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VUE | Winter 2020

The Digest | New Jersey Magazine

Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1197024

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During my conversation with Gaccione, I asked her to cook me four to five dishes so that I could get a taste for what she brings to the table; so, she cooked me 11. As Gaccione glanced over the menu circling items she would cook for me, she was saying things like, "Oh, this is a must-try" or "this one just changed and I'm so proud of it." She is confident in her cuisine, and that's what makes it hers. e spicy lamb meatballs which are paired with crisp cucumber and tangy greek yogurt were everything I want in a starter. Laudable complexity of spice in the meatballs itself are cut like a knife with the cool, creamy yogurt. One of the few nearly perfect bites of food I have had in recent memory, and I quickly realized why this dish has not changed a cent in five years' time. While the meatballs may stay the same, change is inevitable for the rest of the menu. Four seasons, four menu changes, each re-thinking over 75 percent of the menu. Just as diners get familiar with a dish, it is stripped away from them only to be improved with the next season. e local burrata makes a perfect example of this. Luscious burrata cheese is the star of the show here, but it would be nothing without the maple roasted pears and pumpkin seed granola that are currently being paired alongside it. A dish that shouts cries of V U E N J . C O M 118

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