What's the only thing better than a husband and wife sharing a mutual love for food? When said husband and wife decide to share that love with the rest of us by opening up a place that takes two awesome things, an Italian Market and a coffee house, and puts them both into a single space, creating a one-stop-shop for every Italian/coffee/dessert craving you could ever possibly have.
This is exactly what owners John and Alissa Vitale (along with owners Joe and Cheryl Napoletano) have done with Johnny's Italian Market and Sogno Coffee House in Westwood, New Jersey. John and Alissa also own Cafe Anello, which is just around the corner from Johnny's, but we'll save that deliciousness for another time.
As you can assume, this place has a ton to offer, so I barely even know where to begin. I'll start off by saying that every item I'll be discussing here is pretty much the best of its kind, rising above any other cheesecake, crepe, pizza, etc. that I've ever tasted elsewhere. This is largely due to the fact that everything they do here is incredibly well thought out and made by-hand, from scratch. You can truly taste the difference in the ingredients they're using and this makes for some outstanding food, and an outstanding food coma.
Another important note, John, Alissa, and the rest of their staff are easily some of the nicest people you will ever encounter, making for an even better experience, because what's the point of good food if the people serving it to you are complete jerks? Everyone here is the farthest thing from that and makes it his mission to ensure that you're happy, full, and having a good time.
Alright, on to the really good stuff: the food. The first thing on your left as you walk in the door is the section of the space occupied by Sogno. This is obviously where you'll find your coffee, which is roasted in house and absolutely amazing. But if you're looking for a drink that's a real treat, go for one of the flavored hot chocolates. I wasn’t gonna pass up the opportunity to try a hot WHITE chocolate, so Alissa whipped up a lucky charms hot white chocolate for me that was bursting with sugary marshmallow goodness.
After you order your drink, you'll find yourself mesmerized by the dessert case filled with all the incredibly beautiful cheesecakes that Alissa makes. The flavors rotate throughout the week as each one sells out, and some of the most popular flavors include s'mores, peanut butter cup, cannoli, and funfetti. Personally, I've never been a real fan of cheesecake, but that was before I tried Sogno's. Holy. Damn.
Being a peanut butter head, I obviously had to try the peanut butter cup cheesecake. First of all, the peanut butter flavor shines through perfectly here, but we need to take a moment of silence for the crust on this thing. It’s an chocolate Oreo crust, but saying that doesn’t even begin to do it justice. In all seriousness, I would eat this crust by the pound. It was THAT good.
The other flavor I tried was the Lucky Charms cheesecake, because how could I not when it’s this colorful and pretty? There were bursts of the cereal’s famous marshmallows in every bite, accompanied by yet another stellar crust made from the cereal’s crushed up oat pieces (the boring part of Lucky Charms being put to good use here).
The only thing better than Sogno's cheesecake is Sogno's cookie dough cheesecake BARS. These babies are loaded up with pretty much every delicious tasting treat in existence: cheesecake, chocolate chip cookie dough (baked), Twix, Butterfingers, Oreos, cookie butter Oreos, or whatever else happens to be in Alissa's line of sight when she's making these things. She could probably put dog treats in them and they would still taste good, because they're just that decadent and amazing.
Okay I kinda lied before, because there's one other thing that's better than Sogno's cheesecake, and that's their bread pudding. The two most commonly available variations are the caramel apple bread pudding and the peanut butter cup croissant bread pudding, which, thank the lord, I was lucky enough to try. I ate it in-house, heated up, and topped with whipped cream and their homemade peanut butter sauce. I'll keep the explanation simple by saying I would marry this dessert if it was legal. Or I could just bathe in that peanut butter sauce instead, either one is fine with me.
Coffee, hot chocolate, cheesecake, bread pudding, and more. On to Johnny's now, right? WRONG. You can't level up (think Mario) until you've ordered yourself one of Sogno's crepes. Their crepe menu ranges from sweet to savory, and although you'll find your basic b*tch flavors like strawberry-banana-Nutella (which is delicious in its own right), you'll also find flavors that blow those basic ones out of the water. For example, the brie, pear, and honey for the sweet or the smoked salmon, cream cheese, and onion for the savory.
I actually designed my own savory crepe that wound up basically being eggplant parm in crepe form: fried eggplant cutlets, mozzarella, spinach, and marinara. I will take credit for the idea of this delicious creation, but the spot on flavors and ingredients in here were all thanks to Sogno.
Now that you've earned all your coins at Sogno, you've unlocked level 2: Johnny's. The first thing you'll see is their case filled with some classic Italian options such as eggplant rollatini, meatballs, and mozzarella (all homemade). But just when you think you're about to place your order for something savory, you're stopped by one more dessert...........
Fresh, made to order, warm, cake donuts. Yeah, this is happening.
These donuts, chocolate or vanilla based, are coated in either chocolate or vanilla glaze and are topped with anything from sprinkles, to pretzels, to pistachio powder, to toasted coconut. If you're like me and have trouble making up your mind, then you'll be happy to hear that Johnny's has a menu of daily specials featuring classic flavors like chocolate caramel pretzel or peanut butter cup, which takes the work out of coming up with what combination of donut, glaze, and toppings you want to go with.
Okay now I'm actually done talking about sweets, and that's absolutely okay because I'm about to enlighten you on what is without a doubt some of the best pizza I've ever consumed. Johnny's pizza menu is not some endlessly long menu creating countless combinations of every pizza topping known to man. Instead, it is something far more sophisticated and well constructed, featuring seven options that each have a completely different flavor profile and highlights specific ingredients. The two I tried were the mushroom and the meatball.
The mushroom has sautéed cremini mushrooms, white cheddar, and black truffle EVOO, which for those of you who don't know is extra virgin olive oil. I used to think it was some fancy name for an Italian jelly. Yeah...okay...back to the point.
This pizza is outstanding. There's no other way to put it. It is incredibly cheesy, gooey, and flavorful thanks to that black truffle EVOO. I was honestly transported to another world while eating it because it was that good.
The meatball has John's homemade meatballs, tomato sauce, ricotta, and shaved pecorino romano. This pizza was wildly different from the mushroom pizza, but in an amazing way. It was far less cheesy, which allowed me to focus on the flavor of the tomato sauce and the creamy ricotta. There was also a plentiful amount of crumbled meatballs, without being too much, which I definitely prefer to how most places just stagger halved meatballs throughout the pie.
Oh, and I should probably mention the high quality crust that both of these pizzas were made on. I'm not one to enjoy pizza crusts very often, but these were quite the exception.
Johnny’s also has a sandwich menu featuring five hot sandwiches and five classic sandwiches (some of which can also be served hot). Here you’ll find your classic chicken parm sub in addition to crowd favorites like the chicken cutlet, broccoli rabe, and provolone sandwich.
I tried the #3 classic sandwich, which is grilled eggplant and zucchini, roasted peppers, goat cheese, pesto, and balsamic on multigrain bread (served hot). I don’t know why I’m saying I “tried” this sandwich when devoured would be a much more appropriate word. I did not expect to love the bread on this one as much as I did, but it was not your average multigrain roll. It was fluffy, light, and loaded with flavor. I also appreciate how this sandwich has goat cheese instead of mozzarella. It was a refreshing change from the way most delis make their sandwiches.
Well there you have it, folks. Sogno Coffee House and Johnny’s Italian Market make up what is without a doubt my new favorite eatery. You can tell I really mean that because this article is approximately 700 pages in length, and I could probably write 700 more. Imagine if I had put this much effort into my college essays…
Anyway, go here. Just do it.
