A DOZEN YEARS IN THE MAKING, JOSEPH CETRULO’S NEWLY LAUNCHED MASSERIA ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE WAS WELL WORTH THE WAIT

BY KT HARRISON &PHOTOS BY ALEX BARRETO

Until not long ago, Morristown’s illustrious dining scene lacked one essential: a distinctive, palate-dazzling steakhouse. Local resident Joseph Cetrulo took this shortfall seriously. Last December, the acclaimed Garden State chef bestowed an extravagant Christmas gift upon his neighbors: Masseria Italian Steakhouse. This standout spot has swiftly become the go-to place for in-the-know diners to revel in everything an exceptional restaurant delivers. Its air is uplifting, its bar glamorous, its service welcoming and well-paced.

But, of course, the food is the ultimate scene-stealer. Each dish is crafted from meticulously chosen, hyper-fresh ingredients and cooked with TLC. The tempting menu moves through crudos, mini pizzas, and salads to pastas, seafood, steaks, and desserts. Cetrulo searched high and low for his finely marbled, succulent, Prime black Angus beef, raised on a sustainable family farm across the Delaware River. The meat is dry-aged in-house, cut to order, then impeccably cooked on an open-fire steel Mibrasa Parrilla grill from Spain, yielding a brawny char and velvety interior. The fuel is 80% charcoal and 20% oak wood chips to infuse the beef with a delectable scintilla of smoke. The semi-open kitchen affords carnivores a primetime view of the steak-sizzling show.

True to its name, this high-end steakhouse is simultaneously an ace Italian restaurant. Its appetizersized pizzas, all finished in a wood-burning pizza oven, arrive with classic crispy crusts and generous toppings. (The namesake Masseria pie, for example, is a feast of Italian sausage, long hot peppers, ricotta, and tomato sauce.) Pastas, made in-house daily, are decadent and lushly sauced. In an unexpected twist, the Bolognese is made with filet mignon, peppery pork sausage, and mascarpone (“because life is a celebration,” noted Cetrulo).

The vitello parmigiana features a thinly sliced veal chop smothered in tomato and basil sugo and fontina, while the branzino is accented with fingerling potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, pignoli nuts, and Gaeta olives. And how does salmon wild-caught off Denmark’s Faroe Islands come to wave the tricolor flag? With a house-made pesto crust. Bravo.

Cetrulo’s perfectionism is grounded by four-plus decades of kitchen mastery and innovation. As a kid in Newark and Wayne, his dad Joseph, a chef, would often bring his son to work.

“As soon as I got working papers, I had jobs in restaurant kitchens,” Cetrulo said. “By 17, I was cooking professionally. And I wanted to be great.” He apprenticed in fabled Manhattan kitchens like Il Mulino, Gramercy Tavern, and Gotham Bar and Grill under chefs like Tom Colicchio and Alfred Portale.

“I’m 90% Italian,” Cetrulo said. Intent on “going to the source to cook like a native,” he embarked on nearly two dozen cooking odysseys to Italy over the years. Savoring a refined Roman meal on his very first visit to the Boot, he was invited by the chef to apprentice in the kitchen. Today, Masseria’s luscious, lively spicy lobster Parioli is named for that restaurant.

Cetrulo has documented his kitchen forays from the Italian Alps to the Amalfi Coast with a framed treasure map of Italy that spotlights the ristoranti where he soaked up kitchen gospel. (He will be adding Sicily to his list this fall). Today, that map is displayed on a wall beside Masseria’s kitchen.

Well before Cetrulo’s taste-driven treks, the adventurous young chef became a keen entrepreneur. By age 22, he was either a part or full owner of Italian restaurants in Morris Plains, Millburn, and Summit.

(Younger brother Michael, still a North Jersey chef-owner, was a sometime collaborator.) Cetrulo founded Trinity Hospitality Group, and his radar for opportunity led him down the Shore, “where quality spots for gathering and socializing, with standout bars and private event spaces, were hard to find,” he said. His 2006 opening of Sirena Ristorante, set in Long Branch’s beachfront Pier Village, was an instant and ongoing sensation. Three years later, his Stella Marina Restaurant & Bar cemented Asbury Park’s reputation as a dining mecca.

Yet all the while, the chef, who resided in Morris County, longed for a unique hometown venture. “My vision was for Morristown to have a place that blended authentic Italian food with the best steak there is,” he said. “High-end but informal, great-looking, with a separate bar, private rooms, and a stellar wine list to match the menu.”

Cetrulo’s dream wouldn’t quit, and neither did he. It took 12 years to clinch a promising indoor-outdoor space downtown, plus an available liquor license, which was “rarer than a two-pound truffle,” he joked. Cetrulo transformed this high-ceiling, 8,200-square-foot former office into a series of beguiling spaces: a luminous bar with a quintessentially Roman checkerboard tile floor; a softly chandelier-lit, baronial main dining room lorded over by proud bull trophies; a graceful patio ready for a garden party; and handsome, deluxe private spaces awaiting celebrations.

Cetrulo knew all along what he’d name his Italian Steakhouse. In southern Italy, hundreds of years ago, he explained, masserias were communities centered around food. They were landowners’ farms that had turned into fortified villages, with stone walls to protect the family, the townspeople, their animals, and their valuable crops.

“Masserias thrived,” Cetrulo said. “The villagers produced olive oil, they bred livestock, they cooked and ate together. That’s meaningful to me.”

At Masseria Italian Steakhouse, Cetrulo has convened his own community. Executive chef Ariel Garcia has been a Trinity Hospitality top toque for 15 years. The polished service cadre, trained by general manager Tony Miraldo Neto, woos diners into the Masseria famiglia, and the dessert finesse of pastry chef Lisa Davis keeps guests coming back.

“One meal here, and diners come back with their friends,” said Cetrulo. “Our entire team and every guest, we’re all a part of this. Our masseria.”