Massa Pasta Opens in Tenafly, Spotlighting Handmade Pasta and Craft

Massa Pasta opened on April 15 in Tenafly as more than a neighborhood restaurant. The husband-and-wife team of Sesil Bulbuloglu and Chef Yosif Bulbuloglu built the shop as an artisan pasta counter, kitchen, and curated marketplace, with fresh handmade pasta at the center of the whole operation.

The concept leans hard into craftsmanship and pedigree. Yosif Bulbuloglu is described by the business as half Italian and half Greek and a top-of-class Le Cordon Bleu graduate, with earlier culinary work that included roles at Turkish Airlines and Google, where precision and consistency were part of the job every day. Local pre-opening coverage said he studied at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, finished first in his class, and cooked his way through more than 25 countries before bringing that discipline back to a smaller, community-facing space.

At Massa Pasta, the making starts early and stays visible. The shop makes dough fresh every morning, and every shape is produced in house, from long cuts like tagliatelle to structured pasta such as rigatoni and fusilli, along with filled pastas including ravioli and tortellini. The menu uses high-quality semolina and 00 flour, and the kitchen also offers a gluten-free pasta option, extending the appeal beyond a single kind of pasta eater.

The business model is what makes the opening stand out in Tenafly’s dining mix. Massa Pasta serves dine-in and takeout, but it also operates as a retail pasta shop, selling fresh pasta by the pound for customers who want to finish dinner at home. The marketplace shelves imported Italian goods, including olive oils, vinegars, and artisanal sauces, so a stop there can turn into dinner tonight and pantry stock for the week.

That dual role fits a borough that has been actively shaping its downtown for more foot traffic and more independent businesses. Tenafly’s population was 15,409 in the 2020 Census and an estimated 15,455 in 2024, and the town’s median owner-occupied housing value was reported at $1,002,600. Against that backdrop, a focused pasta house built around fresh dough, retail take-home sales, and a tight launch menu with lunch service from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. feels calibrated for daily use, not just special occasions.