(excerpt)

Readers' and Critics' Choice -
Restaurant Poll Winners 2008

Posted July 10, 2008

Our critics do a lot of eating, and every August we look back and share the best of the best with you. And you do the same by voting in our Annual Readers' Choice Restaurant Poll. Discover which restaurants we honored and which are your favorites.

Here are the results of our 25th Annual Readers' Choice Restaurant Poll, which were tabulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers in Florham Park. The winning restaurant in each of three regions (North, Central, and South), received the majority vote in its category; we have also added our critics' picks. All readers who submitted a ballot became eligible to win dinner for two in our random drawing. This year's winner is Salvatore Manente of Secaucus. He will receive a gift certificate to Scalini Fedeli in Chatham, the restaurant chosen as the Best of the Best in the North.

key:  north    central      south    critics' picks

BEST ITALIAN
Scalini Fedeli, Chatham
Catherine Lombardi Restaurant, New Brunswick
Frescos, Cape May
Osteria Giotto, Montclair; Ristorante da Benito, Union; Angelo's Fairmount Tavern, Atlantic City

RESTAURANTS; Local Hero

February 24, 2002
By DAVID CORCORAN

"WHERE has this place been all my life?" asked a friend, a battle-hardened veteran of hundreds of New Jersey restaurants, as we left Ristorante da Benito after a long evening of superb food and wine.

The answer is simple, if surprising. Benito has been here for ages -since 1985, to be exact, when it opened under the unassuming name Benito's. But in 1998, it was apparently struck by a bolt from space, an event that transformed it from a solid neighborhood restaurant, the sort of place that turns up on every other comer in every other town, into a destination.

That was the year the owner, Benito Hissen, brought in a visiting chef from Verona, in northern Italy, to ground the menu in the cooking of Mr. Hissen's own native region. (He grew up in Manzano, near the Austrian border.) He brought in a designer to remake the restaurant from the inside out. And he hired a full-time chef, Richard Biondo, a young American with French training, to run the kitchen and plan the daily specials.

This sort of full-body makeover can easily backfire, adding nothing but an extra digit to the cost of a meal for two. But in this case the gamble paid off, for it's clear that Mr. Hissen knew exactly what he was doing.

He is a splendid host, for one thing, the sort who hovers in the background seemingly attending to a thousand things at once, but instantly there when you have a question about a dish or a bottle of wine. (His wine list is one of the state's most impressive -- long, painstakingly chosen and fairly priced.) He seems genuinely happy to see you, and regularly sends out little presents to diners who show an interest in the food and wine -- plates of bruschetta or gnocchi, and even, for a newcomer who asked essay questions about the wine list, a half-bottle of dessert wine to go with a giveaway tray of biscotti.

The redesigned restaurant is large -- 46 tables -- but divided into three manageable, and very different, spaces. We felt lucky to be seated in the wine room, by far the most romantic of the three, a candlelit grotto with French windows and wooden racks for hundreds of bottles of wine; they give off a faint glow, like stars. The brightly lighted barroom and a third room, called the Sala d'Oro for its golden wallpaper, seemed noisy and impersonal on quick inspection.

But the surroundings quickly fade when the food starts arriving. The chef, Mr. Biondo, may have learned from Frenchmen, but he's plainly at home in the high Italian idiom of Benito's menu. An appetizer of sauteed jumbo shrimps over fava beans seizes your attention like a thunderclap, with balsamic-and-herb-dressed beans playing off against crisp garlic crostini and firm, perfectly cooked shrimp. It's a great, elemental dish.

A soup of toasted barley and shiitake mushrooms, ladled tableside from the pan into your bowl, is bolstered by a stock with the powerful, transporting aroma of roasted turkey. Caesar salad for two, another tableside production, is rich and potently garlicked.

In an apotheosis of the dish that virtually every checked-tablecloth Italian restaurant in North America used to serve as clams Casino, six littleneck clams are baked gratin style with shiitakes, red peppers and brandy. Unlike bread crumbs and dried oregano, these are ingredients that make for contented clams. Our only disappointment among the appetizers was portobello alla Genovese, a good grilled mushroom topped with veal patty minced to the consistency of baby food.

Pastas are easily substantial enough to be main courses. A special of orecchiette with scallops and wild mushrooms was suave and well balanced. But we were dazzled by the swirling contrasts of flavors, textures and colors in a pasta from the regular menu: earthy whole-wheat penne with beets, walnuts and Gorgonzola, an "Iron Chef" miscellany of ingredients that turned out to be made for one another.

Mr. Biondo has a sure hand with seafood. Beautifully cooked striped bass draws just enough extra flavor from lemon emulsion and parsley pesto; shoestring potatoes and sauteed escarole add their own textural contrasts. Baked cod is smartly offset by a chickpea puree, with shiitakes and braised celery root.

Four small lamb chops of very high quality come with ideal accompaniments: wild mushrooms and an eggplant tart. Even humble chicken breast is tender and flavorful here, glazed with lemon, rolled around fennel and served with a fine, unexpected combination of wild rice and Savoy cabbage.

Oddly, the only main course that fell short was the simplest and most expensive, the $38 veal chop. Nothing wrong with it, exactly; the meat was certainly first-rate. But unadorned on the plate except for a garnish of good broccoli rape, it became a monolith, a mountain to climb. I lost interest halfway up. Veal osso buco, another piece of meat the size of Hulk Hogan's fist, had far more going on: it was ropy and moist, atop a fine risotto Milanese.

Benito's pastry chef, Pascal Durand, is not only French-trained; he is French. Somehow, he learned how to make terrific ricotta cheesecake, a moist and creamy affair with a delicate undercurrent of orange zest and Grand Marnier. His chocolate flan, Valrhona chocolate cake, apple tortino and tiramisu are equally good. And his sorbets are even better, especially the mango -- deeply flavored and almost miraculously smooth.

Is Ristorante da Benito the best Italian restaurant in the state? To know for sure, you would have to do graduate study at a dozen or so top contenders. What is certain is that in a few years' time Benito Hissen has turned his plain old standby on Galloping Hill Road into a thoroughbred. It's a stunning accomplishment."

Ristorante da Benito
222 Galloping Hill Road, Union
(908) 964-5850

EXCELLENT

ATMOSPHERE Haute Italian, in a large, recently remodeled three-room space.
SERVICE Cordial and knowledgeable.
SMOKING Allowed in the bar.
WINE LIST Broad, balanced and fairly priced, with good bottles in the $30's.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Caesar salad for two, barley-shiitake soup, shrimps with fava beans, vongole (clams) gratinato; orecchiette with scallops, whole-wheat penne with roasted beets; roasted lamb, veal osso buco, cod, lamb chops, striped bass, lemon-glazed chicken breast; chocolate flan, chocolate cake, almond torta, apple tortino, tiramisu, ricotta cheesecake.
PRICE RANGE Dinner appetizers: $6 to $12; entrees: $20 to $38; desserts: $8. Lunch a few dollars less.
HOURS Weekdays, noon to 10 p.m.; Saturdays, 5 to 10:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 to 8.
CREDIT CARDS Major cards.
RESERVATIONS Recommended.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS Accessible, with everything on one level.
RATINGS Poor, Fair, Satisfactory, Good, Very Good, Excellent,, Extraordinary.

Ratings reflect the reviewer's reaction to food, ambience and service, with price taken into consideration. Menu listings and prices are subject to change.

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January 2002
By Valerie Sinclair and Anthony Giglio

Share Ristorante da Benito's rice-pudding-and-berry napoleon special with that certain someone. Photograph: Erik Rank

On a chilly winter evening, a cozy dinner might be just the thing to lift the spirits and warm the soul. A romantic meal can take place anywhere, but it often involves a restaurant where two people can dine leisurely and intimately in an attractive setting. For some diners this means a quiet, softly lit room appropriate for hand-holding or ear-nibbling, for others a sophisticated place with tasteful background music and a sense of excitement that adds spice to the evening. For couples with young children, such a meal provides a few hours alone to talk and laugh without interruption, and for longtime couples, it can be an evening spent rediscovering what drew them together in the first place.

Although the Garden State abounds with restaurants suitable for a romantic occasion, we would happily book a table for two at any of the four we review this month.

Ristorante da Benito
Union
1/2

Food: Italian
Ambience: Bright and lively
Service: Impeccable and European
Wine List: Excellent variety
Price Value: Expensive but worth it

I'm not sure I'd describe Ristorante da Benito as romantic in the Hollywood sense—dim lights, candles, a pianist, and men on bent knee at every other table—but somehow my wife and I feel special here. From the moment we're seated, we're pampered by a staff of impeccably professional men in white jackets who glide through the room like swans. And actually, that's why it's romantic. The waiters and captains flit around us silently, awaiting signals that we need something but never bothering us with opinions, advice, or idiotic questions like, "May I take that completely empty plate, sir?" In essence, we feel intimately secluded in an otherwise vibrant dining room.

Our waiter approaches without menus and asks whether we'd like cocktails before dinner, thus setting the pace for a long, languid meal. While sipping a round of Americanos (Campari and sweet vermouth), we listen to a handful of daily specials, then order. Immediately a plate of crispy fried zucchini disks arrives, compliments of Chef Richard Biondo, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who worked for some of New York's top French chefs, including Alain Sailhac of Le Cirque fame and Jean-Jacques Rachou at La Côte Basque. Biondo shares the kitchen with co-chef Carlos Rodriguez, formerly of New York's Giambelli.

We begin with a plate of giant jumbo shrimp sautéed with creamy fava beans perched atop a fabulous garlic crostini splashed with balsamic vinegar. Golf ball-size dollops of savory baked goat cheese quiver in coats of shredded phyllo dough drizzled with a red-wine vinaigrette. I love the inventive semi-carpaccio of tuna, served with a cucumber emulsion and a celery-root salad. The only appetizer that doesn't thrill me is the air-dried filet mignon bresaola stuffed with mascarpone and Gorgonzola, because the cheeses completely mask the delicious beef flavor.

A fantastic minestrone soup served right from the pot contains vegetables that the chef evidently has just sautéed in olive oil before covering them with stock; it's the freshest soup I've ever tasted. The Caesar salad for two, prepared with great fanfare at a central table, is absolutely delicious.

One night we decide to eat Italian-style, sharing a pasta dish before the meat or fish course. Chef Biondo's pastas are, in a word, flawless. Try his linguine with clams or angel-hair pasta with chopped shrimp and fresh tomato sauce. Or better yet, ask whether the excellent special of ravioli with sage and butter is available.

Main courses include a good deal of veal, as is typical of an Italian menu, where veal is listed far more than chicken or beef; I'd recommend any of them but especially the simple, fragrant scaloppine with wild mushrooms and fresh herbs, mushroom-sautéed scaloppine stuffed with prosciutto and parmigiana, fork-tender osso buco with saffron-scented risotto ala Milanese, and the delicious, giant broiled chop. The grilled lamb chops are great too, as is the medallion of beef with a wonderful potato tórta. Though I seldom order chicken out, I'd highly recommend the fennel-stuffed, lemon-glazed breast of chicken, served atop a bed of wild rice and Savoy cabbage. I'd also steer you toward any of the fish entrées, especially the mouthwatering striped bass bathed in lemon emulsion and parsley pesto.

For dessert, nothing suits me more here than the plate of vanilla, almond, or chocolate biscotti—fresh-baked and not rock-hard—served with sweet, nutty Vin Santo wine, into which you dip the biscotti between bites. Bravo!

—Anthony Giglio

222 Galloping Hill Road, Union (908-964-5850). Open Monday through Friday, noon to 10 pm; Saturday, 5 to 10:30 pm; Sunday, 2 to 8 pm. Wheelchair access easy. American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa. Dinner for two without wine averages $90.

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"Beautiful terra-cotta decor" is part of the dramatic redesign at this exquisite Italian in Union that's a hit with those fond of tableside preparations that includes the last of the real Caesar salads. Even better, the services makes you feel like royalty.

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Benito's Italian kitchen evokes cinematic glories
by Teresa Politano/For The Star-Ledger
Thursday September 18, 2008, 1:38 PM

THREE AND A HALF STARS

Remember that hot chocolate scene in Tom Hanks' "The Polar Express"? It's a whimsical song-and-dance routine, where waiters serve steaming cocoa on a moving train with impossibly perfect timing and rhythm.

The dining room on a busy night at Benito's is like that. Waiters whisk and deliver, weaving and bobbing from table to kitchen, with such impossible pace and efficiency that you're sure they'll crash. But they don't. It's as if it were choreographed.

Dining is often theater, and dinner here also sparked memories of another movie. "Big Night," starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, is a great foodie movie where the chef, from Italy, insists on authenticity and perfection. If you ever wished to find a restaurant with the Italian kitchen philosophy of the movie "Big Night," Benito's would be a contender.

The food here is simply stellar. This is not your typical Northern Italian menu; many dishes are the kind that take hours to make, and you can just picture the kitchen filled with stuff like homemade veal stocks, lamb shanks and bone marrow.

Despite all that, Benito's still seems to be an undiscovered secret. Maybe that's partly thanks to location -- it's in Union, after all, a sprawling township. And the building itself is easy for drivers to miss; yes, it's modern and crisp, but it sits unassuming at the corner of the crazy intersection of Five Points.

Still, this is a restaurant that's been here since 1985, and, in addition to the mindful and impeccable service, also has a more-than-impressive wine list. If the rest of the state hasn't discovered this place, the locals have. Benito's gets quite crowded on a weekend night, with many folks who celebrate every occasion here, and even some who simply consider this fine-dining spot a weekly neighborhood hangout.

Part of the reason is Benito Hissen himself, a handsome, gracious and well-heeled host in the grand European tradition of such things. Hissen brings to the restaurant an old-fashioned, formal elegance, one that seems to regretfully be lost nowadays. But don't interpret that as being fussy or stuffy. Hissen is generous, authentic and warm. Nor is the restaurant itself fussy; the decor inside is as modern, crisp and clean as the outside.

Five types of bread arrive before the appetizers, with an olive oil and herb sauce, and a crisp bruschetta topped with fava beans.

Crab cakes ($14) were crisp outside, succulent and tender inside. The accompaniment, a julienned carrot and apple salad in an orange-mustard vinaigrette, was surprisingly simple and refreshing. The goat cheese, beet and asparagus salad ($10) was also crisp, and came with more-than-generous squares of goat cheese.

Pastas here are homemade, and the fettuccine with homemade veal ragu ($24) is one of those dishes you'll remember forever. This is an amazing, call-your-grandmother kind of dish, so savory and rich, with layers and layers of flavor. The braised short ribs ($32), a special for the evening, were one of those kinds of dishes as well. This dish was served with the bone, but honestly did not require visual proof that it was so tender as to have just fallen off. What a hearty, delicious dinner.

Desserts are impressive as well. The pignoli tart ($8) was studded with pignoli nuts and was as soft and airy as the best pignoli cookie you've ever had. Molten chocolate cake ($8) was sweet, chocolately, rich and warm.

We left Benito's with the same feeling we get at the end of a great holiday dinner. Happy and oh-so-well fed. And feeling as though the world is a better place.