A lively spot in Freehold off ers a culinary ticket to italia…

by Marisa Procopio

With 16 beers on tap, a bocce ball court, skee ball, an outdoor beer garden, and a fire pit, you might think this restaurant owner’s desire to attract a crowd would be pretty much squared away. But factor in the carefully executed lengths Tre owners have gone to in serving an authentic Italian meal, and the satisfaction just keeps growing.

“The whole concept is clean, fresh, local, quality food,” emphasized Rob Kash who, with partners Joe Mosco and Dennis Tafuri, make up Great Restaurants NJ. The group opened Tre in May 2014. (And Chef Nick Friere, a colleague of 14 years, earns special applause from Kash: “He’s been doing a hell of a job.”)

Kash’s descriptions about his menu and ingredient sourcing genuinely make the mouth water. Ready?

Start with the mozzarella, featured both on the menu and at a special bar. It includes handmade burrata and imported mozzarella di bufala (Italy’s traditional and much-beloved variety), along with a choice of six sides, among them heirloom tomatoes. Or pay one price, “so you’re able to try everything,” said Kash. Plus, all of the mushrooms are grown in nearby Pennsylvania. (In the summertime, the restaurant also seeks out produce such as corn and tomatoes from local farms.)

Carnivores, for their part, will appreciate that the Tre staff takes meat very, very seriously. Their salumi is sourced from Salumeria Biellese, a Slow Food company in Manhattan known for “true artisanal salami making,” Kash asserted.

And in house? “We bought a $10,000 slicer just to cut prosciutto paper thin,” he added. “And we make our own porchetta.” (What’s that? Italy’s unabashedly well-seasoned, fat-crackling, meltingly rich pork roast. Be impressed; it’s a laborious process few restaurants undertake.) “We cure it for four days,” he said. It’s served very simply: sliced, with broccoli rabe and potatoes alongside.

If all this can be topped, it’s with the substantial green stuff on hand.

“We actually have a very cool thing,” said Kash, and it goes by the name Beyond Organic Growers, also located in Freehold. There, Theresa and David Reid grow fresh aeroponic herbs and greens. “[They] grow all our basil, all our oregano. The basil is so flavorful, the arugula is so peppery, and it’s clean growing, completely organic, and cut exactly at the point we want.”

Several points of pride come to Kash’s mind with regard to Tre’s success. “You know what’s so nice, that we’ve really been so welcomed by locals,” he said. He also relishes offering a place where guests are “eating the way Italians eat.”

That last point hit home for this longtime restauranteur when it was put to the ultimate test: Kash’s 17-year-old daughter recently visited Italy and kept messaging her father at mealtimes.

“The pizza is just like Tre!” she reported. “The pasta is just like Tre!”

Tre
611 Park Avenue, Highway 33, Freehold
732.751.4422 / trepizzanj.com