Tucked in a corner of a strip mall in Waldwick, Celebrity Chef (and super cutey) Anton Testino (of Food Network’s Chopped and Fox’s Hells Kitchen) has opened a gourmet sandwich shop and casual restaurant – Mulberry St. Café.
Mulberry St. Café is a “Depression” era delicatessen- but we thought the decor was casual and cozy – featuring quality food for eat-in, take-out or delivery. Chef Anton is hoping to make his café into a franchise, with his eyes on opening 5 similar spots in the next 5 years. The concept is simple: quality ingredients for great prices. The menu features 5 different types of semolina sandwiches – that you can get whole for $8.99 or for the same price get a half sandwich and pair it with one of two soups, two risottos or two salads.
We sampled the “Jekyll & Hyde” Sliced Steak sandwich – premium skirt steak in a sweet & spicy apple balsamic sauce over sliced tomatoes & baby spinach with melted mozzarella and the Grilled Eggplant Mozzarella – ripe eggplant and roasted peppers in a balsamic vinaigrette over sliced tomatoes & baby spinach with mozzarella cheese, the Chicken Scampi Risotto (Chef Anton’s world famous risotto with Arborio rice, roasted chicken, baby spinach in a lemon garlic sauce), the Cream of Tomato & Garlic soup – thick and creamy tomato soup with fresh roasted garlic and herbs served with croutons and garnish as well as the Mango Cashew salad (baby spinach and arugula with diced apples, tomatoes, raisins in a mango vinaigrette with provolone and feta.
The Jekyll and Hyde was AMAZING! The meat was delicious and the sauce was a perfect combination of sweet and spicy. We totally understand why Chef Gordon Ramsey raved about Testino’s risotto! The risotto was fresh and creamy – not too heavy – with chucks of roasted chicken and savory spinach – it was hard to stop eating this delicacy! The salad was also incredible – we loved the combination of the cashews and raisins with two different cheeses and the vinaigrette was the prefect way to highlight the different ingredients.
Definitely recommend getting there for a quick delicious lunch or a light dinner – I would try to eat it hot – the sauces are really what make each dish and the longer they sit the less appealing they become.
Carla Sullivan is the dining editor for Bergen Mama and the founder of Minimunchers.com, a dining guide for families in NYC. She is also a mom of three living in Ridgewood.
Mulberry St. Café
10 Franklin Turnpike
Waldwick, NJ 07463
201-660-1444
www.Mulberrystreetcafe.com
Delivery available to Ridgewood, Waldwick, Ho-Ho-Kus and Wyckoff
Open 7 days a week for lunch/dinner
Opened Tuesday, Dec. 2nd
