New Brunswick Restaurant Week: Victoria's Tratta Italiano Serving Cozy Experience

New Brunswick Restaurant Week: Victoria's Tratta Italiano Serving Cozy Experience

Did you hear the one about the comedy club owners who opened a restaurant in New Brunswick about a year and a half ago? Except, Victoria's Tratta Italiano at 94 Church St. is no joke. Its fold-out windows give passers-by a glimpse at the long, brick-backed bar. Right around the corner are the flickering flames of the brick oven and a row of pizzas that have recently emerged. Go a little farther and you're in the cozy dining room.

Vinnie and Vicki Brand, owners and operators of the Stress Factory in New Brunswick and two other comedy clubs, had a vision for a restaurant that would set them apart from the many other great Italian restaurants around New Brunswick and beyond. Well, at least Vicki did. "Vicki wanted a very rustic, comfortable, relaxed and beautiful atmosphere," Vinnie said. "We knew what we wanted, but we didn't use a professional restaurant designer. We just started figuring it out. We also had a great builder who had a great eye for things."

Victoria's Tratta Italiano is one of the 20 or so restaurants that will participate in New Brunswick Restaurant Week - an event so big that it now stretches for two weeks, July 13-27. Restaurants will offer an array of dishes and deals for foodies hungry for fine fare or a noontime nosh.

At Victoria's Tratta Italiano, the menu under chef Bosco Jacinto offers some standards (creamy pesto gnocchi), some standouts (chicken Parmesan), some surprises (a pork chop that is so good that Vinnie defies you to find a better one) and lots of authentic touches (homemade bread baked fresh each day).

Vinnie has sworn off carbs on his latest health kick, but he suggests that you leave room for his favorite dessert: gelato.

The couple ran into an Italian man in, of all places, Port Douglas, Australia, who insisted they go out and buy a gelato maker from an Italian company, Carpigiani. Then, the Brands sent their chefs to Carpigiani's three-day gelato-making workshop in New York.

"Our gelato is not good, it's excellent," Vinnie said. "When you come in, it's not some U.S. frozen gelato."

Another secret ingredient to Victoria's Tratta Italiano's success is the application of the knowledge they accrued over the decades of running the Stress Factory sites in New Brunswick and Bridgeport, Conn., and their soon-to-be-opened site in King of Prussia, Pa.

Vinnie said customer experience is the key in the comedy club industry. As he put it, you want laugh-happy guests walking out the door at the end of the evening saying, "That was great. They really care about the customers."

So, Vicki and Vinnie have added that personal touch to their menu, so to speak. They will often make the rounds in the dining room, greeting customers, checking to make sure their meals are just so.

"When Vicki goes to a table, they're meeting Victoria," Vinnie said. "I don't want it to sound egotistical, but it means something. When you go to a big chain restaurant and the manager is great, you're not meeting Friday (Friday's). You're not meeting the Red Lobster.

"When you go to Victoria's you feel like you're eating at our place. We like to say: Your family, our table. I don't want this to sound like an ego trip. We want people to know that it's run by people who really care. This is who we are."

During New Brunswick Restaurant Week, diners who eat out at least five times can submit their receipts for a chance to win a Best Destination gift bag from local New Brunswick restaurants.

To learn more about the participating businesses and their special Restaurant Week deals, click here.