Chef Robbie Felice feeds a customer fresh mozzarella, much to her delight. Photo: Arron Andrews
Whether the Jonas Brothers are as skilled at picking restaurants as they are at upping the boy-band game is debatable. But when Kevin, the eldest Jonas and a resident of Denville, declared on a podcast this summer that chef Robbie Felice is “kind of reinventing the game in Jersey” with his intrepid cooking, he wasn’t wrong. Jonas went on to call Felice’s newest restaurant, Bar Mutz in Westwood, one of his favorites. He also said that getting a reservation isn’t easy.
If the stampede for a table at the Italian American hotspot hasn’t slowed much since then, it may be because of the fact that, if you’re game, you will be hand-fed a gob of warm, velvety mozzarella (the establishment’s namesake mutz) by a staffer wheeling a cart of the hand-stretched stuff—Felice himself, if you’re lucky.
It’s a gesture ripe for accusations of gimmickry. But it works, and it helps make the James Beard nominee’s fourth restaurant worth a road trip to Bergen County.
Bar Mutz, opened in February, is saucy in the bold and lively sense. Think of it as fine dining for party people. From the stickers and tag-like scribbles that decorate the tables and walls to the thumping throwback hip-hop that reverberates through the dining room and right out the front door, former Brooklynites may feel they’ve time traveled back to that borough’s club scene circa several decades ago. Lacy bras even dangle from the bathroom ceiling.
The tableside chicken parm is a real showstopper. Photo: Arron Andrews
Sauce merits more discussion here, but not as a descriptor for the atmosphere. Felice, who has already proven he knows how to disrupt New Jersey’s dining scene with pastaRAMEN, the Japanese-Italian spot he opened in 2023 in Montclair, is plain masterful with them.
A recommended spaghetti special was the catalyst for this happy discovery. Chef Robbie, as our waiter called him, had taken advantage of the last harvest of local tomatoes for the dish, as well as several special appetizers, including a pinsa Romana (Roman flatbread) topped with Sungold tomato, charred peach, whipped ricotta, hot honey and saba. Given the reputation of the homemade cheese at Bar Mutz, that was hard to pass up. Since we had already been fed a slick mouthful of warm, rich mozzarella just after our cocktails hit the table, we chose the pasta.
Spaghetti with Umami Bomb tomatoes, charred onion, belper knolle (a hard Swiss cheese) and garlic breadcrumbs. Photo: Arron Andrews
It was a showstopper. Semolina flour isn’t known for producing vivid colors, but this semolina did. Clinging to a small mound of golden spaghetti as if painted on each strand was a softly complex sauce made with Belper knolle, a truffle-like cow’s-milk cheese, and garlic breadcrumbs. A scattering of blistered Umami Bomb tomatoes and charred onion balanced the silky texture of the noodles.
The sauce on the lobster macaroni (which costs a stunning $59 and, please note, is not mac and cheese) is just as artfully distributed. But this is a much different sauce. Felice notes that it takes four days to make. On a phone call after our visit, he confirmed it. Inspired by Sergio Herman, a Michelin-starred chef with whom Felice worked in Europe, it’s creamy, decadent perfection, with lobster meat in abundance.
Creamy lobster macaroni Photo: Arron Andrews
The same can’t be said of the clams oreganata appetizer, which came plated on a bed of salt; a lot of tasty carbs there, but not much seafood. It was the only dish in two near perfect visits that left us disappointed. That includes desserts, which sound humble on the menu, but strut their stuff at the table. Butter cake may be the best example: A flat muffin of golden cake, haloed in berries, is the perch for a small blob of the smoothest of vanilla gelati. Then comes a generous, glossy tableside pour of zabaglione, a luscious Italian custard. The peanut butter brownie, which also gets the gelato treatment, is melty and lavish. Beautiful, too. The brownie, a dense, chocolatey slab, is dusted with gold flakes and peanuts. A Maraschino cherry sits on top, clownlike.
Italian rainbow cookies, served with gelato. Photo: Arron Andrews
Felice clowns around on the drinks menu, too. A pricey subsection, including mini bottles of Veuve Clicquot and Johnnie Walker Blue Label, gets a shove off its high horse with the label, “F*ck It.” A refreshingly fizzy combo of St. Germain and prosecco poured over a twisty length of cucumber is called the Hugo Boss.
The Hugo Boss cocktail, with cucumber, St. Germain, mint and prosecco. Photo: Arron Andrews
Every bite and sip at Bar Mutz comes across as both playful and rigorously planned. Still, even the best dishes might be outpaced by the kicky, freewheeling mood of the place. You might think you’re coming just for recipes masterminded by one of New Jersey’s finest chefs, and in doing so, you wouldn’t leave disappointed. Chances are you’ll come back for reasons beyond the explorations of flavor, though. Chances are you’ll come back because you’ve been lit up and left exhilarated, by a place that got you feeling a little more alive.
HOW WE REVIEW: Restaurants are chosen for review at the sole discretion of New Jersey Monthly. For our starred fine-dining reviews, our critics visit a restaurant at least twice with a guest, always maintaining anonymity to avoid preferential treatment, and the magazine pays for their meals. Stars are assigned by the dining-section editor in consultation with the reviewer.
Four stars = extraordinary; three stars = excellent; two stars = very good; one star = good; half a star = fair.
Dining and Cooking