"Who's New Jersey Ernie?"
By Anne Cumming Rice, Photography by Barry Gutierrez
One item on Work & Class' one-page menu piques more curiosity than others.
"Who's New Jersey Ernie?" customers ask, pointing to the $9 New Jersey Ernie meatballs at the end of the appetizer section.
He was Delores Tronco's dad, who died about eight months before Work & Class opened. The meatballs are a promise kept by Tronco.
"He was in hospice by the time I was planning the menu," Tronco says. "He kept outliving the doctors' expectations, but he got to the point where he was starting to detach from the world. The one thing that he was still passionate about was meatballs. He said, "Delores, I don't think I'm going to make it to see the restaurant. Will you promise me you'll always have meatballs on the menu?"
Her dad was the son of Italian immigrants who settled in New Jersey. He was proud of his Italian heritage and loved meatballs. He was very particular about them, so much so that he taught Tronco's mom, who was German and Czech and knew little about Italian meatballs, how to make them the way his mother did.
If there was any food from my childhood that I can identify with, it's meatballs, Tronco says.
Still, in the planning stages of the Work & Class menu, Tronco was unsure meatballs would fit in. She and business partner Tony Maciag wanted to create a unique menu with American and Latin influences, but without the high price tag associated with a lot of places.
"I was kind of tired of restaurants offering these $20-$30 entrees," Tronco says. "That's a special occasion meal, not a meal you'd go eat on a Tuesday night."
So they threw out the idea of entrees altogether and decided to do roasted, braised or rotisserie meats – all sold in 1/4, 1/2 and 1-pound increments – plus sides, breads, appetizers and desserts. You could call it a la carte, but it's not barbecue or a steakhouse.
When Dana Rodriguez became part of the ownership team, Tronco wanted to give her some creative license to develop dishes for the menu. She approached Rodriguez with the idea of the meatballs.
The basic meatball recipe is a combination of veal, pork and Pecorino Romano cheese. Traditional meatballs have breadcrumbs in them, making them softer, but Tronco wanted them to be gluten-free due to her own wheat allergy.
Keeping in line with the Latin flair of the food, Rodriguez added chipotle chili to the tomato sauce, giving the flavor a bit of a kick.
So when customers ask about New Jersey Ernie, Tronco and her brother, who also works at the restaurant, get to talk about their dad.
So what would her dad think about the meatballs?
"I think he'd probably be a little bit frustrated about the chipotle in the sauce," Tronco says. "But all things considered, he'd probably think it was pretty cool." NV
In her own words?
What are five traits that you think have been instrumental in getting you from your days at Roma in Greeley to owning your own successful restaurant Work & Class?
Humility
I never once walked out of a restaurant thinking, “I’ve got this. I’ve got it all figured out.”
At one point, I thought, “Do I need to know everything about wine to work in this business?” I started reading the Wine Bible and got overwhelmed. It helped me realize that I didn’t need to be an expert at everything. I just needed to be an expert at business.
Humility is a big part of that. You need to have the attitude, “I’ll work wherever you need me,” but also recognize your unique contribution.
Grit
To me, grit is tenacity and determination, having a thick skin. Many times people in so many words told me that I couldn’t do what I was going to do or that it was a bad idea. When things don’t go as planned, or when you come up against adversity, what do you do?
Sometimes that adversity comes from the outside, like when I left a job to jump back into the restaurant industry, I was told it was a waste of my potential. Other times that adversity comes from the inside. I had to ask myself, “Can I live with myself without pursuing what I love and feel like is my God-given calling?”
The grit part is that at some point you decide. You have this sort of drive that says, “I’m not going to give up. I have a vision for where I’m going, I’m going to pursue it and I’ll be damned if anyone tells me no.”
Work ethic
This is the ability and discipline to roll up your sleeves and do what needs to be done. Before I started the restaurant, I knew how hard this business is. I knew I’d be working nights and weekends.
Yesterday I worked 14 hours. Do I like working 14-hour days? No, but there are times when work needs to be done, and you just have to get it done.
Critical thinking
This is sorting through all the information thrown at you and being able to determine what’s the truth. It’s easy to get distracted. People will pull you in different directions.
You have to be able to look at the things you’re doing and ask, “Why do these things work? Why do these other things stale? How do we follow through and get to the bottom of what’s going on?”
Vision
This is the ability to define a clear vision, then to create a shared vision with the people who are with you.
Work & Class is not just me. It’s 30 people who come to work and make it happen every day. It would be as good if we didn’t embrace a shared vision. It’s incredibly important because people have to know where they are going,
If you have a great vision, people will be excited about it, and people will work to help you get there. There’s no way this could happen without every single person putting their heart and soul into it. NV
