Osteria, Fairmount's Pizzeria Opens a Second Branch in Moorestown Mall, Moorestown, NJ

[monavano]

Over Christmas Mr. MV and I visited Osteria. In a word: fantastic.

We started with the bread- two kinds of rustic bread and grissini, served with a light fruity olive oil. The salted bread was soft, chewy and fresh.

The pizza was simply the best I've ever had. Seriously. We had the Lombarda which has mozzarella, bitto cheese, cotechino sausage and a baked egg in the middle. The pizza dough was thin and done perfectly throughout the pizza. The crust had some nice blisters and the egg was immensly rich. The size is about 12 inches around, in case anyone goes and wants to gauge how much to order. Pizzas are cooked in a 700 degree wood fired brick oven. We will be back for the pizza alone, let alone the rest of the menu.

We also split a lobster spaghetti special, which has a whole lobster with meat taken out, shell on bottom topped with spaghetti and chunks of lobster in a light tomato sauce. This was a big dish.

Next we had suckling pig which was brined and braised. It was intensely flavored with fennel and a hint of garlic.

We ended with a cranberry and hickory nut tart/cake toppped with zabaglione gelato.

All meats (except proscuitto which is cut to order on a killer Berkel slicer positioned among the tables), gelato and many pastas are made in house. I am now in search of cotechino sausage. It's flavored with cloves and nutmeg.

The space is warehouse meets warm tones and wood on a red wine stained concrete floor. There are 2 bars- one around the L-shaped kitchen and one in the back.

For the above meal plus two glasses of prosecco we paid around $150. We were stuffed.

I can not wait to go back. Between the pizza, antipasto, primi, secondi, contorno, dolci and daily specials, there are too many ways to enjoy this gem to go only once.

And...of course we had a roast pork with sharp provolone and rabe at DiNic's in Reading Terminal Market.

[Walrus]

We weren't able to get to Fork (no babysitters available) but had an absolutely amazing dinner at Osteria. Butternut squash pizza, rabbit, capon ravioli, mozzarella and tomatoes, sweet polenta pudding, and a trio of sorbetti. All amazing. And worth the trip up north!

[monavano]

A friend & I are heading up to Philly for a quick getaway and concert on Saturday night. I've gotten tons of ideas for breakfast/lunch on Sunday, but need a place to grab a bite before the concert somewhere near the hotel (17th & Race) or the Broad Street Line. Want to stick pretty casual, sit down American or Italian (can't imagine there's good Mexican up there?)...not too expensive.

Any suggestions?

Vetri's Osteria is just a block from the Spring Garden stop on the Broad St. line-If I were anywhere near this place I wouldn't miss it, especially the pizza.

"Osteria Review: Northern Exposure" by Maria Gallagher in the May, 2007 Philadelphia Magazine.

See my post here.

[MelGold]

Vetri's Osteria is just a block from the Spring Garden stop on the Broad St. line-If I were anywhere near this place I wouldn't miss it, especially the pizza.
http://www.osteriaphilly.com/press/philade...rthern-exposure

See my post here.

They're completely booked on Saturday (even at 5 PM)...we might keep it as a back up & eat at the bar. Anywhere else???

[monavano]

They're completely booked on Saturday (even at 5 PM)...we might keep it as a back up & eat at the bar. Anywhere else???

You should be able to get a comfortable seat at the back bar if you go early 5-5:30ish. There's also bar seating in front of the kitchen, but it's not like you can see right in-the back bar is preferrable. I can understand if you want a secure reservation tho.

[Walrus]

Another fabulous meal at Osteria last night -- I never thought of myself as a fan of rustic cooking (French, Spanish, Italian, etc. -- none of it appealed) until I found this restaurant. I just love the food there. Ok, it was a little hard watching Tripewriter dissect his whole fish in front of me, with the beast's mournful eye staring right at me, but luckily I was entranced by both my delicate, moist, flavorful oven-baked skate and this fabulous side dish -- borlotti bean schiacciata with rosemary and garlic. We also had the squash pizza again -- I just love the butternut squash pizza sauce! I haven't seen it anywhere else, and I think it's a fabulous idea. Oh, and we each had ravioli -- his sweet, mine savory -- just divine, as always. Vetri's pasta dishes are so delicate and refined -- they just melt on the tongue! Both Osteria and Vetri are reasons I'd want to live in Philly.

[Joe H]

A small group of us worked our way through approximately 20 different dishes including two pizzas at Osteria last night. Three of the approximately ten pizzas use dough that rises for three days-the others are all one day. An absolute knockout was the "le pizze napoletane mortadella" featuring a "sicilian pistachio pesto", mozz and mortadella. I would rank this specific pizza alongside the several I have had at L. A.'s Pizzaria Mozza. The three day dough rise allows for an incredible crust with layers and layers of flavor on top with the pesto. A great pie. The "lombarda" which uses a one day dough rise and is made with baked egg on top, bitto cheese, mozz and cotechino sausage was excellent although a step down.

There is not a single pizza in the D. C. area that even begins to approach this one pie at Osteria. For anyone going I am being very specific in noting the three different pizzas on the menu which have the "three day dough rise." I believe the comparison to Pizzaria Mozza is a fair one.

We tried five different pasta dishes; best was the outstanding "chicken liver rigatoni with cipolline onions and sage." "Sweetbread saltimbocca" was also excellent if a notch below.

Best dessert was "polenta budino with gianduia mousse and candied hazlenuts." Blood orange was the best of four gelati flavors we tried.

I must note however that several dishes were truly disappointing including a second course of "wild northeast skate with lentils and radish salad" and an essentially tasteless carpaccio. The room has a great deal of character although the transitional neighborhood may create a desire for valet parking for some. At 7:30 every seat was taken with reservations necessary several weeks in advance for Friday and Saturday.

Osteria's competition for the Mid Atlantic James Beard award are Restaurant Eve, Obelisk, Bryan Voltaggio's Volt in Frederick and an Israeli restaurant in Philly called "Zahav." Osteria's chef/owner also owns the thirty seat Vetri which, for those unfamiliar with it, is similar to Komi in that reservations book up within several hours exactly one month in advance. Many consider it to be Philly's best restaurant.

[mdt]

A small group of us worked our way through approximately 20 different dishes including two pizzas at Osteria last night. Three of the approximately ten pizzas use dough that rises for three days-the others are all one day.

I am guessing that the rises are done in the fridge. Do you happen to know what they do?

Cold fermenting the dough is an easy way to increase flavor by letting the yeasties work long and slow. I know it certainly makes a huge difference in my baking at home.

[Waitman]

...

Osteria's competition for the Mid Atlantic James Beard award are Restaurant Eve, Obelisk, Bryan Voltaggio's Volt in Frederick and an Israeli restaurant in Philly called "Zahav." Osteria's chef/owner also owns the thirty seat Vetri which, for those unfamiliar with it, is similar to Komi in that reservations book up within several hours exactly one month in advance. Many consider it to be Philly's best restaurant.

Apparently you had a better experience than I. The one pizza among our B+ meal -- a fine grade for an Osteria, to be clear -- would have come in fourth or fifth in any DC-area competition for which I was judge.

[Joe H]

Apparently you had a better experience than I. The one pizza among our B+ meal -- a fine grade for an Osteria, to be clear -- would have come in fourth or fifth in any DC-area competition for which I was judge.

Again, I am being very specific: there are three pizzas which have the "three day dough rise." The other ten or so do not. One of these three was fantastic and equal to Mozza. The other was not. I should add that I am not a big fan of Two Amy's pizzas especially since having one within 24 hours of eating at Mozza.

I tried to be fair in my comments about Osteria and our reaction to the various courses. There were several outstanding dishes. There were also two that were huge disappointments (to be kind...). A number were good to excellent. Overall we thought that someone visiting it and ordering specific dishes could leave loving the place. For other dishes one could leave with a different opinion. For myself I really might agree with your overall rating.

[jparrott]

Tried the mortadella pizza at Osteria just now. Short verdict: excellent crust, perhaps a tick higher than 2Amys but only just. The mortadella itself is house-made and out of this world--earthy, salty, deep.

But.

Too. Much. Cheese.

Quite simply the amount of cheese on the pie meant that it took on a leaden texture just a few minutes out of the oven. I would gladly have paid 3/4 the price for a pie 2/3 the size with 1/2 the density of cheese. For those of you scoring at home (or even if you're by yourself), that's a total of 1/3 the total cheese amount.

I wonder if the good denizens of Philly have steered them down the chock-full-of-cheese path.

All that said...I can give you a two word reason to make the short hike up Broad.

Porchetta. Tonnato.

[silentbob]

A small group of us worked our way through approximately 20 different dishes including two pizzas at Osteria last night. Three of the approximately ten pizzas use dough that rises for three days-the others are all one day. An absolute knockout was the "le pizze napoletane mortadella" featuring a "sicilian pistachio pesto", mozz and mortadella. I would rank this specific pizza alongside the several I have had at L. A.'s Pizzaria Mozza. The three day dough rise allows for an incredible crust with layers and layers of flavor on top with the pesto. A great pie. The "lombarda" which uses a one day dough rise and is made with baked egg on top, bitto cheese, mozz and cotechino sausage was excellent although a step down.

The mortadella/pesto pizza and chicken liver rigatoni were among the best dishes we had last year! Thanks for the recommendations.

[dwt]

Osteria

I love this place. If there is anything like it in DC, please let me know. The combination of a casual and attractive dining room, good food (wood-grilled or roasted meats/fish, excellent pastas), an exemplary Italian wine service, really floats my boat. And this place gets it with regard to the Italian style of dining, with portions that are conducive to consuming app, primo, seconda, dolce courses without over-indulging. I can't say enough about the wine service. We had an extensive discussion with one of the two someliers on duty and his choice in response to our expressed tastes was spot on: a 2008 Eugenio Bocchino Langhe Nebbiolo that was heavenly and, without the somelier's guidance, I would never have chosen on my own.

When next in Philly, we must break away from Osteria and try another of Vetri's venus. I'm especially keen on sampling Amis.

[Rhone1998]

The mortadella/pesto pizza and chicken liver rigatoni were among the best dishes we had last year! Thanks for the recommendations.

I would echo this sentiment exactly about these two dishes at Osteria. Joe H, if I ever meet you, I'm buying you a drink. Best recommendation ever. The crust on that slow rise dough pizza was so layered it was almost, but not quite, like eating pastry. I don't know how to describe it except to say it wasn't like any other pizza crust I've ever had. And the earthiness of the chicken liver sauce was awesome.

In fairness, a couple of other dishes we had didn't come close to living up to those two. Grilled octopus was about five pretty skimpy pieces for the $16 price, under seasoned (I didn't get any of the advertised cured lemon) and not all that tender. And while I liked the crispy skin that came with my spit roasted pig (an off-menu special the night we went) the three day brine the meat underwent left it overwhelmingly salty. But, I'd go back in a heartbeat to try more pizzas and pastas at this place.

[DonRocks]

[These paragraphs were copied from The Mother Thread as part of larger posts.

Use the Snapback Function (the little icon at the top-right of each entry) to view each post in its entirety.]

Osteria:  One of my favorite places. We were fortunate to snag a table Friday evening in the glassed-in patio area I mentioned up-thread. We shared warm dandelion green salad with pancetta, fava beans and pantaleo goat cheese; robiola francobolli "postage stamp ravioli" with royal trumpet mushrooms and thyme; east coast mackerel with grilled spring onion, asparagus and baby zucchini; and the special spit-roasted pig with oven-roasted potatoes. Everything was very good.  For me, the pig was a standout -- a generous portion of full-flavored, moist meat.  My only quibble is the plating is remarkably dull, with brown pig pieces and brown potatoes.  It could have used some garnishment; my preference would be to chuck the boring potatoes and substitute greens. My only other quibble for the evening was the long wait between antipasto and prima.  Otherwise, we had a great time.

Osteria "“ I had mixed feeling about Osteria.  The food was good to very good.  The star of the night was a bowl of tripe in tomato sauce topped with a sunny-side up egg.  Exactly want you want on a chilly February evening.  The bad was the actual restaurant. The tables are jammed together, we had about 8 inches between tables, and it felt like I was sitting closer to the person on the left and right of me than my dining companion across from me.  On one side was a couple in the middle of some sort of relationship disagreement (the guy actually got up and left before paying the bill, leaving it for his date to deal with!), on the other side was a four-top who had clearly had more than several glasses of wine in a shrill sort of way.  Perhaps we can chalk it up as being seated at an unfortunate table, but the main dinning room (with the open kitchen) was not relaxing at all.  I'm glad we went, the food was good, but I'm not in a hurry to return.

Thanks to this community, ate like kings this weekend in Philly.

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Lunch at Osteria was outstanding. OMG, those pizzas. And a very nice pear and walnut pesto ravioli. But the highlight of the meal was actually candele with wild boar bolognese.

A delayed visit to Philly yielded much gluttony (see below) and a little (horti)culture. Overall, I'm really impressed by Philly and I'm glad we made the trip.

Osteria - okay, I'm a believer now. As much as I love the some of the pizzas in the DC area, Osteria's crusts and toppings are just at another level. The Pizze Tradizionali (overnight) crust is cracker thin and crisp, a perfect delivery device for the octopus and smoked mozzarella toppings. The Pizze Napoletane (48 hour) crust has the crustiness and deep flavor of a good pain a l'ancienne bread. The pastas were also excellent but the pizzas - WOW!

Mr. MV and I stayed in Philly for a few days over Christmas. We were at the Loew's across from Reading Terminal Market, so we got to visit a lot. Food highlights were:

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Osteria was delightful as usual. We were really torn about ordering a pizza or starting with small plates, but we went with the latter. A Salumi plate had house-made speck, porchetta, salami and head cheese served with an artichoke mostarda. A patty of cotechino was served over polenta and topped with an egg.

For my main, I had leg of venison served over braised cabbage and accompanied by a cranberry chutney. Mr. MV had a whole fish (breem?) but was served whole, which had him a bit flummoxed as to how to get the filets off and avoid the small bones, but he enjoyed it. The service is multi-tiered and excellent- truly a well-oiled machine.

Osteria shouldn't be just an afterthought. A well-seasoned plate of fennel, beets, potatoes, beans and other roasted vegetables served at room temperature, ethereal mushroom ravioli with beef marrow, a plate of different roasted parts of baby pig, some licorice-scented, and a polenta budino, or pudding, made for a satisfying meal. Veal Milanese, in my opinion but not in the opinion of my wife, who ate most of it, was a bit dry. Otherwise, the cooking was just about faultless. Considering the rusticity of the food, I had not expected to find the well-oiled machine that keeps this place humming at full throttle. It's on the expensive side (Hendricks martinis are $15), and located in a half-way abandoned neighborhood, about one mile from city hall, down broad street heading out.

We ended up at Osteria afterall & had an absolutely delicious meal for about $125 with tip & tax. We ended up at the front bar since the back bar was already full at 5:05 when we arrived. Since I wanted to try a bit of everything, my friend was kind enough to humor me & share an order of the mozzarela bufalata with swiss chard crostini; the parma pizza with mozzarella, fontina, arugula, and prosciutto di parma; a sweet & rich squash tortelli with butter, sage and amaretti; and the chocolate flan (aka the chef's molten chocolate cake) with a scoop of fabulous pistachio ice cream & crushed pistachios to cap it off. To drink, we started with their Venetian spritzer, which is red or white wine, campari and blood orange with soda. I had the red which was a really refreshing way to start...my friend ordered it with white & had the unfortunate chance to taste what happens when you add too much campari (YUCK!), we also both had a glass of Tocai with dinner which made the tortelli dish magical. Our seats were right in front of the pizza oven & to the immediate left of the expo so it wasn't really a relaxing meal. If you go, which I highly recommend you do, get reservations (try for the enclosed patio area) and enjoy. Also make sure to think ahead about how you're getting home. Taxis are few & far between - we ended up having to walk back to the hotel which wasn't far but the heels I was wearing weren't quite hiking boots (and I have a healing broken toe)!

[dwt]

Still digesting a weekend escape to Philly.  Overall, fantastic time, if chilly.  Stayed at The Westin downtown, located between City Hall and Rittenhouse Square.  Excellent location, lots of stuff within walking distance, and everything else you might want to see is less than a $10 cab ride away.

Osteria "“ I had mixed feeling about Osteria.  The food was good to very good.  The star of the night was a bowl of tripe in tomato sauce topped with a sunny-side up egg.  Exactly want you want on a chilly February evening.  The bad was the actual restaurant. The tables are jammed together  

I guess you were seated in the room closest to the entrance, within view of the wood-fired oven and grill. Those tables are close together. I've been seated there twice and it's not the most comfortable place to be.  If it makes you feel any better, we spotted the owner of the Cowboys, Jerry Jones, seated in that section one night (his team was in town to play the Eagles) enjoying the same elbow room as the hoi polloi at the other 2-tops.  There are two other rooms that are much more comfortable, assuming they haven't changed the configuration since I was last there.  One room you reach by walking past the wood-fired grill/oven area and make 2 right turns.  It doesn't have great ambiance, but it is quieter and the seating isn't as cramped. The other room is to the left of the central seating area.  It's a sort of glassed-in patio adjacent to a church on the south side of the restaurant, and it's the most attractive and commodious of the 3 rooms. When making a reservation, I suggest asking for seating in that room.

[DonRocks]

Well, it looks like the dilution of quality has begun.

Our readers can now find Osteria in the Multiple Locations Dining Guide with the rest of the chains.

Source: Philadelphia Magazine » Foobooz

Marc Vetri, Jeff Benjamin, Jeff Michaud and Brad Spence open Osteria at the Moorestown Mall today. Like the Philadelphia location, Osteria offers house-cured meat, handmade pasta, pizza and entrees of meat, fish and vegetables.

Mike Deganis is the chef de cuisine at the Moorestown Osteria. Deganis was formerly the head chef at Alla Spina. Desserts are overseen by pastry chef Dominique Piscetella. Vetri Family beverage director Steve Wildy oversees the  100-bottle wine list.

It is the first location for the Vetri Family outside of Philadelphia and it will be interesting to see if New Jerseyites take to dishes ...

Read full article >>

[DanielK]

Since Vetri wasn't ever at Osteria to begin with, why do you think it's impossible that he's found a second chef de cuisine that can execute what they do at the first Osteria?

[DonRocks]

Since Vetri wasn't ever at Osteria to begin with, why do you think it's impossible that he's found a second chef de cuisine that can execute what they do at the first Osteria?

Very few things in this world are impossible.

[DanielK]

Be serious.

You stated that the dilution of quality has begun with the second Osteria Vetri. Since Vetri was never at Osteria to begin with, the existence of the first Osteria Vetri should have been the dilution of quality. Except that reviews here (and elsewhere) have been pretty fabulous, so he clearly found a chef to execute his vision for Osteria.

Is it that big a jump to believe that Vetri could have found a second chef to open a second Osteria?

[mdt]

Review of the new Moorsetown Mall location here. Interesting info on the difference in the price of wine between PA and NJ.

[astrid]

A revisit to Osteria wowed us again.  The pastas we sampled were all delicate and silky and perfect.  The tuna pastrami appetizer is a fabulous combination of flavors and textures.

We might have to budget a whole dinner to Osteria next time, so we can get to the secondi and desserts.

[astrid]

Absolutely no regrets over getting a whole dinner here, though we stuffed ourselves (again) before we got to secondis and desserts.  The pastas here are all as wonderful as ever, almost of all of them available in half portions (which are still pretty big).  The standout appetizers are the truffled steak tartare and the hazelnut scallop crudo, though the porchetta tonnato is as good as always.  And the polpo pizza is still a dreamy combination of octopus, sauce, cheese, and a hit of heat.

[Ericandblueboy]

Some time ago I went to Osteria and wasn't impressed with their pizza.  But the current menu appeared interesting so I took the kids there for dinner.  We started with (i) grilled broccolini caesar $15 and (ii) smoke pork ribs with peaches, sorrel and red onions $19.  The kids loved the sweet and savory pork ribs, and the fresh peaches.  I enjoyed the broccolini but could not even eat half of it because it's really quite a lot of food and of course we ordered 3 pastas as well:  (i) corzetti (round disc pasta) with lobster and thin discs of artichoke (looks like pasta too) $22, (ii) rigatoni with small broken chunks of chicken liver, onions and sage $19, and (iii) cresto di gallo (chicken comb shape) pasta with white pork bolognese, fennel and rosemary $17.  So the lobster corzetti had a decent amount of lobster but the dish was a little fishy.  The chicken liver rigatoni is their house special and as noted, a very good dish.  We also enjoyed the white bolognese pasta.  What's really amazing is how they're able to keep prices so low during this era of high inflation.