Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 37

A PEPPERONI AND SAUSAGE PIZZA FROM JOE’S FAMOUS PIZZERIA IN VAUXHALL delicious appetizer of creamy ricotta served with slices of first-rate crostini and the tender fire-roasted meatballs bathed in a slightly sweet sauce. • 180 Maplewood Ave.; (973) 378-5800; arturosnj.com Joe’s Famous Pizzeria, Vauxhall When you’ve been slinging pizza for three-quarters of a century, you’ve gotta be doing something right. Joe Fiore, the owner of third- generation-owned Joe’s Famous Pizzeria, says there's no mystery to why his grandfather's venerable pizza joint has remained in business for 75 years. “Good ingredients,” he says. The cheese "is the best you can get.” The tomato sauce is homemade, and the thin-crust pies are cooked in pans. Nothing much has changed since Joe’s grandfather launched the busi- ness — except, that is, for the name. Originally, it was called Joe’s Drive In Pizzeria. Not because it was ever a drive-in, Fiore says, but because at the time — the late ’40s — drive-ins were popular. Grandpa thought it would attract customers. The pizza apparently does that on its own. “We don’t have Facebook, Instagram, a website,” Fiore says. “We’ve got four generations coming in here. Lots of parents tell us their little kids won’t eat any other pizza but Joe’s. It means a lot.” • 2062 Springfield Ave., Vauxhall; (908) 964-3157 Reservoir Restaurant, South Orange The Reservoir Restaurant started life in Newark 75 years ago. It won acclaim for being one of the first spots to offer “tomato pie,” today better known as pizza. Which is why this stalwart calls itself “Home of the Original Pizza Pie.” It moved to its current location in South Orange in 1965. The Reservoir Restaurant has made it onto many “Best of Jersey” lists and is a favorite on Yelp. Says one Yelper: “It’s different than a brick oven pie so you can’t com- pare... It is a thin crust pie, pan cooked, with just the right propor- tioned sauce to cheese ratio and seasoned just right.” • 106 S. Orange Ave.; (973) 762-9795, soreservoir.com Fiamma Wood Fired Pizza, Millburn The idea was simple. Open a cozy, casual restaurant where kids are welcome, grown-ups can bring a bottle of wine and the tab would be easy to digest. Six years ago, Charlie Magjuni of Roselle Park and Sam Beck of Garwood decided to actualize their dream and opened Fiamma Wood Fired Pizza on the corner of Essex and Main Streets in Millburn. (With a third partner, Tony Fetahaj of Union, they went on to open outposts in Westfield and Montclair.) Fiamma in Millburn is far from fancy — 14 nondescript tables in a dim dining room decorated with black-and-white photos and strings of white Christmas lights. And it’s far from expensive: The most you’ll pay for a 16-inch pie is $21.95. Though pizza is in its name, Fiamma’s is not a pizza joint per se. It’s an old-school red-sauce Italian spot that began life as a pizzeria but evolved into a full- service Italian restaurant. “People first come in for pizza but then order other food, too,” says Magjuni. If you ask me, you’re better off ordering the other food. A colleague and I sampled two Neapolitan-style pies one afternoon and found the dough soggy with a thin, watery tomato sauce and mozzarella that lacked richness. The pastas, on the other hand, were quite good. The rigatoni Napoli ($15.95), a generous bowl of nicely cooked pasta swathed in a homemade marinara sauce flecked with goat cheese, pitted Kalamata olives and fresh basil, was enjoyable comfort food. House-made ravioli Reggiano ($15.95), seven giant-sized pouches filled with ricotta and mozzarella and doused with a red sauce topped by strips of Parmesan, was similarly comforting. Who does the cooking? “We are the chefs,” Magjuni says. “We train the guys.” The guys cook eggplant parmi- giana ($18.95) served with linguine; gamberoni fra diavolo ($19.95), shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce; and the restaurant’s bestselling dish, pollo Fiamma ($18.95), Parmesan- encrusted chicken with artichoke hearts and broccoli. And they cook a dish that Magjuni says Fiamma always has to offer on the menu or as a special: fried calamari in a Balsamic glaze with sautéed sausages and cherry peppers ($12.95). We didn’t bring any kids the day we stopped in, though we could see kids loving this easygoing place. We didn’t bring wine either, though a nice rosé would have been lovely. As for our tab? It was easy on our wallets. • 32 Main St.; (973) 376-1110; fiammapizza.com ■ MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE SPRING 2020 35