Café Amici: New Look, Same Great Food

The warm, brick-colored walls have been replaced by much cooler, sea green paint, but new ceiling tiles have done little to minimize the noise when Wyckoff's Café Amici is packed with customers. And that is usually the case.

The redecorating had been planned for July or August, but a fire in the duct work in the kitchen last April sped up the timeline and provided Executive Chef Artie Toufayan with a kitchen makeover, as well.

At 10 a.m. on a recent day, there's already a bowl of freshly cut French fries in the kitchen awaiting the lunch time crowd, and Toufayan is preparing a mirepoix to braise Spanish octopus, a dish he says is very popular.

Asked why Café Amici makes its own fries from scratch when few restaurants do that today, Toufayan replies, "That's what makes us who we are." He says he gets about 40 percent of his produce and his eggs from nearby Abma's Farm.

Toufayan, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, has just received a certificate in nutrition counseling, and he is very adamant about serving "farm to table kind of food."

Café Amici has a regular menu, a kids menu and a menu of specials for the day. In October, Toufayan plans to introduce another option—the 50-Mile Menu. It will only have dishes with ingredients obtained within 50 miles of the restaurant.

Pizza probably will not be on the 50-Mile Menu because Toufayan, who makes the dough for both the Wyckoff restaurant and Café Amici in Ho-Ho-Kus, gets the flour from Naples, where it is hand-milled. He said he makes about 300 pounds a week.

A few days before I interviewed Toufayan, my partner and I decided to have dinner there. It was a week night at the end of August and we figured it would not be crowded. We figured wrong. Fortunately, we got there early, while the sun was still pouring into the dining room through sheer white screens, and, in the next half hour, the place filled up.

We started with zucchini fritti, fried match sticks of zucchini in a light batter with fresh lemons. That's a dish we saw going by our table on our first visit last year and thought it looked great. And it tasted great too.

Next, I tried the Abma's Farm salad, which that night featured heirloom tomatoes, arugula, shaved fennel and small beet cubes. This was truly delicious and except for the beets, my partner would have enjoyed it more than the classic Caesar, a salad he orders everywhere we go. This one measures up to the other good ones he has had.

For the entrée, he chose one of the night's specials, arctic char on a bed of sliced fingerling potatoes and onions. Char is one of his favorite fish, and he often grills it himself, so he can be a tough judge, but Café Amici's version was a clear winner.

It had been a hectic day and, in need of comfort food, I decided to try the pizza with mushrooms, mozzarella, shallots and white truffle oil.  The crust was crispy, with a great texture, and the shallots were caramelized to perfection. It came as a rectangle, and I was able to finish half of it.

The rest I reheated for lunch the next day, and it had held up really well. The crust was still great. Maybe it was that flour from Naples.  And Toufayan's magic touch.

His family immigrated from Egypt in the 1960s and opened a bakery in Jersey City where Toufayan started working the dough at the age of 6. After stints at such well-known Manhattan restaurants as Aureole, Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe, he opened The Village Green in Ridgewood, selling it five years ago when his partner left the restaurant.

"I couldn't work both the front and the back by myself," Toufayan said. So he moved to Café Amici, which owner Albert Franco opened eight years ago. Franco's nephew, Brent Cestone, manages the front of the house.

Unlike the Ho-Ho-Kus restaurant, Café Amici in Wyckoff does not take reservations but it helps to call ahead if you have a party of six or more. It is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week and serves a Sunday brunch.

The new green walls are adorned with faux antique frescoes, lighted by wall sconces, and while green is pleasant on a hot summer day, it is not as warm and welcoming as the old  colors. The largest fresco carries the motto, Qui Siamo Amici, "Here We Are Friends."

Judging by the crowds, Toufayan and company have a lot of friends.

Food: Excellent

Service:  Good

Entrée Price Range: $14 to $25

Atmosphere: Friendly

BYOB

Credit Cards Accepted

Open Table: No