Piccola Italia
Unica Cucine Italiana
837 West Park Avenue
Cobblestone Village
Ocean NJ 07712
732.493.3090
Hello fellow food lovers! I hope that today finds you all well and unscathed by the wrath of Irene. Hopefully, everyone was as over- prepared as we were (The Captain made sure of it), and you have enough water, batteries and food to last you through to next Hurricane season, or blizzard, whichever comes first!
Anyway, Friday night in the midst of all of the hullaballoo about Irene, Joe and I had a hankering to go out to eat, which is unusual for Joe, but not so much for me. I knew that I was in for a weekend of being stuck inside and cooking everything in the house, so I was determined to go out beforehand and NOT cook on Friday night if I didn’t have to. After debate about where to go, a little dance that we usually go through whenever we are going out to eat, we settled on what I thought was Piccolo Italia. We loaded into the car and started on the 5 minute trip to the restaurant, except on West Park Avenue the Captain went into the left turning lane! I quickly questioned where he was going, he said, “that Italian restaurant that we haven’t been to in a long time”. I said “Piccolo Italia is in Cobblestone” he said “I was going to Mike and Nellies!” OK. So this went on for a while back and forth and we finally established that he thought the restaurant we were going to was Mike and Nellies and Liz, Joe and I thought we were going to Piccolo, so obviously majority ruled. We went to Piccolo Italia.
We haven’t been to Piccolo in probably close to 10 years, so there have been quite a few changes. The most notable one is the size of the restaurant. When we were there last the restaurant was a very small storefront in the corner of Cobblestone plaza in Ocean Township. The restaurant has doubled in size moving into the storefront next door. The décor is nice and tasteful, warm colors and wood, wine bottles and a nice mix of modern and traditional art and elements. It was early, around 5:30, so there weren’t too many people there yet. More people began to filter in as we were finishing up and I think that if New Jersey wasn’t in a state of emergency and if the Governor hadn’t told everybody to “get the HELL off the beach!” then it probably would have been a lot more crowded.
I can’t remember what was on the original menu specifically, but I could see that the menu had changed a bit, I am not sure if they have changed hands or chefs from the original restaurant. The menu , though changed, still looked really good.
We were greeted right away and the busboy asked if we wanted sparkling or tap water, we chose tap. The server came over and she took the drink order; I was the only one to order a drink, I chose just a house Pinot Grigio and it was good, I failed to get the name of it however so I will try to get it and make a note later. When the server came back she told us what the specials were in addition to the menu selections, one of which we ordered. After she brought the drinks we were ready to order, we ordered the Eggplant Rollantini appetizer that was on special, Cockle Clams with Toasted Garlic,Basil, Roasted Corn, Jersey Tomatoes, wilted arugula and bacon appetizer (on the menu this is PEI mussels and cockle clams, but none of us are crazy about mussels so we asked if we could just get the clams, no problem). For our entrees The Princess chose the Porcini Seared Day Boat Sea Scallops with Truffle Mashed Potatoes, Beurre Blanc, Port wine reduction and Sautéed mushrooms. I chose the Grilled Double Cut Pork Chop with smoked Gouda and bacon Risotto, French beans and a Maple Ginger Reduction. The captain asked if he could just get Linguini with white clam sauce (no problem) and Joe ordered the rigatoni with just marinara sauce (also not on the menu but no problem).
After we ordered the busboy came over with a large crusty roll for each one of us. They were very good, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, it’s a good thing that they only give you one, because you really could fill up on bread that good. While we were waiting for our appetizers, another server came over and gave us each a plate from the chef, it was a taste of something that (I guess) the chef was working on, a shrimp fritter with a black bean and tomato Pico d’gallio and remoulade sauce. The shrimp fritter was delicious and the beans and tomatoes fresh and cold and tasty, Liz and I got to split Joe’s (because he don’t do that).
Soon after our little shrimp teaser our appetizers came out.
The Eggplant Rollantini and Cockle Clams in Broth with Toasted Garlic, Basil, Roasted Corn, Jersey Tomatoes, wilted Arugula and bacon.
Wow! What can I say about these appetizers……a lot! I will start with the eggplant; there were two rolls for us to share, which was ample for an appy. The eggplant was lightly breaded and rolled with tomato sauce and ricotta cheese with mozzarella cheese melted on top. It was one of the best I have tasted. Sometimes I hesitate to order Eggplant when I go out to eat, sometimes it’s cut too thick or the breading is overpowering and worst of all sometimes they leave the rind on the eggplant. This eggplant had none of those unappealing elements and all of the best elements in what I consider a classic Italian dish.The eggplant was very sweet and cooked well, not mushy or overdone, the cheeses were fresh and the sauce had just the right amount of tang to it.
As good as the Eggplant was, the Cockles were just amazing. Sweet, little gems from the Sea (too dramatic?, I think not), but those jewels combined with the other ingredients in a savory broth…Thank God they didn’t bring out more bread, we would have eaten a whole loaf with that broth! The smoky bacon with the wilted arugula (no bitterness at all to the arugula) combined with fresh corn that was crisp and the fresh tomatoes, it was a taste sensation. This dish hit all the right notes, one of the best clam dishes I have ever had, I would order this as a whole dinner, no question.
Just the right amount of time passed and they brought out the dinners, I will start with Liz’s Scallops.
Porcini Seared Day Boat Sea Scallops with Truffle Mashed Potatoes, Buerre Blanc, Port Wine Reduction and Sautéed Mushrooms.
The presentation of this dish was beautiful in a “longboat” dish that barely fit in the spot on the table. The Sea Scallops were cooked perfectly and the potatoes were creamy but not too much. The Port wine reduction was a good accompaniment to the truffle potatoes and after giving The Captain and me a taste, the dish was gone pretty quickly, so I am going to say that she liked it.
Linguini with White Clam Sauce.
The Captain ordered this even though it wasn’t on the menu, and I thought it was great that they would make it special. The clams were fresh, clean and tender and the linguini a nice al dente. There wasn’t one drop left so I am thinking that he liked it, although I think next time he will probably see if he can order that cockle appetizer over linguini next time we go here.
Rigatoni (?) in Marinara Sauce.
This was Joe’s pick, my boy loves him some pasta! The waitress said he could have his choice of Rigatoni or linguini, he chose the rigatoni, however this pasta looked to me like penne rigati, whatever, it doesn’t really matter to Joe, as long as its pasta with sauce and cheese, he doesn’t care what shape it is. Again this was something that wasn’t on the menu per se, but they made it for him no problem. The pasta was good and al dente, if I were eating it I would probably have liked more sauce, but for Joe it was enough. Actually the whole plate was more than enough; we got a doggy bag for a large portion of the plate.
Grilled Double Cut Pork Chop with smoked Gouda and bacon risotto, French beans and Maple Ginger Reduction.
This was my choice, after going back and forth between this, the veal chop or the braised pulled chicken. The Chop was HUGE, but it was cooked perfectly, seared nicely on the grill and juicy even though there was no visible pink (I ordered it med/well so there would be no pink). The chop and the beans were very tasty with the maple ginger reduction. The flavors in the risotto however weren’t working for me. It’s possible that the smokiness of the gouda and the bacon together were too much for me, but it wasn’t my favorite part of the meal, that said, the risotto was cooked good (its sooo hard to cook risotto correctly), just the flavors didn’t really meld for me.
For desert we ordered (really I ordered) the Gelato trio which had vanilla, chocolate and caramel Gelato with 3 biscotti. It was everything Gelato should be, creamy and rich and I think that the biscotti were homemade, tasty and crunchy with almonds and chocolate. J
So, all in all, our last meal out before the “once in a lifetime storm” (to quote the weather channel) Irene was delicious. Piccolo Italia is a little pricey, NYC prices, but it was definitely worth it. The food and service is a cut above your average Italian joint and it’s a lovely place to go for a special occasion. We have gone here in the past with larger parties and they were always very accommodating and the food quality has always been good. It seems that we will definitely be going back to Piccolo sooner rather than later. I won’t be waiting another 10 years to have those cockles again, that’s for sure!
Have you been to Piccolo Italia? If so, how was your experience?
Happy Eating!
Chrissy
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