We hear two of Jersey’s buzziest eateries are teaming up for a one-day collaboration.
Rutherford’s cult spot Casano’s Pizza Parlor, which was reviewed in Dave Portnoy’s “Bite Pizza” series earlier this year, and chef Robbie Felice’s Japanese-Italian favorite Pasta Ramen are teaming up on November 3rd.
The mashup will take place at Casano’s, a pizza shop owned by owner Dave Regas. The pizza shop is decorated to look like a 1970s living room, an homage to his grandmother, her home and her recipes.
Celebrities who have frequented the location include Adele, Halsey, cosmetics mogul Bobbi Brown, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Melissa Gorga, “Breaking Bad” star Aaron Paul, BMX rider Nigel Sylvester, and former Giants players Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan.
The Jersey chefs said in a video posted to Instagram that the collaboration will create Japanese-style pizza. One foodie said, “This collaboration is a mashup of Casano’s old-fashioned Italian-American atmosphere and Felice’s ‘Japanese’ Japanese-Italian flair, resulting in a menu that is both exclusive and topical.”
PastaRAMEN is part of the Montclair Hospitality Group, which also operates Ani Ramen and celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto’s Chophouse MM.
“Iron Chef” star Morimoto also just opened a new restaurant, OEN, a 12-seat omakase restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey, last week. I hear there are already 2,000 guests on the waiting list.
PastaRAMEN previously held a “secret” Manhattan pop-up restaurant in 2023, hidden inside a SoHo hair salon, and also opened a pop-up restaurant in Las Vegas.
Mr. Portnoy gave Casano’s a 7.9 rating when he visited the location and tried two different styles of pizza, including a New Haven-style pie.
“Everyone loves pasta and ramen. Those are two names everyone can say. It’s fundamental and it screams what we do, so we went for it,” James Beard Award nominee Felice previously told the Post about the innovative dishes, which include menu items like cacio e pepe fritti, truffle porcini ramen and dry-aged Japanese A5 Wagyu beef.
He says that Italian and Japanese cuisine, which may seem disparate at first, sometimes have similar bases, such as shiso, which combines the flavors of basil and mint.
