Harvest- Moorestown, NJ

Moorestown Mall made a splash a few years back with the notice that they were starting to re-vamp the mall with new restaurants from big name local chefs. While Vetri’s satellite has since closed, Distrito by Garces and some other places still remain including local suburban staple Harvest. With locations throughout the Philly suburbs, the farm-to-table restaurant specializes in locally cultivated meat dishes. 

We went with friends from north Jersey, Eric and Dana, as they were in town for the night. Having a late reservation at 8:30, the place was surprisingly packed at that time and remained so for most of our meal. The server was knowledgable and patient with our decisions, guiding us as far as entrees go. An extensive wine list with well priced bottles was a notable plus early on in the meal.  In addition, there is a well-rounded cocktail list that included a “harvest fig bourbon’ which was a unique take on a classic old fashioned.

With a late dinner, the appetizers were chosen quickly and there were four of them in all. 

A baked goat cheese dish was a nice start and sated our hunger but was not exactly memorable. The charcuterie plate consisted of 4 meats, the liver pate was by far the best with appropriate accompaniments of pickles and mustard. The steak and mushroom flatbread pizza was also underwhelming, with too much cheese and not enough mushroom. Finally, the smoked duck pot stickers were one of the better ones, mainly because they were done just right and accompanied by an amazing cherry marmalade.

We all chose pretty boring entrees. The guys got the filet and the girls got the lamb shank. The lamb shank was on bone and served with a parsnip puree and cranberry demi glaze. While the lamb was done well, the cranberry demiglaze was a little too much on the sweet size. The dish didn’t seemed balanced because of this and made it hard to appreciate the dish as a whole. 

The filet, by contrast, had slightly charred outer but a buttery, tender preparation that was perfectly media rare.  The creamy garlic mashed potatoes and haricot verts serve as good accompaniments.  There was nothing too flashy about the filet, but it was very well prepared and presented.

The experience was overall underwhelming but not overly so. The service was good, especially considering we were kind of a pain in the ass to serve. The wine selection was quite good and the dishes were for the most part well executed if not exactly awe-inspiringly innovative or original. Not returning any time soon but would not say absolutely not if anyone wanted to try it out. 

S. Egidio- Ridgewood, NJ

On a recent visit to North Jersey to visit friends, we went out to a casual, unassuming Friday night dinner in the NYC suburbs.  The destination was S. Egidio, a small Italian bistro in downtown Ridgewood that seats 30-40.  There are no reservations, the wait was approx. one hour on this Friday night.  I did not know what I was getting myself into, assuming this wait was just typical for 8PM on a Friday night in early March.  However, one of their specialty pies is totally worth the 60-90 minutes it takes to get a table.  (Disclaimer:  We did not wait there physically for over an hour.  We called ahead and gave a name.  No tables will be held on a busy night but they seem loyal to first-come first-serve).

S. Egidio appeared on nj.com’s “On the Rise” amongst their NJ Pizza Power Rankings.  This is definitely saying something considering the vast number of pizza shops in all of New Jersey.  It did not crack their list of Top 25 pizzerias just yet but this may be simply due to the fact that S. Egidio only opened in 2014.  The chef and wood-fire oven both hail from Naples.  The authenticity of the pizzas are legit, at least with the simplicity of the ingredients.  The different creations the menu offers never deviate too far from authentic Southern Italian ingredients.  There are some unique ingredients (shaved truffle and chile infused honey to name a few) that add some wonderful character to the pies.  That’s about it.   The menu also offers a variety of appetizers and housemate pasta dishes.  We opted to share a few of each.

The Polpo E Patate was our appetizer of choice.  Until this point I never know the harmony that exists between chilled marinated octopus and rosemary potato.  The flavors work well together but they were also mutually exclusive.  We shared their potato gnocchi with basil pesto, pine nuts, permigiano and pecorino.  This gnocchi was an absolute homerun.  Super soft and creamy, the texture was more reminiscent of ricotta derived gnocchi.  The pesto was very simple and complimented the gnocchi well.  

Gnocchi with basil pesto

Octopus, rosemary potato

The Fiamma pie was how we kicked off the meal.  San marzano tomatoes, spicy soppressata, for di latte added some meat and depth to the pizza.  However, the chile honey stole the show.  Imagine the sweetness and earthiness of honey complemented by some heat in the aftertaste.  Nothing overwhelming, just a perfect blend of sweetness, heat and saltiness from the soppressata.  Our second pie choice was the Carciofotta, a very unique, rich pizza with artichoke creme, for di latte, pancetta, fresh egg and shaved black truffle.  This was one of the more unique pizzas I’ve tasted.  Any truffle (especially truffle oil which is quickly becoming my nemesis) can overpower the flavor of anything that would otherwise be delicious.  However, the artichoke and the pancetta balance out each slice perfectly.  You experience some truffle flavor initially, but that gives way to the saltiness from pancetta and artichoke.  The egg and cheese provide body and depth to the toppings.  More interestingly, the egg was composed of a batter rather than a typical fried egg.  

Fiamma

Carciofotta

The topping options are numerous and most any can satisfy any authentic pizza craving.  The show stealer, however, was the crust.  It was thin with enough firmness to support the toppings.  It was a perfect amount of chewiness/doughiness without tasting undercooked.  There was some flakiness to the outer crust without being particularly crispy.  This crust was hands-down the best I’ve ever had with a pizza.  This is saying something; we’ve visit a decent number of famous Philadelphia gourmet pizza restaurants and not one could match the quality, texture or taste of this crust.  In fact, the overall experience at S. Egidio would easily beat out any of the stops on our Pizza Challenge from last year.  The crust, ingredients and creativity are what big-name Napoli-inspired places like Pizzeria Vetri and Osteria attempted but so far have ultimately failed to accomplish.  Therefore, I beg to ask the question:  Is North Jersey and the New York City suburbs just that far ahead in their quality and expectations of standard gourmet pizza or is S. Egidio just that good?  Regardless, I must tip my hat to Rocco at the restaurant, you better make that Top 25 in May.