by Frank Quattrone
Ten years ago, another restaurateur told Salvatore Scarlata that the recipe for success was to open one restaurant and make it really good. A native-born Sicilian who lived in northern Italy much of his early life, Salvatore has taken that advice to heart in his award-winning Vidalia Restaurant in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
Last year, www.nj.com named Vidalia among the top ten restaurants in the state and the number one dining destination in Mercer County. Not hard to believe for a chef/owner who claims to have studied “at the school of hard knocks” but has trained at five-star restaurants like Trenton’s landmark Pete Lorenzo’s Café, as well as at the blue ribbon Rat’s Restaurant at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey.
In the years he has been cooking and learning from every chef who has mentored him, Salvatore has developed his own distinctive style, which he calls “Italian cuisine with a French twist.” And he has adopted a motto for Vidalia, Cucina con Passione, meaning cooking with passion, that infuses his entire staff, who have bought into his familiar trio of “perfect atmosphere, food and service.”
During our first visit to Vidalia, congenial server Sam Ball recited the evening specials with perfect articulation, relish, and pride—without looking at notes — as if he truly cared about the chef/owner’s culinary creations. Maybe it was Sam’s delivery, but the first appetizer special was so enticing that we decided to try it. It was Grilled Spanish Octopus glazed with a honey balsamic, complemented by a fruity arrangement of sliced apples, mangoes, and figs in a tomato concassé. Simply spectacular, in both presentation and taste.
It was so good that one of our other appetizers, Carciofi Francese, or artichoke hearts battered in a lemon, white wine, and butter sauce, seemed almost tame in comparison, although it too was delicious. But our third appetizer was another exceptional special—the humbly named Beet Salad, a diced red beet cake patty surrounded by a refreshing array of sliced apples, fresh figs, orange slices, raisins, dried apricots, goat cheese, walnuts, and arugula. We decided to save the chef’s signature appetizer, Vidalia Loaf—a table loaf stuffed with Vidalia onions and fresh seasonal vegetables, brushed with garlic and oil and topped with mozzarella cheese drizzled with balsamic glaze—for our next visit, knowing we would surely return.
Before our entrées arrived, we listened to the chef chatting with his guests in this warm, cozy restaurant, whose earthy colors and evocative paintings of Mediterranean cafés must surely stimulate the appetite. He’d come a long way from his fruitful days working with his parents in their pizzeria as well as a host of other restaurants where he practiced his craft.
My entrée was the popular recurrent special Roasted Raspberry Glazed Duck, served over sweet potato mash with haricot verts and topped with an edible flower. Eve’s entrée was even better—a delicate sushi grade Australian Sea Bass brushed with lemon and olive oil and accompanied with sautéed shrimp, broccoli rabe, and Roma tomatoes. We also tried a tasting portion, a variation on one of Salvatore’s most popular pasta dishes—wide Pappardelle noodles served with sautéed spinach and olives in a simple but tasty garlic and olive oil sauce.
We’d have to wait for another visit to try some of the chef’s other distinctive menu items. Among the appetizers that caught our attention were Stuffed Onion, caramelized and filled with fennel sausage and roasted red peppers, topped with melted mozzarella; and an Avocado Tower, layered with vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and sliced avocado, drizzled with garden fresh basil pesto oil in a balsamic glaze reduction.
Other entrées we’ll surely try next time we visit are the Vidalia, fresh-cut fettuccine sautéed with eggplant, fennel sausage, and sweet Vidalia onions, tossed in a plum tomato sauce with garlic and extra virgin olive oil, topped with Parmegiano cheese; Pulcinella, your choice of all-natural chicken or veal sautéed and topped with roasted red peppers, asparagus, and mozzarella, with a sherry wine sauce, served with a side of linguine; and Agnello, New Zealand lamb lollipops prepared in a Barolo wine demi-glaze, paired with haricot verts and truffled mashed potatoes in a gorgonzola cheese sauce.
At Vidalia Restaurant, the menu is always seasonal, and the chef patronizes local Jersey farmers, using herbs and spices from his own garden. “We don’t cut corners here,” he says with pride, assuring us that he listens carefully to his loyal guests’ suggestions for menu specials. “My feeling is that everybody’s important, not just my lovely wife and two children, whom I adore and love spending time with. That’s why we’ve been so successful developing a casual fine dining menu with prices that anybody can afford.”
Sal Scarlata listened carefully to that restaurateur’s recipe for success. In its eleven years under his inspired leadership, Vidalia has reached the top of its class.
Vidalia Restaurant is located at 21 Phillips Avenue, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648; 609-896-4444; http://www.vidalia.restaurant. Open for lunch Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner Tuesday through Friday, 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday, 5 to 9:30 p.m., and Sunday, 4 – 9 p.m. Monday open for private events only. Reservations recommended, especially weekends.