Walk into Joe Bartoni’s bright new Italian Market, and the array of homemade delicacies assaults your senses. I always think it’s a good sign when everything looks so seductive you don’t know what to taste first.
Home-made cookies, cannolis, home made mozzarella, fresh grilled vegetables, a glistening olive bar, gourmet sandwiches, foccacia and fancy pizza derivatives are all temptingly displayed 
countertop. Take it to go, or take it out the back, enjoy your food in a cozy, sunshine-filled room with small tables. Or go outside to the cafe, a sunny spot to drink espresso, dunk a cookie and enjoy this glorious weather.
After taking a culinary tour with managers Joe and Barbara, we ordered a crispy panini ($6), and a plate of bright, almost too beautiful to eat grilled veggies ($4.99/lb) with a winning home- made caponata (fig-eggplant-onion-olive), an assortment of olives (stuffed with gorgonzola $6.99/lb) fresh mozzarella(store made), and a side of fresh marinated anchovies. (To taste them is to love them.) It was almost a no carb meal, light, well seasoned, and tasty fresh.
And then there’s the market - shop for a quick lunch or dinner fix. Grab one of the wicker shopping baskets (a bit too small for my gourmand tastes) and load it up with fresh homemade sauces, soup of the day(escarole and bean ), fresh pasta, (gnocchi, cavatelli with ricotta and spinach ravioli called out to me) and Balthazar’s bread (delivered daily) with fresh antipasto. Or if you want to stock your Italian pantry – choose your DiVella Pasta, Sale Marina di Trapani (Italian Sea Salt), Florentine Fig Jam, Nutella for the kids, San Pellegrino Red Bitters ( in those attractive, but oh too small bottles), biscotti, imported cheeses (if you pass on the fresh mozzarella), and - for that old world flavor - those hard to find Lupini Beans. Reigning over it all is a huge vat of olive oil flanked by an array of unusually-shaped glass bottles, which customers will be able to fill up and take home just as soon as the labels come in and the owners decide how much they will charge.
Barbara stocks Jim’s Organic Coffee in flavors like Italian Roast, Witches brew, and Jo-Jo’s Java. James Cannell, who roasts his own organic beans in Massachusetts, is a former Montclair resident and friend. As far as Barbara knows, Bartoni's is the only shop selling Jim’s beans. And if you’re prone to overindulging, the store even carries a remedy in a jar: Effervescente Al Limone, kind of like a limoncello fizzy to settle your tummy.
Oh, and there was the music. Very old school Italian (to the chief Barista's ears, very Godfather I), taking me to a different time and place as I bit into a thick crispy panini with melted mozz oozing over prosciutto and grilled peppers. Those are just some of the reasons I’ll be hanging around like a groupie at Joe Bartoni’s Italian Market.
So who is behind Joe Bartoni’s? It’s a trio of serious foodies who left their day jobs to start the store of their dreams: Joe Marchesano,Jr., Barbara Brech, and Tony Stefanelli. A couple of Chianti bottles later they came up with a concept and a name. You got it? Joe –Bar-Toni. Joe, a life long resident of Baristaville, grew up and still lives with his family in Glen Ridge. Barbara and Tony were former business colleagues. Barb is the baker, Joe cooks, and came up with the idea for a high end specialty store to showcase his family recipes. Tony does whatever it takes to keep it all running smoothly. The food here is the real deal -- and they cater. Joe Bartoni’s Italian Market, 151 Valley Road. 973-746-6700. Open M-F, 9-7, Saturdays, 9-6. -- Annette Batson
"Nutella for the kids"?! Um... sorry, but if there are any kids in the store while I'm there, and there's only one jar of Nutella left, they're gonna have to wrestle me for it.