Washington Street is undeniably known as the main retail hub of the Mile Square City, but those looking for a bite to eat west of Willow Avenue will have another option sometime this summer when a new café opens its doors uptown.
A recently completed mixed-use project at 1101 Grand Street will soon be home to Dolce & Salato. The name is a play on the Italian words for sweet and salty, and the Pasticceria café will be serving sandwiches, salads, and pastries out of the 1,350-square-foot storefront.
The space is currently being built out by North Bergen-based Molfetta Group, and the company is a partner in the café venture as well. The restaurant itself was designed by Woodland Park-based GI Studio and will feature high-end details like marble floors for what the owners describe as a “stunning” look.
Café partner Maurizio Dolce (yes, that’s his actual last name) has known Molfetta Group’s founders, Michael Nirchio and Brian Mazzei, for 28 years. The friends have played around with the idea of opening a café together for quite some time, and they are now making it work with a little help from their friends.
Dolce & Salato is utilizing Wayne-based Palazzone 1960 for the cakes and pastries portion of their menu. The bakery, which opened in 2012 and has rave reviews on Yelp, is also guiding the group behind Dolce & Salato in terms of their operations.
However, all the other food in the restaurant will be made in-house. The café is still in the process of finalizing a menu working with consultant Frank Krushinski, who tells Jersey Digs he is excited about what he believes is a great concept.
“There are people in the food business who don’t get it…these guys really understand it,” he says.
Dolce says the café will welcome Hoboken’s burgeoning population of young families and will gear towards that demographic. He also loves the somewhat under-the-radar vibe being on Grand Street will afford the café.
“Molfetta has worked in Hoboken for a long time, and we love the building’s location,” says Dolce. “It’s in a more residential area off the beaten path a bit, which is a good fit for us.”
Dolce & Salato’s hours will run from around 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and they are hoping to open their doors sometime in June.
