Edible Jersey: A Passion For Salumi | A Modern Chef, Old World Techniques
BY JULIA MULLANEY / PHOTOGRAPHY BY CATHY MILLER | JUNE 27, 2018
An unassuming white refrigerator, hidden in the corner of a basement office in Wayne, is the secret to success for Robbie Felice, one of New Jersey’s rising-star chefs. Time spent in Manhattan and Las Vegas helped Felice carve out a passion for salumi, which he’s made the focus of Viaggio Ristorante—a rustic Italian restaurant tucked in a modest North Jersey strip mall. Inside that basement refrigerator, rows of Felice’s hand-crafted cured meats sit, aging.
“If you have an Italian restaurant, you have to be doing your own salumi,” says Felice.
A Sussex native, Felice, 27, grew up around his family’s home cooking. His father has been in the restaurant business for years, and Felice has been in and out of restaurants since he could walk…