Do you know how to make pasta from scratch? Justin Carlisi does.
“My pasta comes into the building as a bag of flour,” Carlisi said. “We make our pasta from scratch. We do our own butchering. We make our own bread and our own cheese.”
The Stanton was built in 1837 and served as a neighborhood grocery store until January 2019 when it was transformed into Stanton Italian Table – a family operated business in Hunterdon County.
“My mother’s there, my sons’s there,” Carlisi said. “I wanted to bring good, real food to Hunterdon county which is where I’ve lived for the past 10 years. I wanted to bring fresh flavors. I’m different. I never say I’m better, I’m different.”
The interior of the artisanal style restaurant is “small and quaint,” according to Carlisi. The inside seats about 40 people and the patio seats about 70.
Carlisi clearly has a love and passion for creating delicious food, but he prides himself on what he does for the community – specifically for holidays.
Stanton Italian Table does a yearly Thanksgiving feast and a traditional 7 fish on Christmas Eve. Most recently, the restaurant delivered Easter dinner and Easter baskets to about 200 families around Hunterdon County.
“They got to see a bunny bring them a basket and it didn’t cost them $80 for a 3×5,” Carlisi said.
The restaurants community outreach doesn’t exist solely around holidays, though. A few days ago he held a fundraiser for first responders in the street.
“I push the envelope – I’m not afraid to do things,” Carlisi said.
When talking about how Stanton Italian Table has been affected by the coronavirus he said it’s been “different.”
“Things like online ordering, delivery, and preparing daily meals is not something that was in the business model per se,” Carlisis said. “We’ve kind of toned down our techniques. Obviously things that go well on a plate don’t go well in a take out container.”
The Stanton Italian Table also offered grocery delivery for awhile – that’s since tapered off – and prepared meals in single portions so people could send them to their friends and loved ones who weren’t able to leave their homes.
“We try to take care of our own,” Carlisi said. “The humanless contact sometimes left room for error and stress, but we’ve managed it pretty well and mastered what we could.”
The restaurant often uses #takingcareoftheneighborhood on social media.
Carlisi said during most of the stay at home order Stanton Italian Table tried to broaden the spectrum and reach of what they normally do to “make sure everyone was safe and taken care of.”
“We gave away free toilet paper for a month just to make sure people had it,” Carlisi said.
It’s unusual for a restaurant to do giveaways like that, but Carlisi cares deeply about the community he calls home. Stanton Italian Table, like everyone, has had to adjust throughout New Jersey’s stay-at-home-order, but they can’t wait for “everyone to come and SIT down with us and have a meal they will never forget” soon.
For up to date information about their weekly offerings and hours you can give them a call at (908) 287-7138 or view their listing.
If you are a Hunterdon County restaurant owner or manager and would like your restaurant featured on Hunterdon Highlights, please email support@hunterdoneats.com.