Breakin' Bread Dishing Out Home Cooking In New Seaside Heights Digs

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — For 17 years, Pete and Nicole Norcia have been cooking together. They cooked for family. They cooked for friends. They cooked because they love to cook.

Now their love of cooking has gone to the next level. After successfully opening the restaurant Breakin' Bread Eatery in Toms River a little over a year ago, the couple has opened a second location, this one on the Boulevard in Seaside Heights.

"We used to have parties every weekend and cook all weekend for our friends," Pete said, "and they said, 'Why don’t you open a place, you do it so well?' "

So they did, and it's the fulfullment of a dream, not only for them but for Pete's father, Peter John Norcia Sr., albeit a bittersweet fulfillment. That's because the dinner service, offered for the first time at the Seaside Heights location, comes a week after the second anniversary of Peter Sr.'s death.

"This was his dream for us," Nicole said.

"He always used to say, 'why don't you come and break bread with us,' " when he wanted to have a conversation," Pete said. The restaurant's name honors Peter Sr.'s memory.

It also sums up the down-to-earth style of the restaurant. Everything is made fresh, from scratch, every day. The only thing they bring in is the bread, which Pete picks up daily specially from Nicolo’s in Montclair.

"We’re the only ones who have this bread," he said.

"I don’t use day-old bread," Nicole said. "We start off with fresh bread every day."

"It's feel-good food, home-cooking food," Pete said. Nothing is frozen, nothing is microwaved, and it's all a reflection of the family recipes the couple grew up on in North Jersey.

Breakin' Bread on the Boardwalk, which opened July 1, is a reflection of how successful the couple's opening of Breakin' Bread Eatery on Fischer Boulevard has been even with the challenges of opening in the midst of the pandemic.

It was a leap the couple decided they were ready to make, after having moved to Toms River from North Jersey in 2009. Pete had owned a scaffolding business and had been commuting. He also owned a bar/pub in North Arlington, which he closed in 2017.

When the pandemic hit, however, construction lagged. Pete and Nicole, who had been paying rent on the Fischer Boulevard space, decided it was time to make the jump to the restaurant business and chase their dream.

The made-to-order food "speaks for itself," Pete said. They have a standard menu of sandwiches that honor various places and towns from their childhoods, such as the Nikki Newark, which is a breaded chicken cutlet with sharp provolone topped with sautéed broccoli rabe, and the Hoboken, with store-made Italian roast beef topped with homemade mozzarella and brown gravy.

One of the favorites is the Sweet Piggy, which is prosciutto, burrata, and arugula with fig jam.

"We traveled around the country and wrote down ideas for sandwiches," the couple said. The result was a huge success.

The Seaside Heights site at 115 Boulevard is a joint venture with longtime family friend Roy Magliori, and was a result of their desire to expand and some courting by Seaside Heights officials.

"We decided to move to Seaside because we feel there’s going to be a renaissance there," Pete said, noting how borough officials have been working to bring a family atmosphere to the borough.

The restaurant operations are a balancing act, however, because the couple has five children, ages 17, 12, 10, 8 and 5, who have activities beyond school.

"I have a great mother-in-law who helps," Nicole said, along with aftercare at school for the younger children. "We're very blessed."

The kids do sometimes hang out at the restaurant and they like to help out where they can, the couple said.

Because the Toms River location is only a mile from home, "They would storm through the doors (at the restaurant) at any moment , some coming in the back, some in the front," Pete said with a laugh. "The people get a kick out of it. It’s a true Italian family restaurant."

And in true Italian tradition, there's more to the menu than sandwiches. There are daily dishes that change and include pasta favorites, dishes such as chicken savoy or ciambotta, and salads. They offer catering as well, but were eager to see the response to the new dinner service in Seaside Heights.

"We love what we do we put our heart and soul into everything we do," Nicole said.

Reservations are necessary for the dinner service in Seaside Heights because they are still a small operation, but they hope to not have to turn anyone away. They have both indoor and outdoor seating.

You can follow them on Facebook, at the Seaside Heights location or the Fischer Boulevard location.