Long long long time coming. Precisely my kind of place here. Cozy, bustling and with spectacular food.
Pulled up like an Italian after a quick lubrication at the Umbrella
started with a Valpo. Quite nice, on the value side on their list.
veal tongues were quite wonderful, not as delicate as overboiled tongue can be… appears they leave more of the skin on for a snap… this is an app we’d get every time
Very nice charcutes… delivering as expected … the big star here for us was the pork shmear… was really craving some crusty bread for this, but they were rolling with the focachia type. the shmear is topped with perfect pork skin crumble for extra contrast.
Barbera was also nice here…
The smoked cheese (buratta was it) with roasty parsnips was a great combination… really cool flavors and textures…
their start cheesy foca didn’t disappoint either… really lovely… and again rich. a theme was beginning to build here … a richness through which red wine wasn’t cutting through… i was beginning to be concerned with the rest of things to still come
This is when this surprise happened before mains showed up… This Primitovo i brought was expected to just be a Puglia Primitovo, but I had no idea my shop recommended basically a natural wine for me. … Which I love… And it was a huge contrast to the other 3 reds we drank. Juicy, super tart, slightly musky and earthy, really ended up cleaning out our palates
the chicken showed up and was really incredible… it’s hard to pick a dish to not order, even the chicken is sort of a must have here… the drippings getting soaked by a toasted brioche type of bread
the potatos in lardo was also a fantastic side for me… i cant believe how thinkly they’re able to slice and lay out then bake off these potatos… again, loaded up with the grease but there can be no other way
lamb sausage showed up… i dont know what to say on this dish besides that this was the personal favorite… it had all the best aspects of lambiness, super juicy and really perfect with the salad and tons of oil and burned lemon. fantastic.
big up to the Brunello bringer… don dada bad boy winesseur… at this point i’m realizing that i’d rather drink tables wines when at a bustling place where i can’t truly pay attention and appreciate wine… so much food, conversation, just distracting from something so special… so lovely this one
and the tomahawk … what can i fucking say… i was wrong… you CAN impress me with a pork chop… fat layers had to be worked around, it was immense, the roasting was done impeccably, the meat I am not sure was heritage breed or not, it was their preparation that was the star here… still looking for that super red southern heritage pig… one day… but the star here was their rub… every bite was like a smack
rather rich and we obviously over-ordered so I’ll know what to do next time… but this is exactly how this place should be done on first visit lol. Nancy S was a sweetheart as well
