tuscan prosciutto — and four organic cheeses from small farms in Italy.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: From Scratch in Ridgewood

Our standouts: a soft, rich goat cheese called Nabbabo and an aged caciocavallo. All of it was beautifully tied together with two jams — one mandarin orange, the other zucchini mint ($28, could feed at least two). When it comes to entrées, two excellent choices: a bronzino fillet in a piquant white-wine/butter sauce with lemon and lime juices, alongside a delicate eggplant-tomato gratin ($30), and a super-moist meatloaf layered with ham and caciocavallo ($18).

AQUARIUS  ***

Where: 230 Main St., Fort Lee, 201-592-8338, aquariusrestaurantnj.com 

Price: Dim sum items $2.95 to $9.25 each; most dinner items $4.95 to $36.95

Dim sum at Aquarius, from left clockwise: spinach dumplings, shrimp shumai, shrimp dumplings and steamed creamy custard buns.

Fort Lee’s dining scene is hot right now, and Aquarius is a major reason.  Owner Leo Le says his kitchen makes the dim sum in-house, and there’s an ample supply of several dozen offerings even on weekdays. The best: the shrimp shumai, open-topped dumplings filled with large pieces of shrimp ($4.25); steamed spinach dumplings with green skins and bright-green spinach inside ($4.25); the steamed buns known as bao, with a sweet egg filling ($3.50); and the dim sum classic of flaky egg custard tarts ($2.95). The rolled rice noodles filled with shrimp are also a good option ($4.25), and multiple types of cubed gelatin desserts are offered, including a wonderfully floral one studded with osmanthus flowers and goji berries ($2.95). One of the best options for dim sum in North Jersey, as well as one of only a few in Bergen County, this modern restaurant offers an expansive selection of solid Cantonese dishes.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Aquarius in Fort Lee

FINK’S BBQ AND CHEESESTEAK ROADHOUSE ***

Where: 32 Orange Ave., Suffern, N.Y., 845-533-4033, finksbbqroadhouse.com

Price: Appetizers $9.45 to $13.95, entrées $7.95 to $22.95.

Brisket is served at Fink's BBQ and Cheesesteak Roadhouse in Suffern, N.Y.

Anyone who might be wondering how Dave “Fink” Finkelstein became a cult favorite barbecue-pitmaster need only head to Fink’s BBQ and Cheesesteak Roadhouse in Suffern, N.Y., and order smoked meat. Any smoked meat.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Fink's BBQ and Cheesesteak Roadhouse in Suffern

Brisket. Pulled pork. Spare ribs. Or best of all, gigantic hulking short ribs that you can gnaw as a Flintstone would. All are infused with rich smoke flavor and complemented by house-made barbecue sauces, one of which I was tempted to drink right out of its little metal pitcher.

Set a spell: the bar at Fink's.

Start with the wings, which are smoked, then fried crisp ($9.95 with your choice of sauces). With this flavor, good luck going back to wings that have just been fried. The Texas lollipops, smoked bratwurst chunks wrapped in bacon ($9.45), are another meat-lovers dream. We gave one smoked starter a try, a plate of oily crab cakes, and found them a waste of stomach space when you could be eating meat ($11.95).

VIAGGIO ***½

Rosemary olive oil cake served with gelato at Viaggio in Wayne.

Where: 1055 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, 973-706-7277, viaggioristorante.com

Price: Appetizers $10 to $18, entrées $19 to $29. $75 customized Chef’s Table tasting menu available with at least 24 hours' notice.

Interior of Viaggio, a strip-mall restaurant that seeks to present food as it’s cooked in Italy.

Drop everything, head to Wayne’s new Italian spot, Viaggio, and order the chicken. Yes, the chicken. Yes, this is a rare and ringing endorsement of what is the most notoriously boring dish at most restaurants. And no, it’s not Parmigiana or Francese. Those Italian-American favorites happen to be banned from the premises of Viaggio, a strip-mall restaurant that seeks to present food as it’s cooked in Italy. With his chicken, chef-partner Robbie Felice presents an unforgettable interpretation of cacciatore that involves brining the breast and stuffing a delectable herb-cheese-breadcrumb mixture under the skin, then serving it over mushrooms whose flavor has been amped up with chicken-leg confit and ground pancetta ($29). As for desserts, ignore the too-salty pine nut crostata ($11) and try the phenomenal house-made cinnamon gelato ($11, preferably without its heavy-handed topping of candied nuts and apple chips) — or the delicate panna cotta ($9; ours was flavored with sweet potato). The star? A luscious rosemary olive oil cake ($9) that is Felice’s tribute to the acclaimed Babbo pastry chef Gina dePalma, who died last year.