Razza

Recently, some friends and I made plans to go out to dinner and decided on Razza, a not-quite new restaurant in Jersey City that focuses on a simple menu with fresh, local ingredients. We walked in shortly before 8pm on a Friday and were greeted by a very friendly hostess who estimated a 25 minute wait. Not short, but not bad for a Friday evening. They had some space inside to wait, as well as plenty of room on the sidewalk where they had placed a trolley with chopped wood, lanterns, and a few menus for passerby to peruse which is a nice introduction to the atmosphere of the restaurant. 

 

The restaurant itself is dark with lots of wood, simply decorated with the wood-burning oven dominating the back of the space. It’s spacious without being large and is wonderfully atmospheric, both intimate and relaxed. I didn’t feel out of place when I laughed loudly and was just as comfortable having a quiet conversation. Our server was very friendly, knowledgeable, and checked in regularly without being overbearing. She gave recommendations easily and answered questions when we had them. When giving the list of specials for the evening (all of which sounded amazing), she gave the price for each which was much appreciated. I don’t know why more restaurants don’t do this – no one wants to deal with sticker shock at the end of the night.

 That night's drink special was a strawberry infused tequila with lemon juice and it was wonderful – fruity without being sweet, slightly tart and complex,it had the nice burn of alcohol but easily drinkable. One of the best cocktails I’ve had in a long time. We also tried the tequilana – a tequila citrus drink with orange bitters - it was balanced and refreshing, also an excellent drink.

We started with a few appetizers – the ricotta crostini, the salumi misti, and the polpette al forno (meatballs). They all came out shortly after we ordered. In addition, they served us some grilled bread and olive oil, both very good. The olive oil was mellow, grassy and a bit sweet. The crostini was delicious, drizzled with olive oil and herbs that added to but didn’t overwhelm the creamy ricotta.  The clear winner was the meatballs which were perfectly cooked and incredibly flavorful without being overly herby. I’ve never considered meatballs to be particularly delicate or tender but these were both. The tomato sauce they were in was sweet, slightly acidic, with just a pure tomato taste and we were all grateful we had extra bread. There were 6 meatballs in our little pan which was I thought was very generous for the $9 price. The salumi misti was the only slight misstep. It had three meats: finocchio, speck, and mortadella. The finocchio was the best of the three while the mortadella was a bit of an odd choice that none of us really enjoyed, but again, the meatballs more than made up for it.

Next, we enjoyed the Mai Pie, a white pie with mushrooms, and the Cinghiale which was topped with wild boar sausage and kale. The Mai Pie uses two kinds of mushrooms creating a savory, earthy, and rich pizza that I would absolutely recommoned but the Cinghiale was my favorite. The ingredients were well balanced and the slightly salty gaminess of the sausage and mild bitterness of the kale tempered by the rich taste of olive oil all worked wonderfully together to create an intensely flavorful pizza. The crust on both was chewy and crusty, a bit tangier than I typically taste, and very enjoyable. The Razza menu states they use a wild yeast culture that I assume accounts for this difference, but whatever it is, it was delicious and well-cooked with the effect of the wood fire being obvious.

All in All

Razza, located at 275 Grove Street, was delicious, exciting, reasonably priced and an overall great experience that my friends and I immediately started talking about repeating. It’s the kind of place that I can’t wait to have visitors so that I can bring them there and I’d love to see more places like it open in Jersey City. Well-worth visiting.