Village Al Fresco!

IT’S TOO HOT to stand over the stove, too buggy in the backyard to fire up the grill and just too boring to order the same old takeout. The solution to your dinnertime blues is simple.

With apologies to Martha and the Vandellas (or Van Halen or the dynamic duo of David Bowie and Mick Jagger, depending on your vintage), summer’s here, and the time is right for dining in the streets of Ridgewood.

It was a rarity before the pandemic, but more and more village restaurateurs are realizing that there’s just something special about dining al fresco while the weather permits. And it’s likely to become even more common. 70% of readers surveyed by the trade magazine Restaurant Development + Design this year say outdoor dining space will be included in new building projects and renovations.

It’s not just a matter of personal preference, either. There’s evidence that eating out in the open is actually good for your mental and physical health. Dr. Gregory Lawson of Aylo Health told the online food publication Delish that enjoying a meal outdoors “can significantly reduce stress, elevate mood, and enhance overall well-being.”

Further, spending time outdoors at dusk nudges the body to produce the hormone melatonin, which helps regulate sleep.

The message is clear: You owe it to yourself to head downtown and pick a spot to enjoy a meal prepared and served by someone else while the summer sun eases into another lazy evening.

TIME TO DINE

A couple of well-established options on the west side of town each have their own culinary approach for creating memorable experiences for customers who request a table “outside.”

CRAVINGS TAPAS BISTRO

8 WILSEY SQUARE

Stanka Safian, owner of Cravings Tapas Bistro, had a confession to make on a recent Thursday afternoon: She knew there would be four specials on the menu the following night, as there always are on Fridays, but she didn’t know what they would be. That wasn’t a problem, though; she couldn’t know until the freshest, most appealing ingredients were in-house. Until then, the best she could offer was a pretty good description of Cravings’ approach to summer fare.

“In the summer we have summery, light specials,” she explained. Likely candidates would be a salad showcasing fresh summer veggies or a vegetarian approach to stuffed mushrooms that could start with celery, onions and panko breadcrumbs as a foundation for the stuffing.

The regular menu offers a wide selection for vegetarians, vegans and omnivores alike, including charred artichokes, risotto with organic mushrooms, vegetable- or meat-stuffed empanadas, several pastas, charcuterie and tapas staples such as croquettes, grilled shrimp and tuna tartar.

You’ll find more than just small plates at Cravings, though. The specials and regular menu items include more robust options, such as grilled Black Angus skirt steak, Mexican chicken breast and paella Valencia.

Paired with the house-made sangria, the bottle of malbec you brought yourself or just a hydrating glass of water, the meal is intended to help transplant the al fresco diner from the stresses of the day into the cool of the evening. “It gives you that feeling of, ‘OK, summer is here.’ You feel like you are traveling somewhere. It feels like you are somewhere else after working all day in the office or running around,” Safian says.

Come by on a Friday and you’ll enjoy live music as well.

LA LANTERNA CAFÉ & GRILL

29 WEST RIDGEWOOD AVE.

Like Stanka Savian, Joanne Karoutsos, who co-owns La Lanterna Café & Grill with husband Paul Karoutsos, has made it a mission to ensure every person who visits their restaurant feels transformed.

“We want people to feel that, for a brief period of time, we can provide them with physical and emotional well-being,” she explained. “Everybody has good times and bad times. We’re just hoping that we can provide our guests with an atmosphere of leisure, a feeling like they’ve escaped their daily routine,” she says. “We want to make sure they feel comfortable. That’s our goal, inside or outside.”

Although outside is where you’ll be struck by the quiet offered by La Lanterna’s West Ridgewood Avenue address. She and Paul chose the spot for exactly that reason. Having grown up right around the corner on Crest Road, Karoutsos recognized there are advantages to being a bit removed from the bustle at the heart of the business district. “We chose not to be around everyone else,” she explained. “We wanted people to say, ‘Let’s go to La Lanterna rather than say, ‘Let’s go in town and see where we’re going to eat tonight.’”

Some dishes, such as softshell crabs, naturally lend themselves to a temporary summer-season spot on the menu. However, it’s the culinary staples that have been pleasing palates for over two decades. They include several pre-entrée and entrée salads, as well as traditional antipasti such as calamari served with your choice of sauces, or zuppa di clams and Prince Edward Island mussels.

Hearty entrees include both the familiar (lasagna, chicken or eggplant parmigiana, shrimp scampi, tagliatelle with “Paul’s famous meet sauce”) and the slightly less standard (such as chicken vino Bianco, sauteed with artichoke stems and shitake mushrooms in a white wine sauce; and shrimp alla broccoli rabe, prepared with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and portobello mushrooms over capellini).

You’ll want to reserve well in advance for an outdoor table, and note that there are special sitting times on Friday and Saturday evenings.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Cravings Tapas Bistro and La Lanterna Café & Grill are just two of many Ridgewood restaurants that invite you to enjoy outdoor dining while the weather allows. Here’s a sampling of others, from diners and fast casual La Terrazza (on the roof of Felina) to pub fare and fine dining.

Café 37

37 South Broad St.

Daily Treat

116 East Ridgewood Ave.

East Coast Burger Company

75 Franklin Ave.

La Terrazza (on the roof of Felina)

18 Prospect St.

Meltemi

21 East Ridgewood Ave.

Office Tavern & Grill

32-34 Chestnut St.

Park West Tavern

30 Oak St.

Piccolo Bistro

29 Chestnut St.

Raymond’s

101 East Ridgewood Ave.

S. Egidio

17 Broad St.

Steel Wheel Tavern

51 North Broad St.

White Maple Café

47 East Ridgewood Ave.

BY HARRIS FLEMING