NJ chef celebrates Japanese-Italian fusion cuisine with pastaRAMEN restaurant in Montclair

MONTCLAIR, New Jersey (WABC) -- Chef Robbie Felice knew he had something truly special, just two weeks into his first ever pop-up omakase restaurant event.

"We had a Japanese family come in ... the mom started crying. I was like, 'oh God, here I go, I've like, really messed something up this time.' And her daughter said, 'No, these are happy tears ... Japanese-Italian food is one of the things she missed most about living in Japan.' ... That's all I needed to hear," the James Beard Rising Star Chef semifinalist recalled.

At Montclair's pastaRAMEN, Italian meets Japanese in an umami-forward culinary twist, a concept known as Wafu.

"Who puts Parmesan cheese on bao buns? We do. This is our shrimp scampi ramen, our chicken katsu bao," Felice shared. "It's the experience, but it's also the food."

The pop-ups in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles quickly developed a cult following, and thanks to their popularity, Felice was able to invest in a permanent location.

Felice changes his menu a few times a year to keep things fresh for his customers.

"Everyone knows what shrimp scampi is, and I wanted to give it that Wafu-Italian twist. We basically use sake and white wine instead of just white wine. You have your classic garlic, onion, lemon, and then we add ponzu. Ponzu is like the secret ingredient in there," he said.

Felice now operates four New Jersey restaurants, realizing his childhood dream. Among them, the popular pastaRAMEN.

"(My dad) owned restaurants my whole life. I still remember him holding me in the kitchen and cooking and yelling at everyone, and he's Italian, so very loud, very outspoken ... I worked in his restaurants, worked in his friends' restaurants," Felice said, remembering the start of his lifelong passion.