Restaurant WK @ Convivio!...

A little in the boonies side of midtown east--sammiched between some hard core old residential buildings, aptly named Tudor City Place... :) Overall? Decor is a little bipolar in warmth/woodsy, soft and a little cold gray. Food--a little on the pricey side but split a few things and u're good to go--pastas, anything braised is AWESOME. fish is eh. duck eh. go for more sumptious ingredients and u can't go wrong :)

Appetizers! There were 4 of us so we got the Sfizi (pickled things), the Pane Cotta (bread soup with pancetta, buffalo ricotta, blahblah),

and 2 of the Duck Sausage over lentils...

First Plates! Again, we divied it up nicely :P Karen insisted on finding out about Convivio's infamous handmade pastas--sauce was GREAT...same kind of rustic, fresh, light and creamy feel as Pisticci's (yes, my measuring stick per se!), and the texture of the spaghetti was also good.

I got the mackerel but I was torn with the pork shoulder--but Roger and Albee got it so i figured EH...why not round it out :) I was drawn to it mostly for the mustard-caper sauce since I *lurves* me some capers!! The sauce did not fail--the fish was EH, but the sauce and potatoes/salad underneat was a nice touch. :)

Braised pork shoulder w/ soft polenta was *yummaaaaay!* That's yummy in a crescendoed high pitched tone if u couldn't tell! So tender, well seasoned--polena much better than i thought! Creamy, rich, not so gritty as I anticipated. Lick the plate kinda tasty! Maybe rub polenta on my face a little in circular motions like a crazy olive oil drenched moisturizer. MmmmMmmm.....*ahem*. ;)

Desserts were WHATEVER. the Chocolate gelato that came with my cannolis were good--except the cannolis weren't all that extraordinary though it had a little citrusy top note to it. The affogato was sufficient--it's a shot of espresso over gelato, and after having it done right in Italy well...no comparison :)

The VERY AWESOME thing was that we got a $25 gift card off our next meal!! Recession special/restaurant week gimmick if u will...I don't care, I'm def coming back to try the grilled octopus, the gnocchetti, and tortelli with crab meat and sea urchin!!

NEVER MIND my lighting. I'm having some off problems eyeballing lately :( Esp in unnatural light. *bah!* :) Enjoy--I promise to put up italy food pictures from...3 mos ago soon. It's like a trove of...orgasmically lit and fresh and...exciting food!! Bar Bao for Restaurant week also coming up...maybe Dovetail. EH.