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Porta on Kingsley Street received the highest rating in a New York Times restaurant review appearing in today’s Sunday Metropolitan section.

Reviewer Fran Schumer singled out for praise executive chef Grace Crossman [right photo] and head pizzaiola Fredrica Vilardi [top photo at right]. Schumer ate at Porta on both a busy Saturday night and a quiet Tuesday evening. The food was first-rate each time she said:

I ate at Porta on a crowded Saturday — the wait for walk-in customers at dinner on weekends is at least an hour — and on a rainy Tuesday night when the cavernous space was so quiet that each time the door opened, you could hear sea gulls’ cries. On both occasions, the salads, pastas and pizzas were first-rate.

In giving Porta its highest ranking of “Excellent”, Schumer noted the offerings beyond Porta’s pizza. She also highlighted Crossman, one of Porta’s two executive chefs, for her talent although she never attended formal culinary school:

Grace Crossman, one of two executive chefs, majored in comparative literature at college and never went to culinary school; who knows where she learned to make the khaleesi salad, one of several excellent salads on the small but interesting menu. A mix of baby red romaine, radishes, white asparagus, mizuna, toasted bread crumbs and piave, the hard, slightly sweet Italian cheese, the salad is refreshing and substantial, perfect for tamping down an appetite after a long day at the beach.

…The reach of Porta’s talent extends far beyond pizza. The memory of its crunchy, pan-roasted octopus and vibrant fennel salad prompted a friend to send me an e-mail from a restaurant in Milan: “Porta cooked its octopus with far more skill; it was better-dressed and better-seasoned.”

The reviewer also noted the physical and historical appeal of Porta’s unusual cavernous space — it’s the location of the Student Prince where Bruce Springsteen played in his pre-stardom days. And Schumer recognized the abilities of head pizzaiola Fredrica Vilardi:

In contrast to the food, the interior of the restaurant has all the charm of an airport hangar. And yet, however huge and noisy, the large, barnlike space, decorated with discarded doors (porta means door in Italian), is surprisingly cozy. One can attribute this quality to intangibles like history — the building has housed a series of nightclubs, including the Student Prince, where Bruce Springsteen met the saxophonist Clarence Clemons. It is also a result of the enthusiasm and expertise of the five proprietors — four of whom also own Brickwall Tavern and Dining Room, another popular Asbury Park hangout — as well as the larger team that runs the restaurant.

One of this talented collective is Fredrica Vilardi, Porta’s head pizzaiola, or pizza chef. After attending pizza-making school in Ridgewood, N.J., Ms. Vilardi was certified in making Neapolitan pizza by Roberto Caporuscio, president of the American Chapter of the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani. She, and a staff of pizzamakers that can swell to 15 during the summer, produce pies featuring the chewy dough and smoky, black-freckled crust characteristic of the Neapolitan variety.

Expansion plans beyond Asbury Park are in the works, the Times reported. The group owning Porta and Brickwall Tavern — Meg Brunette, Kyle Lepree, Jason Watt, Jim Watt and Michael Alfieri — plan to open four more restaurants in the state, according to Dallas Hlatky, a spokeswoman for the owners.

Click here for the full Times review.

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