Coal-fired pizza on its way downtown
'We're taking rustic and bringing it to the new world'
Soon, restaurant goers will be able to add a new coal-fired pizza restaurant to the growing list of eateries available to them along Asbury Park’s downtown Cookman Avenue.
The restaurant is a joint venture between co-owners Tom Affatato, Barry Judelson and Sackman Enterprises. Sackman owns the space, along with all of the other suites in the 550 Cookman Ave. building where the restaurant is located.
Restaurant owners haven’t decided on a name for the place yet and are staying mum for now on the specifics, but did confirm with the Sun that the restaurant would serve “900-degree coal-fired oven” Neapolitan-style pizza, a few appetizers and, perhaps, a few hot entrees, according to Affatato. A full-service bar will be on-site and they’ll also offer pickup and delivery services. Customers will be able to place delivery orders though the web, he said.
“You can call it old world with a modern spin,” said Affatato.
As to what, exactly, the modern spin will be, owners aren’t willing to say just yet, but Affatato did elude to interior design elements that may incorporate 21st century technology.
“We’re taking rustic and bringing it to the new world,” he said.
Affatato is a first-generation Italian, he said. He works as a mechanical engineer and has done work for Sackman Enterptises in the past, according to Sackman. Besides doing mechanical work, his forte is also cooking, he said, as he has a degree from the Tuscany Culinary Institute.
The coal-fired pizza place will stick to what it does best, he said.
“We are your coal-fired pizza restaurant,” said Affatato. “You are coming there for that pizza, because who needs another Italian restaurant in Asbury Park?”
“It has always been his dream to open up a pizzeria,” said spokesperson Morgan Sackman. Sackman handles marketing and promotions for APVibe, a marketing campaign that seeks to promote Downtown Asbury Park as a shopping and dining destination.
“Everyone fulfills a dream,” said Affatato, 56, who is married with four kids. “I’m fulfilling the dream of the family — and I’m fulfilling my own dream.”
The sign in the window says the restaurant is “coming soon,” but how soon isn’t something Affatato is willing to disclose. “By Memorial Day weekend, how about that?” he said.
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