Fascino

Goodness! What a marvelous experience! Every single person at Fascino worked so hard to ensure we had a wonderful meal. We were celebrating our goddaughter’s graduation, and it really was such a special meal. We started with calamari — light and crisp. Then I had the scallops, and everyone else had pasta. Then Allana was brought a celebratory graduation dessert. It is so nice to be taken care of and eat fantastic food.

There’s a bit of a controversy related to this review because I’m giving the place a solid 4 while my wife would say a 5. It’s my Unilocal account so 4 it is!
Fascino has a nice menu that gently nudges you away from typical NJ italian. Of course, I love typical NJ Italian and hence had the verde rigatoni app, my wife had the bucatini with clams app. Both were very good/​excellent, but somewhat ironically we both preferred the other person’s app to our own.
For main course I had the veal tenderloin with guanciale — very good but maybe not quite my thing… She had the beef tenderloin and it was awesome. We watched other plates coming out and everything looked and smelled really good!
Capped it off with zeppole for me and an apple tort for her. My zeppole was delicious, but has anyone ever had a bad zeppole?!?
Place was crowded but not cramped. Service was top notch. Décor is nothing special, although I must say that the chair was super comfortable :)
Conclusion: I personally rate this place somewhere in the same range as Scala D Nonna. Which is to say it’s worth at least a try. Full disclosure — my wife has this place rated as the best Italian in Montclair area.

I’ve been coming here for over 10 years. It’s definitely stood the test of time. (Over 13 years last I checked.) I love that it’s a BYO too. I brought a great bottle of Dom for dinner last tonight. (Dom is always great!) I always order the polenta fries for the table to share. I had the grilled octopus with fingerling potatoes and paperdelle with a lamb ragu for my main. As always everything was outstanding. Everything on their dessert menu sounds great but I’ve only ever had the chocolate/​peanut butter mousse parfait. It’s so good I never try anything else! Service is top notch. You never have to look for someone. Several staff are always in the area to refill water, wine, bread, or to check on you. Fantastic in every way!

Heading to Montclair this weekend and forgot to write about the very good time we had at Facino’s. Everything was great from the minute we walked in to the minute we left. A totally unrushed delicious BYOB spot that I will be back at. The waiter, wish I remembered his name he was amazing, steered us right at every turn. We had a table of 6 and the food was brought out perfectly timed. Can’t wait to go back.

We had a great time in this place. The service was great and the food was awesome, we all enjoyed our various dishes. They currently have a tasting menu. We will definitely be returning here.

I wish there was a 2.5 rating as thats where we really landed on Fascino.
First of all the staff were great and the restaurant was well run. The issue we had was that it just didnt make sense or really add up. Fascino lacks any sense of an experience or a story there is just no cohesion in the menu, location, environment etc. We wont ever go back though not because anything was bad but because nothing was really amazing or rather amazing enough at those prices.
Look its Italian fare and you cant throw a dead cat in this part of Jersey without hitting an Italian joint so it does make the signal to noise ration almost impossible. However as I type this I think thats the issue with Fascino. The way an Italian restaurant stands out and makes a mark is in the overall experience where the food is one part of the equation and here as Fascino the food is good but the setting is odd and leaves no lasting impact which is a fail in this competitive business.
First of all zero no none nada curb appeal. Literally it looks like a public health clinic on the outside. sterile, nothing blank, null set. The interior is dark, low ceilings split up use of space. Dark like real dark, i couldn’t read the menu. No flair no art work no style or story no theme just stuff in a room thats trying to look up scale-​ish. Really flaccid underwhelming lazy interior decorating. The menu made no sense to us. Is this Tuscan, traditional, Italian fusion? Was the theme fresh home made pasta, unique ingredients basic dished elevated? The owner has a chef doing whatever he wants or telling the chef what to do and its just awkward. Beef braised raviol with cherry brandy au juis? What the what? Marscapone polenta fries followed by Japanese hamachi? Heh? Just no cohesive sense to the menu for us. We were literally confused but the its structure and over all theme. My partner turned to me and said «Why do i feel like other people get it and I don’t? Whats the deal with this menu?»
We ordered the Calamari which was tasty and the fried polenta sticks which were a total waste of time space energy calories and money. Again… nothing wrong with them but nothing good about them either.
For our mains we ordered pasta dishes which i gotta say really really shined. Their homemade pastas were lovely. Take that expertise, make the environment lively and the menu broader but all themed around wonderful pasta and Id think you got a winner. But what the hell do I know, right?
Our dessert was delish… it was the only thing on the menu that was a «yes».
So in short, no we wont be back, there just isn’t any compelling reason to. Its priced upscale, a non environment and awkward menu. Again, quality was there and the staff were nice.
Your call, enjoy, good luck.

We hadn’t been here in a while so to get acquainted with them again we chose the 5 course tasting menu.
Everything was fantastic. The restaurant is still very intimate and not too noisy. The staff was great as well. Could be a hair brighter in there for my taste. The food comes out perfectly timed no rush and no lapses in waiting on courses. They are BYOB as well, which is my favorite anyway.
I am very happy we did the tasting menu but loved the fish I had for the Piatto course so much I wish I had that as a full meal. It was that good.
The tasting menu so would argue was small but I feel it was portioned perfectly for the total amounts and giving us the ability to experience the menu without eating too full.
I definitely recommend this spot if your in the area.
Get a reservation unless your going late and remember parking is challenging, it is Montclair.

My boyfriend and I came here for Valentine’s Day and it was such a great place to spend a special day. We were both worried about having a different set menu with none of the traditional menu items but the food definitely exceeded our expectations.
Since none of the food we had is on the regular menu it’s not really helpful to talk abut specific food items but I will say that everything was seasoned perfectly, prepared expertly and plated beautifully. The service was great as well. They immediately put the white wine we brought on ice, our table was a little wobbly — and without us even saying anything — someone got down on the floor and fixed it, and our waiter was very nice and attentive. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for a special occasion or date night!

Nightmare at Fascino. We had an 8:30 pm reservation. We ordered appetizers and entrees right after we sat down. I ordered ravioli. An hour and a half later, at 10:00 pm, the waiter tells us that that they are our of ravioli!!! 1^st of all, what Italian restaurant runs out of ravioli on a Friday night? Secondly, how does it take 1:30 to figure out that you don’t have enough ravioli? Thirdly, it is 10:00 pm and they haven’t started our entrees.
The waiter tells me that I may choose another pasta dish. He says it will be quick.
I ordered cavatelli with caramelized cauliflower — same as my wife. About10:10, they finally bring the two orders of cavatelli except my wife’s has no cauliflower. She points it out and they take her dish away. But they bring it back with RAW cauliflower. We point that out and the waiter says: «We’re so sorry about all the problems. By the way, the chef has found 3 raviolis. We will bring you the 3 raviolis on the house!»
Three free raviolis!!!
Honestly, I thought they were joking. The manager then explained that sometimes «these things happen.» «There’s really nothing we can do.»
After much complaining, they finally (and very reluctantly) comped one cavatelli order.
I cannot remember a worse dining experience. Talk about amateur hour.
Never again.

This is so worth going to. Be sure to make reservations in advance. The food is unique Italian with a delightful flair. Our appetizers were delicious, the grilled octopus was my favorite; very tender with great flavor. My Gnocchi was so good… dessert
Our waiter couldn’t have served us any better!
BYOB

This place is simply amazing. The ambiance is so romantic, the servers know what they are doing and have a complete knowledge of the whole menu. I love to order the tasting menu for $ 65 per person to get a wonderful variety of food. Definitely the place to go for a special occasion.

This place was simply amazing-​the staff is so accommodating and Chris-​the manager-​absolutely professional and thorough. I can not say enough as to how wonderful the service was-​I planned a surprise party of 30 ppl in their back room for my husband and this restaurant was simply stellar in communication and diligence for providing excellent service.
They let me bring in décor and store it in their office, the cake, balloons, table décor. The bottle service was great-​would have been stupendous had they served alcohol but on the plus side it is a BYOB and they do provide drinkware; staff will store and pour wine/​beer.
The food? Oh my goodness-​have you ever watched a room full of 30 Latinos fall quiet? It’s a thing of wizardry-​their food made it happen. So good! All dishes across the board were this delicious.
Thank you, Fascino, for helping me give my husband a wonderful birthday! Special thank you to the manager, Chris!

Quite possibly one of the best meals I’ve ever had. That’s the short review.
Here’s the longer one. My girlfriend took me here for a surprise birthday dinner. The outside is nothing special and barely noticeable, but inside it’s very nice — upscale and comfortable. Our waiter was extremely attentive and did a great job.
After having our first bottle of wine opened (it’s BYOB), we kicked off with the cornmeal-​crusted calamari and the mascarpone polenta fries, which are served with a gorgonzola fonduta. The calamari was absolutely the best I’ve had — cooked perfectly, tender, and tasteful. The mascarpone polenta fries were quite different from anything I’ve tasted before, in a very, very good way. The sweetness of the mascarpone playing with the texture of the polenta and the added taste of the gorgonzola really made for a fantastic dish that I highly recommend.
For dinner, I went with the truffle scented rigatoni with forest mushroom ragu and castelmagno cheese. I can’t get enough of mushrooms, so this was the logical choice for me and I was so happy with it. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the mushrooms were tasty. My girlfriend got ricotta gnocchi in a sweet sausage bolognese with basil and pecorino and thought it was fantastic as well. I tried a piece of gnocchi — perfectly fluffy with a great taste.
We passed on dessert as we were very satisfied from our appetizers and entrees, but as it was my birthday they brought out a scoop of gelato and some biscotti, along with a birthday card from the family that owns the restaurant and the staff which I thought was a very personal touch and really appreciated.
In the end, the bill came out to be much lower than we expected. A pleasant surprise to end a very pleasant dining experience. We will absolutely be back and I can’t wait to take my family and friends here!

Before i begin, The service here is Good! So with that out of the way, let me begin… This place lacks consistency, value, and execution.
Consistency — Some items were incredible — Cauliflower and Apple soup, Veal and Pork Belly over Northern beans and swiss chard — Awesome (except this was not what i wanted for dinner… more later)
Value — $ 25 dollars for Pasta that is mediocre at best? A pesto should be prepared one of two ways… I prefer the thick herb paste, but i can accept the creamy preparation as well. What I do not accept is a watery oregano mixture with a hint of cheese. So watery that the alleged sauce is unable to adhere to any pasta in the plate. Next … $ 8 dollars for Broccoli, flavorless and again in a bowl of water… I suppose water is the theme of the restaurant, but in my culinary experience albeit years ago, water is rarely used for flavor.
Execution — Did the Chef that I read about get sick this week? Or perhaps has he been abducted by aliens? Either way, I would be embarrassed and would never allow the atrocities mentioned above, out of my kitchen, but lets discuss a few more issues. First, they had no Chicken, Steak, or Broccolini. A restaurant that runs out of that many ingredients on a Saturday at 9:00 PM? Poor planning. Next, as an Italian american, I know it was mentioned above, but that Pesto was terrible. Now onto the order mistakes (not the waitresses fault), my wife asked for no croutons on her soup due to a gluten allergy, but this was overlooked. Then she asked for no added cheese on her pasta, which was also overlooked… This restaurant was not packed so perhaps a little training needs to occur?
Overall, for the price we paid, I am extremely annoyed and disappointed. I am happy spending money on good food and service, but unfortunately I only got one of this evening. For the money I spent, I am much better off at 3 other awesome Italian restaurants that I often visit in Montclair. I was hoping to add a new spot to our rotation, but I honestly have no reason to return!
Lastly, The table next to me was offered a free dessert. Was there experience that much worse than ours? Im curious to know how messed up their meal must have been because we weren’t even offered a free coffee for such a dismal experience.
*** One thing of note, they do try and accommodate gluten allergies by having gluten-​free pasta in house

this place is a real find. I am normally not a huge fan of italian restaurants, particularly in NJ, but i was a big fan of this place.
I showed up a bit early and asked them to decant my bottle of wine (tip, if you go there, bring a great bottle of wine with you as its BYOB). We then went around the corner to grab a cocktail at Pig & Whistle, which is a great place to grab a drink.
ambience is very nice. appropriately dark and it felt elegant (particularly for NJ). My decanted bottle of wine was awaiting (in a proper decanter, not just opened).
Service was great. they were appropriately attentive, but since i had a business dinner, allowed us to catch up without being obtrusive. we ordered a number of things to share and they brought us separately served half portions with proper presentation. that was a nice touch.
appetizers: the heirloom tomatoes with Burrata. One of the best damn salads I have had in a while. the tomatoes are in peak season, and the creamy burrata was coupled with just the right amount of balsamic, salt and basil. YUM. We also got the tuna Tartare. Was good as well.
Dinner– I got the the pasta with truffle/​mushrooms. Perfect al dente pasta with a sauce that was creamy, but not overburdened. I didn’t finish all the mushrooms that came with it, but was happy with my dish. My friend got one of the fish dishes and was pleased with his.
Desserts — we got the recommended blueberry bread pudding and the chocolate molten lava cake. I really wanted to try the zeppole’s but will get them next time. We also got a coffee and capucinno.
Our wine paired extremely well with the food to make for a perfect meal.
The bill came out to be a shockingly low $ 112 before tip. for a meal of this caliber in NY you would be paying double.
I will be back.

Excellent ! It’s byob and the menu is super tasty. Everything was timed out right for our large party and the waiter was very nice. Loved the truffle pasta and the Bronzino

Absolutely phenomenal, definitely NYC worthy and I can’t see how anyone would give this place less than 5 stars if they’re a true foodie. I was taken here on a date and I fell in love with the place the second I walked in. It’s romantic, upscale, trendy, and super cute. We walked past the main room to the right where the second dining room is, sat down, and was immediately greeted by our waiter, Walter, who was amazing. We started with their soft shell crab special which was fried/​battered soft shell crab over greens with oranges, great dish. Then we ordered the yellowfin tuna tartare, which was 4 pieces of toasted bread with ample amounts of fresh tuna tartare, light aioli and radishes, how can you go wrong here? My mouth is watering just talking about it. Then we had the roasted octopus with fingerling potatoes, pickled red onion and olive aioli… OMG…can I have 10 more of these?! They happily split this dish for us which was really nice. It’s a small dish, but the combination of flavors is simply outstanding, lots going on in this dish, it was prepared very well. I’ve eaten some amazing octopus in Spain and this was certainly on a par. For dinner we started with two pastas: truffle scented rigatoni with forest mushroom ragu… again, the combination of flavors here was out of this world! Slight truffle flavor, nothing over powering with tons of mushrooms and cheese. Great pasta dish. We also did the jersey corn & mascarpone mezzaluna, sweet corn –herb fonduta… ravioli like pasta dish stuffed with sweet corn and cheese, and more cheese on top, I’ve never had anything like it, it was amazing. I asked for some cheese and I was given freshly grated cheese on the side, I wish it was like that everywhere! After that, because we were feeling totally gluttonous… we ordered the scallops and the herb crusted halibut. The scallops came ¾ huge scallops to a dish with cauliflower purée, greens and baby carrots, the dish was excellent. The halibut came highly recommended from the waiter, it was a light/​healthy dish with market vegetables and the fish was very flaky and fresh.
For desert we had the molten chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato, the chocolate just melted in your mouth, and they gave me a card and wrote Happy Birthday on my dish which made me very happy!
Overall, service was great, the place was beautiful, and the food was fantastic, My only complaint is that they told us we had to put our order in by 9:30 as the kitchen closed then. I thought that was a bit early for a Thursday, but whatever! Definitely come here!

We came here couple weeks ago for my boss’s 40 year birthday dinner, we had total 18 people. While the restaurant was almost empty, they first placed our seats in a small place in main dining room and tried to squeeze us into a desk I thought it can only sit for 12– 14 people. After we told the manager that it wouldn’t work for us, they switched us to the other side of the room. Because they did not have other guests sitting in that side of room but us, it was just like we owned the private party room of ourselves!
The food was delicious and the atmosphere is great! My coworker ordered duck and she loved it! I love my steak as well though it was a bit overdone but flavor was great. I ordered oyster on the shell for appetizers but I don’t think it was fresh enough and I will not recommend this dish to you.

Wow, was I disappointed with my recent to Fascino.
My boyfriend and I were here last week on a double date with friends. For 6:30PM on a Thursday evening, the night just started as we were one of three parties only seated. Shortly after settling in, Tony our server had recited the specials, all of which sounded enticing. He reassured us that the dish specials could be included with the $ 70 TASTING. Having been here before and actually having had enjoyed the meal the first time around, it was a no brainier that the four would go the tasting route since it had encompassed your choice of one dish per category; Per la Tavola, Antipasti, Pasta, Piatto, and Dessert. For $ 70, we thought it was steal considering Antipasti, Pasta, and a Piatto alone with already put your bill at $ 60/​person give or take.
I’m a huge fan of artichokes so I had started off with the FRIED ARTICHOKES with orange sauce. Our «Per La Tavola» plates arrived within no time, but by the looks of everything, the portions were slightly smaller than what I had expected. But of course, it was tasting portion and to be expected. Maybe I didn’t read the fine print? Moving on. The creamy Cara Cara sauce was new twist from your conventional Lemon zest– artichoke combo. But if there’s anything I would have wished for, it would have been fattier pieces of artichokes.
For the antipasti, I had ZUCCHINI SALAD. It was fresh from what I recall, but the rest was totally unmemorable.
For my Pasta course, I had chosen the RABBIT and FOIE RAVIOLI thinking it would be a great contrast from my earlier vegetarian choices. Boy was this a let down. There was a ton of meat in my ravioli but sadly, lacking in any foie flavor. Foie, the glutenous glue that would hold my meat together, where were you!!! The ravioli themselves were al dente but the sauce that tied the whole dish together was too sweet and lacked integrity to unify the flavors from the ravioli.
For my main course I had selected the BUTTERMILK CHICKEN. I normally don’t get chicken when I dine out, but description for the dish gave me hope. Surprisingly, this was the best dish of the night! The chicken was cooked perfectly and was packed with immense flavor from the buttermilk.
Lastly, for dessert, I had chosen the ZEPPOLES. By the time this course came out I was full, more so from the liquids/​drinks I had over the course of the evening. I do recall the zeppoles having a wonderful ricotta texture, but how i wished these fried pieces of goodness were just paired with gelato for a contrast of temperatures and complimentary flavors.
What happened Fascino?
VALUE 3.0
QUALITY 4.0
SERVICE 4.5
FOOD 3.0

Dined at this wonderful very civilized Italian/​Mediterranean fine dining establishment with my husband. Tony was absolutely a fabulous server. He decanted our red wine so expertly that patrons adjacent to our table asked about having their wine similarly treated! If we are being hypercritical then thy need to warm the bread selections in the basket before serving. The flavors are there but cold bread is not all that appealing.
Started with the signature gnocchi with a light tomato sausage bolognese and some oysters. Spectacular. The gnocchi was indeed soft and pillow-​like. The only time I can remember it being quite as good here in the states is at Babbo in the city… so high praise for Ryan Persio since he is now in the company of the great Mario Batali!
The duck was superbly cooked medium rare and my dusted cod was perfection. The fennel and beans accompanying the fish were delicious. Sautéed broccoli rabe served in a skillet was also delightful.
Skipped dessert since we were so full… the portions are generous. But the list of sweets certainly looked enticing and the parfait and pistachio bread pudding at the other table certainly appeared to be scrumptious!
There are few places in suburbia NJ that are this consistently good. Give it a try… you will not be disappointed.