Reviews for Bensi Restaurant Of Whipp

12/14/2008 - MenuPix User
EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

09/21/2008 - MenuPix User
Fresh, fast, made to order


Bensi is not just another restaurant chain

By Celeste Regal
An eighteenth Bensi Restaurant is about to open in Flemington, an impressive feat for a business only 11 years old. The industrious Osso family and their legion of partners have formed a collaboration of dining elegance that appears to be unstoppable and unforgettable.
ALL FOR ONE – Edgar Madrid, chef/owner for North Arlington, left clockwise, Louise Russo, manager/owner for North Arlington; Edwin Flores, manager/owner for North Arlington; Rick Osso, Vice President of Operations and Rob Mauro, chef/owner for Clifton.
John Osso, founder of the Italian restaurant chain, first started working in restaurants at the tender age of 15 years old. By 1983 he partnered with his brother-in-law, Mario Bernardo, to buy Tenafly Pizza in the town of the same name. At the time he owned convenience stores in Westchester, Rockland and Bergen Counties. Within a few years he sold the stores to focus on growing family restaurant business.

“I found it more challenging and satisfying and I always enjoyed the interaction with people – the high energy level,” he said.

Bensi North Arlington was their second restaurant. When Maurice Slater, the owner of the Shopping Center on River Road and the Belleville Turnpike in North Arlington, asked him to be part of the project in the late 1990s, Bensi North Arlington began what was to become a big hit with area residents. Slater was familiar with Tenafly Pizza and knew Osso had what it takes to make a business grow.

Now there are 17 Bensi restaurants in New Jersey (with another one in Flemington scheduled to open sometime in September) and two in Pennsylvania. In the highly competitive restaurant business that New Jersey is known for where restaurants come, Bensi is here to stay.

Osso and his crew believe the difference in their restaurants is the fact that they focus on food made of the finest ingredients – with 90 percent of the food cooked fresh to order. Most dishes are made from scratch as soon as a customer selects from the extensive menu.

“When an order for a Chicken Marsala is placed, our cooks or Chefs dust the thinly in-house filet cutlets in flour, sauté them in a touch of 100 percent olive oil; add fresh mushroom, butter, and a splash of Marsala wine. It is seasoned and reduced with chicken stock made daily in-house,” Osso said. “And the water is always boiling in our kitchens in our Italian made pasta cookers. Fresh food is a heck of a lot better than reheated food.”

Pasta and vegetables are cooked right then and there. [adsys::ad:instory]
“In our kitchens we chop, dice, filet, julienne, boil and broil all day long. We filet whole salmons, slice veal top rounds into veal scaloppini, chop garlic and onions, and all the rest,” he said. “It’s a complicated process day in and day out. You don’t get a lot of chains that do this.”

To keep it all going, management at each restaurant is handled by the chefs and managers who are all part owners.

“While many have been with Bensi a long time and worked their way up, others joined our team more recently bringing their skills and perspective to help us make Bensi better,” he said. “We focus on owner/management aspect.”

There is a chef partner in each kitchen; there is an owner/manager in each restaurant.

“The company’s goals in moving forward is to stick to those fundamentals and spend more time on training and educating our partners in all the towns in the various restaurants to try to get the best from our resources, from our people,” he said.

Even the Tenafly restaurant will be renovated to have some of the elements of the Bensi of the elements of the Bensi prototype.

Robert Mauro, chef/owner at Bensi Clifton is one of the skilled professionals to have recently joined the team. He prepared a variety of luscious dishes on Friday that was delightful in their presentation but also aromatic and exciting even before they hit the taste buds.

Like all Bensi chefs, Mauro is seriously dedicated to his work. While the basic menu has most of the original Bensi favorites, each chef is encouraged to put his own personal touch on the specials.

“Since everything is made to order, the menu may be the same but each restaurant will have the distinctive touch of the owner/chef,” Vice President Operations Rick Osso (John’s nephew) said. “That allows an attention to detail that may not be there otherwise.”

The menu is very broad, yet based on dishes that can be made to the customer’s order. If the customer likes their pasta Al Dente or a bit softer– that’s what they get.

“It all makes for better, more wholesome food. Our chef/partners feature their own creations as weekly specials. The more successful dishes eventually become part of our regular menu,” John Osso said.

Friday’s extraordinary taste testing was prepared by Mauro at the North Arlington restaurant. It consisted of some of his upcoming specials. My favorite was the lobster and crab ravioli. The pasta had deep salmon and black stripes that were not only symbolic of the delicacies inside but also quite pleasing to the eye. While the pasta was colored with beet juice and squid ink, those ingredients were not reflected in the taste. The ravioli was full of pure meat with no filler whatsoever. The sexy little numbers were splashed with a succulent cream brandy sauce that did not clash or overpower.

There was also fried calamari with a twist on the traditional style. Mauro covered the crispy critters with Buffalo-style sauce, a sprinkling of blue cheese that melted in your mouth and a homemade blue cheese dipping dressing. Very tart – very cool.

Then there was Farfalle (bow-tie pasta) with smoked salmon. Salmon lovers will not be disappointed and I would wager that new devotees will crop up after they try the combination of shallots, capers, and that luxurious brandy sauce with perfectly smoked, fresh pieces of salmon.

“I first tried smoking the salmon on the stove top but after buying a smoker, I achieved the taste I was looking for,” Mauro said. “Our goal is to give a fresh, home cooked meal but not make the customer wait too long for it.”

Mauro also said he accommodates his clientele, which in Clifton means a sizable amount of Latino customers.

“I prepare some salsa and chipotle recipes,” he said.

Chicken Valdostano is one of the Bensi staples. A chicken filet is wrapped around prosciutto and mozzarella (which is made by the staff), with a healthy dash of herbs, and then covered in a Marsala mushroom sauce. It’s wonderfully tasty and filling.

For the finale there was warm berry crepes, beautifully buoyant with a Grand Marnier flambé and dabbed with real whipped crème.

The famous garlic knots – a North Arlington favorite – and fresh baked Focaccia that is the Clifton staple were warm and lightly seasoned.

John Osso is pleased the way the company has grown and attributes the success to “sticking to their roots of the food.”

Those roots were formed in Calabria, Italy where Osso was born. His father came to the United States in 1962 for economic reasons. After working a few years, his father bought a house in Fort Lee and the whole family moved to America in 1966.

Bensi is a family restaurant run by family men and women. Osso and his wife Nancy have been married since 1982 – 26 years. They have a son Alexander, 14.

“Alexander prefers video games to the restaurant business for now, but promises to help out in a few years,” Osso said. “Recently he had some friends over and requested that I cook.”

And it’s no wonder.

To see all the Bensi locations and to learn more about the company go the Web site www.bensirestaurants.com.

Executive Chef Robert Mauro sent along a recipe for your enjoyment:

Lobster & Crab Ravioli – Serves 4 as appetizer

16 lobster & crab ravioli 1 pinch black pepper

1/8 cup chopped shallots 1 bunch chopped chives –

to garnish

¼ cup brandy 3 tbls olive oil

½ cup heavy cream 1 tsp flour

2 tbls butter

Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil

Place ravioli in water & cook until they float to top

While the ravioli is cooking, heat a sauté pan with olive oil over medium heat

When the pan starts to smoke, add shallots & stir

Once shallots begin to caramelize (brown), remove from flame and add brandy

Return to flame and flambé

Once all the alcohol has been cooked off (the flame goes out), add heavy cream & beurre manie (butter rolled in flour)

Reduce heat & simmer until sauce thickens

Season with black pepper

Place 4 ravioli on a plate. Top with sauce & garnish with chopped chives –

“BUONO APPETTITO”

CHEF ROBERT MAURO’s TIP: Ravioli can be

purchased in a gourmet

pasta shop.

“Since everything is made to order, the menu may be the same but each restaurant will have the distinctive touch of the owner/chef,” Vice President Operations Rick Osso (John’s nephew) said. “That allows an attention to detail that may not be there otherwise.”

The menu is very broad, yet based on dishes that can be made to the customer’s order. If the customer likes their pasta Al Dente or a bit softer– that’s what they get.

“It all makes for better, more wholesome food. Our chef/partners feature their own creations as weekly specials. The more successful dishes eventually become part of our regular menu,” John Osso said.

Friday’s extraordinary taste testing was prepared by Mauro at the North Arlington restaurant. It consisted of some of his upcoming specials. My favorite was the lobster and crab ravioli. The pasta had deep salmon and black stripes that were not only symbolic of the delicacies inside but also quite pleasing to the eye. While the pasta was colored with beet juice and squid ink, those ingredients were not reflected in the taste. The ravioli was full of pure meat with no filler whatsoever. The sexy little numbers were splashed with a succulent cream brandy sauce that did not clash or overpower.

There was also fried calamari with a twist on the traditional style. Mauro covered the crispy critters with Buffalo-style sauce, a sprinkling of blue cheese that melted in your mouth and a homemade blue cheese dipping dressing. Very tart – very cool.

Then there was Farfalle (bow-tie pasta) with smoked salmon. Salmon lovers will not be disappointed and I would wager that new devotees will crop up after they try the combination of shallots, capers, and that luxurious brandy sauce with perfectly smoked, fresh pieces of salmon.

“I first tried smoking the salmon on the stove top but after buying a smoker, I achieved the taste I was looking for,” Mauro said. “Our goal is to give a fresh, home cooked meal but not make the customer wait too long for it.”

Mauro also said he accommodates his clientele, which in Clifton means a sizable amount of Latino customers.

“I prepare some salsa and chipotle recipes,” he said.

Chicken Valdostano is one of the Bensi staples. A chicken filet is wrapped around prosciutto and mozzarella (which is made by the staff), with a healthy dash of herbs, and then covered in a Marsala mushroom sauce. It’s wonderfully tasty and filling.

For the finale there was warm berry crepes, beautifully buoyant with a Grand Marnier flambé and dabbed with real whipped crème.

The famous garlic knots – a North Arlington favorite – and fresh baked Focaccia that is the Clifton staple were warm and lightly seasoned.

John Osso is pleased the way the company has grown and attributes the success to “sticking to their roots of the food.”

Those roots were formed in Calabria, Italy where Osso was born. His father came to the United States in 1962 for economic reasons. After working a few years, his father bought a house in Fort Lee and the whole family moved to America in 1966.

Bensi is a family restaurant run by family men and women. Osso and his wife Nancy have been married since 1982 – 26 years. They have a son Alexander, 14.

“Alexander prefers video games to the restaurant business for now, but promises to help out in a few years,” Osso said. “Recently he had some friends over and requested that I cook.”

And it’s no wonder.

To see all the Bensi locations and to learn more about the company go the Web site www.bensirestaurants.com.

Executive Chef Robert Mauro sent along a recipe for your enjoyment:

Lobster & Crab Ravioli – Serves 4 as appetizer

16 lobster & crab ravioli 1 pinch black pepper

1/8 cup chopped shallots 1 bunch chopped chives –

to garnish

¼ cup brandy 3 tbls olive oil

½ cup heavy cream 1 tsp flour

2 tbls butter

Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil

Place ravioli in water & cook until they float to top

While the ravioli is cooking, heat a sauté pan with olive oil over medium heat

When the pan starts to smoke, add shallots & stir

Once shallots begin to caramelize (brown), remove from flame and add brandy

Return to flame and flambé

Once all the alcohol has been cooked off (the flame goes out), add heavy cream & beurre manie (butter rolled in flour)

Reduce heat & simmer until sauce thickens

Season with black pepper

Place 4 ravioli on a plate. Top with sauce & garnish with chopped chives –

“BUONO APPETTITO”

CHEF ROBERT MAURO’s TIP: Ravioli can be

purchased in a gourmet

pasta shop.