This restaurant is a fun place, where nothing disappoints.
Business is booming at De Novo in Montclair -- 250 people on a Tuesday night, dinner and drinks, snacks and drinks, bowls of pasta.
Demetri Malki's signature dish is ordered in droves -- dates with gorgonzola and almonds, wrapped in bacon ($8), a dish he has carried from menu to menu, restaurant to restaurant.
At De Novo, they smoke their own bacon. You have the punch of gorgonzola, the crunch of almond. "It's everybody's favorite," he says. People order it as an appetizer, people order it as an entree. Some, even, for dessert.
"I don't care how they have it. As long as they come here and have it."
De Novo is an entirely new concept for Malki, who first opened D'Metri's and later the beloved Table 8, both in Montclair. But Table 8, with its crushed velvet seating and pastel lighting, was viewed by customers as a fine dining restaurant, which often meant crickets on Tuesdays.
As Malki describes it, the staff operated in slow motion during the week, overdrive on weekends.
"I'm here six days a week. I want to be busy six days a week," says Malki, whose voice rocks with adrenaline, almost too fast to keep pace. His new restaurant just celebrated its first-year anniversary and its reception has exceeded expectations. Malki, in fact, is already scouting for a second location.
De Novo -- from restaurateur Demetri Malki -- is a not-to-be-missed stop at the Montclair train station. Before he opened De Novo, Malki sensed a void in the market -- the area needed a casual neighborhood go-to spot. A place that offered something for everyone, from wings to handmade pastas, a drop-in spot where you could craft your own dinner, depending on your mood. Where you could stop in for a beer or a three-course dinner or anything in between. Most important, a place where you could stop in several times a week.
Thus, De Novo, which means new beginning.
But other factors, which he knew were important, turned out to provide a remarkable return on investment.
First, free advertising. Being at the train station, De Novo enjoys high visibility, every 15 minutes or so, to all those commuters. Second, the restaurant has a full liquor license, a rarity in Montclair. Third, free parking and plenty of it. In an urban community. Who can imagine? It's a business metric that matters, and the asset of free parking is an advantage that evokes genuine envy among most other restaurateurs in the state, many of whom are often shocked and annoyed that they also must be in the parking attendant business.
All three advantages add up. "It's not really a secret. It's just very hard to execute," says Malki.
In building a fast-paced, casual neighborhood spot, some things are sacrificed. The food here is not so precious, not so refined. That's the intent. The menu is filled with quick choices -- hummus, grilled octopus, cured meats, steamed mussels. Flatbreads with fennel confit, or chorizo.
But the pasta remains hand-crafted, the bread is homemade and the Bolognese begins with a mirepoix. And Maliki's signature fried calamari ($12) has traveled to this menu, too, first soaked in buttermilk (to soften) and served with a homemade marinara. The calamari also comes with a signature orange remoulade, which is made with rice wine vinegar, lemon juice and horseradish. These pale calamari are crisp and light, and -- combined with Malki's urbane sauces -- are just the calamari you'd expect from an enterprising, inventive establishment.
Pastas are exceptionally generous. These are not SoHo bowls of pasta, for skinny actresses cheating on a diet. These are Jersey bowls of pasta, and you'll witness many folks, in fact, stopping in for pasta and a drink, calling it a night. The bowl of rigatoni Bolognese ($16) is particularly seductive and satisfying. "Nothing really to it," Malki says, humbly, though you know better. "Simple and delicious," he also says. You'll agree.
Spaghetti carbonara ($17), made to order, is, by appearance, pale on pale. Its taste, too, is less dynamic than versions elsewhere, but you'll likely find yourself slowly falling for it, as we did.
Tuna crusted with sesame ($23) is one of the restaurant's most popular dishes, and some folks visit once a week just to order it. It sits on a chipotle aioli, which offers a little kick. This is a good dish, true, with ruby red tuna, and you'll find no reason to complain. Though if you've been spoiled by the rich, vibrant taste of fresh-caught, hours-old tuna and are spending your remaining days on this fine earth seeking that same experience, you won't be dazzled.
Desserts are made in-house. They're surprisingly good, even if you've been spoiled to think otherwise about cute desserts, especially about a brownie. The cheesecake ($7) will remind you of an Italian grandmother, the skillet brownie ($7.50) is warm and adorable, and not as childlike as you worry, and the tiramisu ($7.50) holds its own among the best in the state.
As for the staff, the attire is casual but not the attitude, and we appreciated both the enthusiasm and the knowledge of our waiter.
In fact, kudos to Malki. De Novo is a fun place, where nothing disappoints. We want to come back, try some other things. Which, we suppose, is exactly the point.
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