dining
peaches , pristine frisee leaves and a heady lemony vinaigrette would have sufficed to delight , but toss in some crumbled feta and candied walnuts and you ’ ve got asweet , salty , crunchy , peppery wonder that isemphatically not boring .
Another summertime delight is the delectable hamachi crudo that is served mingled with acool cucumber relish enlivened with grapefruit zest and grapefruit vinegar . It is so refreshing , ice water seems redundant .
Iloved the crispy Asian rice squares that accompany the wonderfully sweet , golden-crusted scallops bathed in apunchy nam-jim vinaigrette . They look like croutons and taste like savory cake .
It ’ sironic that my least favorite dish at Gioia Mia was Fascino ’ s most popular : ricotta gnocchi . Like so many , Iloved Ryan DePersio ’ s version , swathed in asweet sausage ragu . I even named it one of North Jersey ’ s best dishes in 2019 . Ramirez offers the pasta nuggets in acacio epepe sauce . Amistake . While the gnocchi were light , the barely-there cheese-andpepper sauce was so bland , it was almost like eating air .
My favorite dish ? Considering how many good dishes I ’ ve had , choosing a No . 1is tough . But , if forced to choose , Imight give the gold medal to the profoundly tender pork chop . The thinly sliced meat is served atop ashallow pool of velvety corn puree turned a gorgeous orange-red as aresult of the Latin American condiment annatto . It is flecked with charred pineapple and pickled Fresno chili . If there were a beauty contest , it would win that , too .
In afollow-up phone call , Ramirez told me that he plans tochange the dessert menu , even though my sweet tooth was quite content with the fudgy flourless chocolate cake and skillfully caramelized creme brulee . Still given the chef ’ s competence and talent — at , may Iadd , the ripe old age of 26 — odds are good the new desserts will send sweet tooths into aculinary reverie .
Ryan DePersio has nothing to fear as well . He ’ sleft his baby in good hands . And North Jersey food lovers , too , have nothing to fear . Indeed , we have lots to celebrate . ■
CHICKEN LIVER MOUSSE
CHEF LOGAN RAMIREZ
CHOCOLATECAKE TOPPED VANILLA ICE CREAM
24 FALL 2023 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE