Cousin Vinny's Restaurant, a family-style spot with a bar, opened in Wood-Ridge at the beginning of May.
Larry Cerrone, who for nearly 13 years has opened and maintained restaurants in New York City including Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village and Hummus Kitchen on the East Side, teamed with his friend Peter Flower, a publisher, to open the 140-seat restaurant.
"This is the first restaurant I've built for myself," Cerrone said.
The concept behind it is to feed families at affordable prices. "If I go to an Italian restaurant, and a single plate of spaghetti costs $21, I'm insulted," Cerrone said. "I'm tired of being insulted."
Cousin Vinny's serves family-style dishes, pasta, for example — that is pasta that can feed at least two people — for $16. "I don't like to compare us to Carmine's," he said, referring to the mini-chain of New York City Italian-American restaurants known for family-style eats, though the comparison is difficult to avoid.
The chef is Michael Galasso, formerly sous chef of The River Palm in Edgewater.
The restaurant is open every day from 5 p.m. to midnight. Diners who come in before 6 p.m., Cerrone said, get a free order of pasta ("That's one and a half pounds of pasta") if they order an entree and a side dish.
"A family of four can eat here for $50," he said.
Go: Cousin Vinny's is at 191 Valley Blvd. Wood-Ridge; 201) 939-1111 cousinvinnysrestaurant.com/
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https://www.northjersey.com/story/entertainment/dining/2019/06/07/cousin-vinnys-restaurant-opens-wood-ridge/1360611001/ 2019-06-07 10:17:00Z
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