After dealing with some unexpected inspection and permit delays, I'm happy to announce that Pasta Dal Cuore, 527 Jersey Avenue, is opening (EDIT) tomorrow (Wednesday, 11/4) at 10 a.m., selling fresh pastas and daily specials like vegetarian, meat, and cheese raviolis and gnocchi.
Elena Cartagena, the owner of Pasta Dal Cuore, is a graduate from the FCI Italian program where she first began to form the idea of her own specialty pasta shop. After working around New York (including a stint at Eataly) and then traveling through Italy for six months to gain inspiration and knowledge, Elena decided to make that idea a reality by opening up a shop in Jersey City where she grew up and has long resided.
The store, which took more than a year to renovate and refurnish, was once the location of the family-owned Europa Meat Market and some of the original kitchen pieces will still be in the store as a way of preserving its history and tradition in food. But there will also be a lot of new machinery and equipment, all aimed towards providing the best possible products.
I was lucky enough to be able to see the space when it was being worked on and hear about some of the plans for what will be coming up in the future and it was such a great experience. Elena's passion is evident and I think this will be a great addition to Jersey City. The counter area will be the main attraction, holding the top-of-the-line pasta machine and the case displaying all the different pastas available for purchase that day.
Later on, the hope is to turn the back of the space into a small restaurant spotlighting the pastas made in-house. Another exciting and unique part of the plan is to offer a variety of gluten-free pastas that will be made in a specialty gluten-free room to avoid any cross-contamination. After much trial and error, Elena has formed her own gluten-free recipe, working hard to find a texture and taste very similar to the more standard gluten pastas. No matter what, in every aspect, Pasta Dal Cuore's goal is to provide the best possible product to the customer.
Congratulations to Pasta Dal Cuore and stop by to check out the space and pick-up your own fresh pasta!
Looks great. I can't wait to visit!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear what you think after you go.
DeleteWent there yesterday...got some fabulous fusilli to make my mac n cheese with and some buccatini for tomorrow's pork shoulder! Pasta is a bit expensive, but it is delicious. So, for the extra few bucks a pound, I'd say it is worth it! Employees were very nice and helpful. Good luck Dal Cuore!
ReplyDeleteWow - sounds like you're putting the store to delicious use!
DeleteThis will be interesting .... Two shops making pasta with the same machine only about three blocks apart. I truly hope they both do well.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too. My thought is that there will be enough variety between the overall feel and services of the individual stores to make them both successful.
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