Cafe Rustica: Readers' Choice for Italian Restaurant

Giovanni Giornalista, who with his wife Theresa has run on Valley Road for almost 14 years, said that the couple puts "our heart and soul into what we do."

Evidently, his diners noticed. In this week's Readers Choice competition for best Italian restaurant in Basking Ridge, the small restaurant tucked away at the side of the road received 63 percent of votes, or 1,254 out of 1,980.

"I LOVE Cafe Rustica," wrote one reader. "It's great for dine in, take out, and catering. The grilled pizza with chicken, arugula, bruschetta tomatoes, mozzarella, and shaved parmesan cheese is amazing. Pasta fagioli is as good as you can get in Brooklyn."

Giornalista, whose said he began working in a family pizzeria at age 13, said he and his wife are very excited that their customers in the Basking Ridge area appreciate their restaurant.

"Thank you to our customers for voting for us," he said.

He said he and Theresa, who lived in Bernardsville, work every day at Cafe Rustica, which is open daily except on Mondays.

Giovanni does the cooking, his wife said, and, "He's an excellent chef. He makes everything fresh to order, and he takes pride in it, because it's his restaurant."

Cafe Rustica had competition from other Italian eateries in Basking Ridge, which also had fans in town. off Allen Road in The Hills gained a quarter of votes, with 580 fans expressing their approval of the Italian dishes that are served in a dining room along with the pizzeria.

in Liberty Corner received 92 votes, but had the most effusive comments on our page.

"Focacceria by far best restaurant!!!!! Really great food and wonderful staff!!!
Terrific atmosphere, always enjoyable and highly recommended!!!" wrote Sheri Berisha.

Next week's Readers' Choice competition will ask where you consider the best place in town to go to get your taxes done.