Salmon
Could it be that the 45-seat restaurant in bustling downtown Montclair serves up the best food in New Jersey? It is quite possible. At his award-winning restaurant, chef and owner, Zod Arifai, masters modern cuisine with French, Italian and Asian influences.
Born in Kosovo to parents who were both good cooks, chef Arifai is self-taught with an inquisitive mind and short stints at Bouley and Aureole in Manhattan that have proven to be better at helping him transform in the chef he is today than formal training at a culinary school might have been.
On a recent visit, our party sampled dishes that blew us away. For starters, the Spaghetti Carbonara with Crispy Duck is creamy, velvety with rich duck morsels, the Risotto with Wild Mushrooms and White Truffle Oil is pure decadence with its unctuous texture, earthy mushrooms and drizzle of fragrant truffle oil. The Seafood Dumplings with Spicy Coconut Broth showcases the thinnest, most delicate wrappers over a tasty seafood mixture that bathes in an ultra-flavorful, just-spicy-enough broth.
Veal Belly
Must-have entrées are the Salmon, Forbidden Rice served with peanuts, scallions and coconut-chili broth, the Duck Breast, Red Cabbage served with a caramelized turnip with a red wine-fig emulsion and the Veal Belly with Soft Polenta, Wild Mushrooms and Sweet and Sour Glaze. The salmon is of the finest quality and the forbidden rice is of toothy perfection. The duck is cooked to a flawless medium-rare and the red wine emulsion is a perfect complement to the protein. The absolute star is the veal belly. For those of us who think pork belly is the perfect food, chef Arifai’s veal counterpart is heavenly. The sweet and sour glaze is tart and cuts through some of the veal’s richness and the polenta is the best I have had, even in Italy – order this dish without fault.
Spaghetti Carbonara
At Blu, chef Arifai creates dishes from techniques and ingredients he tests out extensively and the results are simply spectacular. Nearly seven years after opening, Blu is more at the top of its game than ever.
Blu
554 Bloomfield Avenue
Montclair, NJ
973-509-2202
www.restaurantblu.com
BYOB
Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday: Open at 5:30PM
Friday – Sunday: Open at 5PM
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