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.;
[phone]; 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.; [phone],
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
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