Pulino's with the Moms & Albee!...

A couple wks ago I took Mama Ly to Pulino's for lunch when she visited. A bit self serving since I really wanted to check it out before it got too crazy crowded/popular (note: way too late for that, even lunch service on a weekday was insufferably crowded and with about 20-30 min wait.)

Btw that coral-orangey concoction is Pulino's alternative to orangina which looks like seltzer meets grinadine or something!! Not tasty. Albee didn't drink a drop of it besides the tester sip!

We got the red cabbage salad with pancetta, oranges, honey, pecorino, and sunchokes (yay! long story, post later re: to meal I made entirely of sunchokes). Pretty mild tasting salad--didn't really taste the pecorino, sunchokes were a bit soggy but I guess I just like mine a bit undercooked with some crunch to it.

We tried the Atlantic Cod--mama ly likes her fish! She's not too other foodie favorites (she thought Ippudo was just more ramen! Blasphemy!) so I figured in between fancy pizza pies and sunchokes I'd placate and feed her well with some fish! Strangely it was a bit more foodie than I thought it would be (for her). *sad face*.

It came looking like a cassoulet with octopus braised in red wine, sausage, fregola (kind of like israeli couscous), and fennel. Makes for different flavors than she's used to! Albee and I liked it, but the Moms was right--there was a distinct fishy/game-y smell on account of the slow cooked Octopus. Kind of...not fun once u notice. That shizz lingered!

Other than that, I thought the taste of the sauce fr the red wine reduction was pretty damn good and I ended up buying some fregola for myself at Buon Italia in Chelsea Markets! As u can see, we liked it just fine (minus that smell. BOO!).

Pizza!--Albee decided upon the Salsiccia (we were both torn between that and the Porchetta pizza) but the Salsiccia won over on account of the chiles and broccoli rabe. TASTY! Me likey.

I had a chance to eat Motorino and I feel like Pulino's has this Motorino meets Roberta's vibe in terms of some small plates and pizza (like the Hen of the Woods mushroom dish, some cabbagey things and their meat pizzas--except that Spreck one @ Roberta's was extra awesome in comparison to Salsiccia if u're going for the meats over sauce. Pulino sauce is goooood).

What I really wanted to try were the breakfast/brunch dishes like the kale frittata, the trippa finta all'amatriciana (which is just eggs in red amatriciana sauce: pecorino, guanciale--the sauce which i'm the shizz at making!! :P...and I always love eggs in casserole!) Also wanted to try in the entrees the lamb ragu and scallops. The rest of the pizzas also look interesting but don't vary much! Burrata with beets definitely on my radar for next time. DAMN! need to remember to go in large groups so we can order the entire menu!! :D

There is a sweet pizza section which looks interesting as well, a bit gimmicky but I'm sure I won't be saying that when I'm craving it for brunch!! That's all for Pulino's post. Bar Breton, Pastapalooza, Trufflepaloozza up next! Then Marea (still need to look up our dinner deets!), Relish Diner, and Easter shizz. WOOHOO the prodigal kid returns!