—We’ve got the inside scoop on an exclusive collab dinner with Chef Robbie Felice and Hell’s Kitchen Winners Alex Belew and Ryan O’Sullivan
When I talk to Chef Robbie Felice about cooking, the passion in his voice is palpable. And while the accomplished restaurateur gets excited discussing the Japanese-inspired noodles at his ever-famous pastaRAMEN, or salumi program at his flagship Viaggio, it’s perhaps his NJ farm dinners that excite the chef the most.
“I shouldn’t even be telling you this yet, but I’m too excited,” Felice says.
For the summer, Felice has a farm dinner in the works that will undoubtedly be one of the top dinner events of the year. On July 23 and 24, Felice will be joined by Chefs Alex Belew and Ryan O’Sullivan at the NJ Farm at Glenwood Mountain in Vernon, New Jersey, for a dinner defined by the incredible produce and ingredients that the Garden State has to offer.
Guests will be treated to six courses, each bursting with the terroir of New Jersey, utilizing hand-picked harvests and proteins from within the state.
Belew and O’Sullivan are no strangers to the culinary world, each donning impressive resumes under their toques.
Alex Belew—a Tennessee native—made a name for himself as the winner of Hell’s Kitchen season 21. His innovative cooking at the Casear’s Palace Hell’s Kitchen has earned the young chef a name for himself, traveling across the nation to cook at various pop-up dinners and events. Belew is also an educator, devoting much of his time to passing off his culinary knowledge to budding cooks in the industry.
Ryan O’Sullivan on the other hand comes from Cork, Ireland—another Hell’s Kitchen champion (Season 22). His culinary journey brought him from Ireland to Palm Beach Florida, where he leads the kitchen at Solstice, a modern-Italian destination restaurant set in the Mirasol Country Club.
Along with Felice, the three chefs have put in work as Ambassadors for HexClad, a modern cookware brand that Chef Gordon Ramsay helps to lead. The trio of chefs originally crossed paths cooking at a Taste of Lovango, a culinary festival at Lovango Cay in the US Virgin Islands that took place earlier this month.
Each summer, Felice carves out weekends to cook at the NJ Farm at Glenwood Mountain—a culinary-focused farm run by Steve Maclean. “These dinners are without a doubt some of the most fun I have cooking,” Felice tells me. “And each year, they just get better and better.”
And while the dozens of farm dinners Felice has done over the years have been anything but a bore, this one is teeing up to perhaps be the most thrilling yet. “I thought, ‘how can we make this dinner different?’” says Felice. “So, I invited them to the farm, and we’re doing two nights just cooking with incredible ingredients that the farm has to offer.”
He admits to me that it was love at first sight of sorts when the three first cooked together at Lovango: “They’re awesome in the kitchen and down to earth. Just great guys to work with.”
Dinners at the farm never disappoint. The outdoor setting and close proximity to the grounds where many of the ingredients are grown make it one of New Jersey’s truly unique dining experiences. It’s farm-to-table cooking at its purest.
For fans of Felice’s restaurants, it offers a different approach to the culinary skill that has put him on the radars of nearly every diner in NJ.
Event Details
The dinners will take place July 23 and 24, each night starting at 6:30 p.m. Guests can expect six courses that are defined by ingredients directly from the source.
The Farm At Glenwood Mountain is located at 1801 County Rd 565, Sussex, NJ 07461.
All reservations can be booked directly by calling Viaggio Ristorante at 973-706-7277.
The event has not been officially announced by Felice yet, so get your tickets now before it’s too late.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
