I am developing applications nodejs few years ago. And I have found it much more versatile than php. I don't know GO to compare with, and I think PYTHON is also very good. What seems to me, is that it could replace Java backends quietly for simplicity.
Regarding your question: "Where are configs, logs, how to enable / disable HTTPS, HTTP2, gzip, caching and everything else possible in nginx / apache out of the box?"
I can tell you that the "configs" and "logs" are there, wherever you want. But other questions need Googling.
You can use it safely with nginx, and create your applications so that they can be turned on or stopped with a simple command like:
sudo service myapp start | stop | restart
And with nginx you can derive your domain to your application. I know it's very easy.
I found how to do it in apache and is very simple:
<VirtualHost *: 80>
ServerName yourdomain.dyndns.org
On ProxyPreserveHost
ProxyPass / 0.0.0.0
ProxyPassReverse / 0.0.0.0
</ VirtualHost>
Maybe my answer is not enough to convince you, but I think NodeJS has great potential for the simple fact that the language used is javascript, the same used in the browser over 20 years ago. So you easily find resources for your requirements, both are in code, as young developers.