Acqua Ristorante

Cozy ambience, pampering and high quality food come at remarkably reasonable prices in Raritan.

By: Faith Bahadurian
   Acqua Ristorante is situated alongside busy Route 202 in Raritan, but is set back behind berms and gentle landscaping so that once inside it’s easy to ignore the traffic whizzing by. Housed in a boxy yellow building with deep blue and orange trim, the restaurant opened in 1996. Executive Chef Luis Degante took over the helm just before my visit, I later found out, and so far seems to be maintaining high standards in the kitchen for Sicilian-born owner Matteo Ingrao.

   One enters into a roomy foyer that also accommodates live music some nights. A large bar runs toward the back of the room, and offers seating on stools plus a few tables alongside the low wall that separates the bar from the main dining area, which is further broken up into two rooms. The first of these rooms is where we sat, with a star-patterned carpet, well-spaced linen-covered tables and comfortable chairs. Another room is separated by a low wall with ceramic urns and floral arrangements on it. This room has a porch-like feel, with wicker furniture and big windows looking out at the landscaping along the highway. The end walls of some of the interior are covered with large Picasso-esque murals and waves of broken mosaic tiles for a watery (hence the name, Acqua) motif. Originally the focus here was on seafood, although the current menu is more balanced. Overall, the restaurant seats around 125, with room for another 80 in a private function room.
   Acqua’s menu features traditional and updated versions of regional Italian dishes, rather than the more common Italian-American fare that seems to rule in our area. There is the occasional foray into fusion, lemongrass verjus with a salmon entrée, and a summery appetizer of very good tuna tartare with tropical fruit ($12) that became my own appetizer. But otherwise the more classic Italian dishes held our interest, and there was only one special offered that evening, which we passed on.
   One friend’s Prince Edward Island mussels in white wine sauce ($8) were delicious, very tender with lovely broth for sopping up with the good house bread. But the big hit among the appetizers was the Affettati Freddi ($10), a cold cured meat plate piled with excellent mortadella, prosciutto, and spicy and mild soppressata. Parmesan, Pecorino, and Asiago cheeses rounded things off, along with sun-dried tomatoes, olives and caper berries. Two condiments came with this extravaganza, house-made apricot marmalade and apple mostarda, the latter especially good, combining fruity sweetness with the sting of mustard.
   The wine list was two narrow pages focusing on Italy (predominately) and California, done up in hard-to-read bold italic type. With a price range from $24 to $250, we chose a red, the Guiseppe Cortese 2004 Trifolera Dolcetto d’Alba ($30), which matched well with all our entrées.
   Agnolotti di Branzino ($19) featured Piedmont-style ravioli, which are usually stuffed with meat, but in this case with an herbaceous mixture of sea bass and fennel. The largish ravioli were arrayed at the four corners of the plate, with a pile of rings of roasted calamari and artichoke hearts in the center, finished with saffron buerre blanc. While the hand-made raviolis were delicate and delicious, my friend felt the calamari was slightly tough and maybe a tad fishy.
   Pollo Sorrentino ($18), often a humdrum boneless chicken breast preparation, was raised above the ordinary here by the use of free-range chicken and quality prosciutto. It was further layered with tomato, eggplant and Fontina cheese, and pulled together by a rich wine sauce.
   My own entrée, vitello Milanese ($23), was a big success, we all agreed. The presentation was dramatic simplicity. A scallop of veal had been pounded so thin, it fully covered the large plate. It had been breaded and lightly fried to crisp perfection. A tangle of lightly dressed arugula was piled on top, with two huge shavings of Parmesan cheese curling up from the salad, like waves leaping up from the sea. I could eat this entrée every night.
   Desserts are made in house. We chose warm chocolate cake with punchy Wild Turkey gelato ($9), pecan tart with hazelnut gelato ($8) and almond cannoli ($8). These were all good, but the cannoli really stood out. The shell had been made with toasted almonds, like a Florentine cookie, and had been wrapped while warm into a tube. The mascarpone filling had been whipped to airy lightness, and a small bowl of mixed berries was served alongside (although they did not seem to be macerated in Cointreau as the menu claimed).
   Throughout the evening, soft music and lighting, along with sound-absorbing deep blue ceilings, kept the feeling nicely civilized, even as the place filled up. Our service was old-world excellent. Napkins were replaced or folded when a diner left the table, silverware was changed, crumbs were crumbed. When one of my friends encountered some sediment from the bottom of the wine bottle in her glass and rubbed it off her teeth with a finger, our observant waiter glided over with a fingerbowl by way of apology. All of this cozy ambience and pampering came with remarkably reasonable prices, given the high quality of the food.
   Very good regular and decaf espressos capped the meal, but just when we thought they would be eager to throw us out and seat a new table, our waiter instead treated us to glasses of Limoncello. Could it get any better? Only if you drove me home and tucked me in.