Morsetto Italian Kitchen Brings Fresh Pasta and Wood-Fired Pizza to Ridgewood

Chef Francesco Curci spent more than a decade refining his approach to Italian cooking across New Jersey before returning to Italy to reconnect with the culinary traditions that first shaped him. That detour through the south, specifically the region of Puglia, ended in Ridgewood. Morsetto Italian Kitchen opened its doors at 29 Chestnut Street on March 29, and Curci's dual focus on fresh pasta and wood-fired pizza immediately sets it apart from the neighborhood's existing Italian options.

Curci's résumé anchors the concept with real credibility. Before Morsetto, he owned Apulia in Hoboken, which built a following among diners seeking traditional southern Italian cooking. His earlier work in Ridgewood itself, as both chef and manager, gave him a running start with the community he is now serving again.

The pasta menu is where committed carb-heads will want to linger first. Curci's kitchen makes its pasta in-house, and the two dishes worth ordering on a first visit are the bucatini with guanciale and the carbonara. Both are Roman in spirit, and both depend on the kind of ingredient discipline and technique that separates a credible carbonara from a cream-sauce impersonation. The bucatini with guanciale is the share hook: order it, photograph it, and the texture of that thick, hollow strand coated in cured pork jowl fat will explain why Morsetto is already drawing attention.

The pizza rounds out the kitchen's identity. Morsetto's dough undergoes a long fermentation process, developing naturally to become light, airy, and crisp, with slow leavening that allows flavors to fully mature while keeping the crust highly digestible. The result is a thin, Roman-style pie that holds its own alongside the pasta rather than competing for the table's loyalty.

Starters include focaccia Pugliese, burrata, meatballs with ricotta, grilled octopus, and panzerotti. For diners who need something more substantial, the menu extends to pork Milanese, porchetta sandwiches, and chicken parmigiana. The dining room reflects the same regional sensibility: wood tables, white brick walls, and Italian food maps and regional imagery throughout.

Curci's goal is to create a welcoming restaurant that reflects the warmth and hospitality of Italian family gatherings while remaining deeply connected to the Ridgewood community. Given his prior ties to the town, the opening reads less like a debut and more like a return.

For weeknight visits, arriving before 7 p.m. is the safest bet at a fresh-opening spot generating this level of local buzz. Weekend reservations should be secured well in advance, particularly if the table includes anyone who insists on ordering carbonara before it sells out. The address is 29 Chestnut Street; the restaurant takes reservations directly through its website.