When people think of having a great homemade stromboli, Stuff Yer Face on 49 Easton Avenue in New Brunswick, usually comes to mind quickly. This restaurant in the heart of New Brunswick opened in October of 1977 and has a very rich history. Matthew Poznick, general manager of Stuff Yer Face, was a chef at the restaurant from 1995 to 2002.
When Stuff Yer Face first opened it was located at 43 Easton Avenue, which is now Noodle Gourmet, and the front of the restaurant was a 100-year-old house, says Poznick. These days, Stuff Yer Face attracts Rutgers students and New Brunswick residents looking for a casual atmosphere, tasty and unique food, a great beer list, and friendly service, he says.
This restaurant offers a wide selection of selections, from pizza, burgers and sandwiches, to salads and stromboli. The restaurant also offers more than 100 varieties of beer. Each stromboli at Stuff Yer Face is, of course, the best dish to order because of the fresh dough and tasty ingredients,” Poznick says. Customers can select a stromboli from the menu or customize their own “The restaurant has talented cooks who can make them to order accurately and quickly.”
“The crew I have now have been with me for about 20 years,” he says. “They do an awesome job,” says Poznick.
He did not voluntarily become general manager of Stuff Yer Face, he notes, but rather the responsibility was placed upon him when the manager left—Poznick was next in line. He had some experience as an assistant manager but says he was still very nervous about the responsibilities he would have to deal with.
“With some of the staff stepping up to take on more responsibility we made it through and excelled,” he says. “Since becoming general manager, I have always had a fun-loving and hard-working staff.”
Years ago, Mario Batali, Rutgers alumnus, worked as a dishwasher and stromboli maker at Stuff Yer Face.“Batali will occasionally come back to the restaurant with his family to visit his roots and where his career started,” Poznick says. “He has always been humble, friendly, funny and thankful while visiting or talking about Stuff Yer Face,” Poznick says.
This Western-themed restaurant has grown from being a startup with an inexperienced owner to a well-known and highly appealing place for Italian food and beer. Navera Hussain, a senior at Rutgers University‘s School of Management and Labor Relations, frequents Stuff Yer Face three to four times a year with friends and family. “I love their potachos and think Stuff Yer Face is a very important part of Rutgers history,” she says. Hussain says she has never tried a stromboli but plans to have one soon.
Poznick adds, “The restaurant is casual, comfortable and fun. It has a great mix of students, locals and alumni of Rutgers,” he says.
Roger Grillo, another Rutgers alumnus, and also the director of administration and finance in the Food Science Department, remembers coming to Stuff Yer Face with his friends as an undergrad and enjoying a stromboli and beer. “This restaurant defined a lot of my college experience,” he says. “On a nice day I would love to sit outside and have a tasty stromboli.”
Stuff Yer Face
49 Easton Avenue
New Brunswick
732-247-1727
All photos courtesy of Matt Poznick.
The atmosphere in the restaurant is friendly and unpretentious (very “come to my house for dinner”). Gaccione and her staff truly make you feel welcome. The first time I visited (unannounced), we arrived a little early, and our table wasn’t ready, as the restaurant was slammed with the first dinner seating. The hostess came back two or three times to let us know she hadn’t forgotten about us, and to offer us something to drink while we waited. Once we were seated, we had a prime view of the open kitchen. (Leia’s takeaways from working at Bobby’s restaurants obviously stuck with her.) The kitchen staff was humming like clockwork, great music was playing, and fabulous food was being delivered to the guests.
Of course, I couldn’t resist trying a couple of the new CPK cocktails. Loved the blueberry ginger smash (Jack Daniels, agave nectar, Domaine de Canton ginger, fresh blueberries, lime, and cranberry juice) and the hand-shaken agave mojito (Bacardi Superior rum, fresh agave sour, fresh mint, lime, and organic Hawaiian sugar cane)! Let me tell you, I consider myself a mojito maven. If there’s a mojito on the menu, especially in the summer (or when I need it to be summer), I’m ordering it. And the mojito I had at the Paramus CPK was one of the best ever!
Eyrich and I chatted about the kickstart that their service model is getting. Unlike the generic, blah, chain service you might be accustomed to (“hello, my name is _____, and I’ll be your server today”), CPK encourages their wait staff to be professional, but have fun and “be who they are.” This was evident with our server, who gave us great info about the dishes we were considering, but also provided a bit of his restaurant industry background to make it more personal. In addition, as part of CPK’s reinvention, management has installed an “idea line” that any employee can call with a suggestion for a new dish, which may end up on the menu.
I diced the tomatoes and placed them in a medium saucepan with the vinegar and salsa mix, brought everything to a boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Viola! We have salsa! At this point you can either cool the salsa to room temperature, ladle it into a jar and keep it in the refrigerator and enjoy it for up to 3 weeks or you can place the jar in the canning rack, submerge it in boiling water and preserve the salsa so you can enjoy it within the year. I decided to keep one jar for now and preserved the other.
