A Michelin-starred chef opens a 'premium' fast-casual restaurant in Montclair

Boschetto, a new "premium" fast-casual Italian restaurant with a Michelin-starred chef, has soft opened in Montclair.

Joseph Sergentakis, a Millstone resident who has worked at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants in Switzerland and Asia, heads the kitchen of the 40-seat, counter-service spot offering "fine-dine" eats. Besides serving pizza, the spot, when it officially opens on September 16, will offer an array of salads, pastas, entrees and desserts.

"I don't know anyone else doing this," said Sergentakis, 40, who grew up in Manalapan. "There are no tablecloths, no table service, but we are a fine-dine restaurant in a fast casual environment. It's very casual yet the food is incredible."

The concept was created by Sergentakis and his partners, long-time restaurateur Robert Spina of Cresskill and industry veteran Ryan Held. Sergentakis and Spina met in Hong Kong, while working at different restaurants. Spina owned Posto Publico, "a groundbreaking osteria in Hong Kong," according to Spina; Sergentakis at acclaimed chef Gray Kunz's restaurant.

"We were two guys from New Jersey," Sergentakis said. "We became good friends." Adding: "I always admired his sense of hospitality and he admired my culinary skills."

Sergentakis honed his skills at Restaurant Daniel, chef Daniel Boulud's Michelin-starred restaurant in Manhattan; Café Gray Kunz, celebrated chef Gray Kunz's Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong; Mr. & Mrs. Fox, a steakhouse named "best new restaurant in 2015" in Hong Kong, according to Sergentakis; Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville, a three Michelin-starred restaurant in Crissier, Switzerland; and at Ce La Vie in Singapore.

Although he has never worked in an Italian restaurant, Sergentakis, whose mom is Italian, said "I know Italian food."

His pizza, he said, is a hybrid of Neapolitan and New York style. "We don't have a wood-fired oven but a deck oven, so it can't be Neapolitan," he said. But he uses a flour with low gluten content, not a bread flour with high gluten content. The pizzas are 12-inch pies, he said, so that patrons don't think of Boschetto (It means grove in Italian) as merely a pizza place but a restaurant.

"You can have pizza but then enjoy other dishes," he said.

Dishes such as panzerotti, a fried calzone stuffed with beef and sausage ragu and smoked cheese; fresh baked sandwiches including prosciutto and fig with Balsamic-showered arugula salad and roast pork with garlicky broccoli rabe; salads like grilled gem lettuce laced with anchovy dressing; and pastas including squid ink spaghetti with clams and nduja. Entree options include pork chop Milanese, a pounded and breaded chop topped with housemade ricotta cheese and fresh berries and peaches ("Perfect for the season," he said) and grilled fish puttanesca.

As for dessert, at the moment it's gelato — pistachio, Nutella, chocolate and vanilla. "It's amazing gelato," he said. "We get it from Italy."

"This is the first time I'm doing something this casual," Sergentakis added. "I’m just as excited about it as any fine-dine place I've cooked in. I'm giving it the same effort."

The restaurant is currently open every day except Monday and Tuesday from 11:30 a.m.

Go: 111 Grove St., Montclair; 973-509-1095, boschettonj.com.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Boschetto in Montclair NJ opens with fast-casual Italian menu