Bivio - Little Falls, NJ

A new brick-oven pizza restaurant opened up in Little Falls this month... I've been dying to try it! While they were 'Under Construction,' I kept peeking in hoping to see the oven, and praying that this new restaurant (within walking distance) was a gem.

GOOD NEWS! It's AWESOME! The owners had a vision of opening this pizzeria after many trips to Italy. They wanted to build a brick-oven, use all ingredients from Italy, and serve classic Neapolitan style pizza. They've definitely succeeded.

The restaurant is small - probably about 8-10 tables, as is the menu - not much to choose from outside of pizza and a few salads. It's a BYOB, my favorite.


We ordered two pizzas - Margherita & Porcini. The menu can be found here: http://biviopizza.com/BivioMenu.html. The pizza was delicious! We were able to watch the owner/chef make the pizza right in front of us. Then he popped it into the brick oven and 2 minutes later - deliciousness. Although I love thin-crust pizza, my heart may be leading in another direction now. The brick-oven allows for the pizza to get very crispy on the bottom but still fluffy on the inside. It was still thin but not the cracker-like style I'm used to.

The staff was super friendly also, which is always a bonus. I can't wait to go back to Bivio and HIGHLY recommend it to everyone!

New Dip

Just a quick post to recommend this dip to ANYONE and EVERYONE who loves spinach and artichoke dip as much as I do! The good news here is that this dip is yogurt based instead of sour cream and/or mayo - so it's so much healthier and you don't have to feel guilty about eating it! Kudos to Sabra for this, loving it :)

Dessert Pizza

Happy (belated) 4th of July everyone! I made an amazing dessert last night for our annual family BBQ and wanted to share it with everyone. Over the weekend I was visiting some old friends in Iowa and my friends mom made this. Instantly, I knew I wanted to recreate it :) It's simple and delicious and definitely a crowd pleaser!

What you'll need:
1 8 oz. package of Crescent rolls
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese (softened)
1/3 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of Vanilla
Assorted fruits, cut up in pieces

What to do:
Unwrap the crescent rolls and spread on a non stick baking sheet. Pinch together the perforated edges (where you would cut if you were making actual rolls). Bake this in the oven on 350 degrees for about 11-12 minutes or until golden brown.

While the "crust" is cooking, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Chop up your choice of summer fruits into bit size pieces to go on the pizza. I used strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and peaches because that is conveniently what my mom had in the house.

After the crust is done cooking, let it cool before spreading the cheese mixture and then topping with the chopped up fruit. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge until you're ready to serve.

Dinner at Marea

For Pete's birthday, I decided to take him out for a culinary experience, rather than just a "great dinner." With the help of my foodie friend Jenny, I chose Marea. Over the past few months, I've heard great things about Marea and knew it was a must-visit.

I kept the restaurant choice a secret and Pete was thrilled when I showed him the menu before we left the apartment. We both knew that we were going to be very full.

When we arrived at Marea, we were seated in the lounge area. We actually liked it more than the main dining room because it had a "hipper" vibe and we were able to people watch (It's near the bar). Since we knew this was going to be an intense meal, we opted for the recommended four-course pre-fix menu. We also agreed to not get the same dishes... We wanted to taste as many things as possible!

Appetizers:

ASTICE nova scotia lobster, burrata, eggplant al funghetto, basil
*Pete had the Astice, which was to-die for. I had serious food envy. Not that mine wasn't good, but his was out of this world.

UOVO poached egg, spring garlic, bone marrow, baby eel, passatelli, barley brodo
*I went a little out of my comfort zone and tried the Uovo. It was definitely a "cool"dish and had great flavors, although the consistencies threw me off a bit. I didn't realize there was eel in the dish and slightly regretted choosing it afterwards.


Pasta Course:

The pasta course was incredible, hands down the stand-out course. It was a really difficult decision to choose our dishes, but ultimately we took the waitresses advice and went with the two most popular and well-known options...

FUSILLI red wine braised octopus, bone marrow
*Pete ordered the fusilli, which The New York Times recently called "a revelation." They were so right. I don't even like octopus and this dish was rockin'.

SPAGHETTI crab, santa barbara sea urchin, basil
*The winner of the night for me! The spaghetti was so delicious. I never thought I'd say this, but it was better than the spaghetti at Scarpetta. I had never tried sea urchin, but Pete ensured me that I'd like it. He was spot on! The hint of sea urchin mixed into the sauce was perfect. I could have had an entree portion!


Entree:

All of the entrees sounded great, so choosing dinner was tough. We knew that Marea is known for their seafood, so we both chose from the fish menu.

CAPESANTE roasted sea scallops, marinated beets, frisee, grilled wax beans, yellow tomato, hazelnuts
*Pete had the roasted sea scallops and they were phenomenal. We both thought that there were little mushrooms on the plate as well, but looking back, they were definitely hazelnuts. Oops! The scallops were cooked perfectly, seared hard on the outside, but fluffy on the inside.

IPPOGLOSSO herb crusted alaskan halibut, broccoli rabe, soppressata, porcini mushroom, cipollini
*Another great dish. Once again, perfectly cooked halibut! And the fish was so light and fluffy... It was just delicious. Luckily, it was light because the pasta had filled me up a bit!


Dessert:

Picking our desserts was basically torture. EVERYTHING sounded great. Our waitress was really helpful and picked out two winners for us.

BOMBOLONI - fried doughnut holes, lemon cream, prickly pear sorbet, cassis
*These doughnut holes were so good! They were sugared on the outside and so light and airy on the inside! Paired with the sorbet and lemon cream... Amazing!

AFFOGATO - zabaglione gelato, espresso and amaro
*The affogato was similar to a grown up milkshake! As full as I was, I could not put this down.


Overall, our experience at Marea was incredible. Our waitress was superb... We even made sure to tell one of the managers on our way out. For a special culinary experience, definitely try Marea!

Rooftop dinner

Last night I had some friends over for dinner on the roof of my apartment building. I didn't get to take any pics but I do want to share the recipes. Both very easy but absolutely delicious. I found this recipe for chicken nuggets a few weeks ago and finally got around to making them last night. Follow the recipe and instructions exactly and you just can't go wrong. The only thing I did differently was that I didn't add Parmesan cheese in the bread crumb mixture - just not a huge fan of it.

The other dish I made was something I just found recently but knew instantly that it was going to be a big hit - arugula, walnut and gorgonzola pasta. Again, the recipe and instructions are perfect and I can't wait to make this again :)

That's all for now - ENJOY!

Mother's Day Mexican Fiesta

Last year my brother, sister, and I made an impromptu Mexican fiesta for Mother's Day. Everything turned out to be amazing so this year we decided to continue the tradition, but really plan it out. My brother did most of the researching but we both put the menu together. Sabrina and I did all the food shopping while Jesse stayed home to plant the lilac bush we bought my mom for Mother's Day. (Side note: For as long as I can remember, this has a been a favorite of hers - I'm surprised it took us so long to get her one of her own.) Anyway, I don't have pictures of all the individual things we made but here's the table and then tell you all what there was.

Not pictured - we started the afternoon off with a giant bowl of guacamole and a huge dish of sangria. When it comes to guac, I've found that the best way to make it is to mix in a few spoon fulls of the salsa of your liking into some mashed up avocados. Then I add in some roasted jalapenos, garlic, and salt. The sangria was made with two bottles of Spanish roija wine, sprite (zero), a few shots of brandy and cut up lemon, lime, apple, orange, and handful of strawberries.


DINNER

• Salad: baby arugula, baby spinach, mango, corn, and toasted pecans. For the dressing we combines olive oil, apple cider vinegar, juice of 2 limes, chili powder, and cayenne pepper - mmm!
• Yellow rice
• Beans
• Grilled zucchini, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, and jalapenos all marinated in tequilla, lime juice, and cilantro.
• Chicken breasts and skirt steak both marinated in an asada sauce (I WILL post the recipe for this sauce that we made, because it was TOO DIE FOR, just need to find it).
• Corn tortillas and whole wheat tortillas

And it was a make your own fajitas :) Everything was amazing and Mexican fiesta has officially become a tradition at the Toledano house for Mother's Day!

Well, I suck

As Jen previously mentioned, I too have been totally slacking on the updating. It's not that I haven't been going out or cooking, just busy I guess. Jen talked about a new restaurant in Montclair that she went to called Tosca - and when I was home a few weeks ago, my sister and I went there. Have to say that we had a GREAT experience. Brought a nice bottle of wine (red of course), shared a salad (unfortunately no pic, but it was superb), and then each had a main course. Sabrina opted for the salmon with veggies and potatoes, and while I do not like fish AT ALL, she said that it was great. She really raved about the mustard sauce that came with it.


I decided to keep it simple and went for the spicy salami pizza. This was phenomenal! The middle of the pizza was a little soggy, but with such thin crust, that tends to happen. Other than that, it really was very good. I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who's looking for Montclair eats.


That same weekend while I was home, we decided to make some spinach artichoke dip on Sunday afternoon. This really has become a family favorite of ours, especially because it is low fat and very easy to make. Ingredients include: 14 oz artichoke hearts drained and finely chopped, 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, 2/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 3/4 cup light mayo, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder. Mix all the ingredients together and spoon into a 9 inch baking dish. I usually sprinkle on some extra shredded mozzarella cheese on top to give it that brown effect that I love. Bake this for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees and serve with blue corn tortilla chips or whatever you'd like :)