Piggies, Sformato, and Sauces galore @ Maialino...

Yesh, I haz returned. From...a...hiatus..ish. Just hadn't been feeling up for publishing much but I do have stuff about Roberta's in Bushwick, Kerrytown Farmer's Market in Ann Arbor, and...I forget what else but nonetheless that will all follow this MASSIVE EPIC RETURN post :)

So me, Karen, Shanaz, Megan, and Frances went to Maialino at 2 Lexington (b/w 22nd and 21st st by the Rose Bar), another Danny Meyer venture that opened last wk. I think I'm still full from last night...no I'm...sure that's the case, but that suckling pig was a BEAST and for the first time I said "Nein! no more!...I can't finish" while hanging my head down in flabbergasted defeat. Anyhoodle, let's get to it:

We spent a bit of time going over the menu (the five of us are...greedy-foodie-PowerEaters...I like to think :D) so we tried to maximize dishes and took quite some time to decide--so the waitress brought us Guanciale Rolls on the house :D :D :D Think cinnamon buns w/ pecorino & guanciale (pork cheek/jowl reminiscent of pancetta) but w/o the sugar & whatnot. YUMMAAAAY!

Great bread bowl but it's of little significance compared to the rest of the dishes SO...for antipasti we got the sweetbreads w/purple and weirdly green broccoli, and...the Octopus Carpaccio w/ purple potato mash & arugula. Sweetbreads were abysmally ordinary and it only came with about 3 pieces! >:( Kefi's sweetbreads will always be my #1--that and I am really not digging breaded & fried sweetbreads. No...significant flavor. Carpaccio was nice but still not that oomph i was hoping for--a bit too much taters if u ask me!

Onto pasta dishes! Megan had been stalking Raviolo di Uvolo for a while so needless to say she was quite jazzed to order it--everyone thought it was too much cheese which overwhelmed the egg itself. I just wanted another raviolo on my dish! >:( Nice tho, rather rich, but tasty. Bit of spinach to balance it out. Buccatini all'amatriciana was QUITE GOOD imo. Had a nice heat (turned up a notch), great sauce--some people thought it was a smidge salty but tasty fine-ness to moi! Carbonara was a letdown. All the other reviews raved about it--I say hizzeck no, I can make better sauce and i *HAVE* so suck it. Pasta was a bit too al dente for my liking, as in I truly thought it was undercooked for an italian resto esp but...whatebbs, Amatriciana saved the day :D

But as u can tell below--we pretty much dug all three :) Really wanted to try the Cacio e Pepe but...another time! There was quite a lag b/w sitting down, getting the antipasti, and the paste--quiiiite a while. But then the porky pig came to us quickly...but in the meanwhile, a lampshade fell and freaked everybody out and we...stalked the cheese/meats/breads/dessert bar--kind of a fun addition to the corridor b/w the front dining area, and very nice to see all these things done right in front of u and everybody looking so chipper, eager, and...raring to go.

They had a pretty crazy wine list. Shanaz and I got a couple but...I dunno. whichebbers , food was the focus :) Also...Anita Lo was seated across the roooom!! WEEEEEEEE!!! I've met her before at James Beard but...I still like....to...run into...chefs I recognize and no say anything at all but giggle massively to myself. The embodiment of "tittering", really. :) TEEHEE!!

Anyway, really low key atmosphere and just a great space. We really oggled the room(s) for a bit while we waited...and then...was...the piggy!! Maialino = little pig in Italian, I'm told. I should know better, but...we didn't cover 'little piggy' in vocabulary back in college :) The entire staff was rather effervescent--they were really excited to bring out the and made it a point to notify us way early of the coming presentation of said piggy (and goading me to take pictures, almost giving me cues--like to get a picture of the raviolo midcut :P), and then...choppity chop the piggy returns w/ taters as u will see...

SEE?? they're so happy @ Maialino. Anyhoo, this thing really was a beast--there wasn't too much meat (in terms of what u expect a $68 hunk of pork to be) but my effin' gawd the cracklings was magnificent and the meat was so tender!! Potatoes very aromatic w/ the rosemary, well seasoned too.

JUST LOOK AT THAT SKIN!! ees so bootiful and deleeshus. Taters really tempered the porky fatty savory gamey-ness but...jebus there was a lot of added oil which kind of...made me max out after 1/2 a strip and a quarter more. Marrow was also very very rich but awesomely tasty and 3 of us spent a good amt of time gnawing it to bits to get every morsel.

K so this pic is, in all honesty a redo--but when the suckling pig just came back all chopped and ready to go, everyone literally jabbed in both knife and form simultaneously and let me tell ya...even in a little viewfinder tho super zoomed in, that freaked the *crap* outta me seeing this succession of metal...crazy jabby prison rail East Berlin/USSR iron curtain lockdown gauntlet bizness all come jamming down. BUT FUN! so I made them redo it so I could illustrate what ravenous piglets were were too :D This serious killed my stomach for the night BUT then we made room for...DESSERRRRT!!

Yes yes...we liked it all sufficiently, but that Sformato was HEAVEN--not too rich, not too sweet, ephemeral, smooth...just...heavenly & with a bit of figs and complex flavors w/ the buckwheat honey that gave it a whiff of rum-myness! Olive oil cake was meh--tartufo was GREAT (b/c of the crunch slightly dark choco shavings imo) and the ice cream itself was tasty. We were told all their gelato is in house--the brandied cherries in the tartufo however,...kind of insane and made me want to (in the future) dig it out and smash it in spite for how it overwhelms my tastebuds. SMASHY SMASH!

Great service--so amiable! Some lag time in the beginning, but all the servers were great and spunky and knowledgeable w/o gagging u with perkiness or dogmatic recs. YAY. Def will go back to try the pig's feet, other pastas, and maybe something seafood-y.

See they're so happy and such busybodies they're a blur :D :D

Tia Pol w/ the roomies!...

Good friday brunch @ tia pol :) i def don't eat around in my 'hood enough. Still haven't gone to Co. for pizza or John Dory for...welsh rarebit!! :P and other things of course hehe...

Got TONS of food--this is the fried artichoke hearts salad, the spanish version of bruschetta but with 3 diff spreads with saffron on it! ^_^, ham and bacalao croquetas, rice and squid ink--I'll show how you just how inky!!...later...hehe...but first...a preview of some tasty strangeness--Emily got the chorizo and chocolate crostini (essentially)...

The sangria @ Tia Pol is the best I've had in the city--nay in ...EVER. not boston, no CA, not...wherever else I've been granted I've still not been to spain :P or any major latin-american country. :P Really enjoyed the tortilla española! essenetially a fritatta with potatoes, onions, red peppers and some sauce that's just like the one in the patatas bravas....

I hafta say...the patatas bravas with paprika and whatever the heck that sauce was was friggin' TASTAAAAAAY. yes. tastay. not y. ay. Sop it up after everything is gone and ask for more bread tasty. The squid ink sauce was even super duper extra tasty compared to that!

Back to the...CHORIZO & CHOCOLATE!!!... :)

MY MY MY. super rich salty but then rich smooth bittersweet--and then...bread! I thought it was gonna be like a thin smear on the toast but NOoooOoo...whole slather! glorious! I like I like...(I couldn't decide to tempt you with that decadent shot in the beginning or the middle of the entry but...obviously one of them won out :P Pretty salty tho!! luv me some chorizo...

...but still not as much as the squid ink.. YUM. See?!?! inky inky goodness!! :D

MMMMmmm...so I still haven't posted my Rome foods or the rest of Sicily or Cinque Terre..or...Florence foods actually but we ate all the regional foods and I did get a chance to try the squid ink pasta in Palermo and it was so fresh and AWESOME b/c it was so gritty and inky and savory. However...this...squid ink, much smoother in texture and flavor (waaaay less fishy) and just...strangely enough, exponentially better (but maybe by like..squared instead of cubed :P). hehehehe

...One more of the patatas bravas "leftover" sauce :P. Cuz honestly--what's a tran post without half eaten, smeared, gloppy food that makes you wanna wipe it off with some napkins--or lick it off the screen?! Aioli...it's aioli..with...whatever in it they won't list on the website. BOO!! :)

Kee's Macaroons!!...

Went to pick up Angie's bday chocolates last wk--and then...got carried away with macaroons and bought one of each :P

There were only 11 there that day...

That smashed one is i think passion fruit. The green tea jasmine one was a nice touch b/c of the jasmine--green tea is a little overplayed to me in pastries (but i still likes mah goodies!). Rosewater lychee one was subdued and the lychee added to the general flavor. The Madeleine macaroon with rosewater was so overpowering (and ugly blemished macaron top part!) that it really reminded me of eating soap or those...skin toners :(

lavender was just plain pretty photograph :)

^_^ weeee!!! My favorite so far--TRUFFLE OIL macaroons!! strange right?? It hits u as an after-taste the way the thai chili chocolates gets you. I'm not big on truffle oil in my pastas and this def was...an oddball choice but YUMMAAAAAAAY!

Sour sap--the orange one--very tasty! a little tart, can't quite place it. Not a citrus flavor. I wanna say in the same family as...tamarind-y kind of tart/sour.

Verbana mint was all right (that's the speckled looking one next to the blood orange stripes. I've been spoiled by Parisian macaroons and whatnot :P Blood orange was pretty nice but...eh. Kaffir lime--I thought it'd be kitschy as too much like lime candy or key lime pie, but nope! still very restrained :)

Bottom line? Quite pretty, very flavorful with lots of interesting combos that add an edge what macaroons tend to be. I wish the chocolate lining wasn't so "chewy" but I'm assigning that to the temperature it was stored. Kee's gave me one to try @ the store b/c I was pretty much fawning over the wares :P (and mentioned the blog hehe and my inability to ...well...not buy everything all at once for the sole purpose of photographing them and not to indulge in some phantom sugar glutton :P). She's really nice!

Like the chocolates, the ingredients come across really well articulated on ur palate but of course restrained, very enjoyable and...gleeful! :) It's been such a long time since I've had my Sadaharu Aoki macarons, but this tides me over a bit. I do wish the cookie part of the macaroon was a little more substantial. I know they're always really airy and light--but it felt like there was...no cakey part to be airy, just a really good crust and then some bits of the cookie on the bottom. Can't complain though, they were all refreshing ^_^

Park Ave Winter...

*sigh*. that's all I'll say about...the context of this dinner. *wink!* i'm half joking. It was the Gossip Girl promo @ Park Ave Winter wherein you get your entire meal comped (1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert, 1 sides per 2 people, and 2 rounds of drinks per person!) if you...wore...garbs...resembling...plaid skirts, button ups...etc. O.o hehe

ANYWAY...so since there were 12 of us we were able to dabble in most of the menu in all categories. (see pic of the bill at the end! :D we ran them dry)

Wouldn't have this been a nice shot if I had managed to hold still?

They were carving up and moving about rather quickly, and people kept on effin' walkin' past my shot and I kept seeing asses blocking the meat carving and multitude of hands serving so much -.- ANYHOO...

For appetizers, we got the calamari salad (salty--i very very much liked over some others), the Park Ave Winter open faced scallop sandwich with brown butter and bacon with...some other stuff, sashimi of hamachi, the Nantucket Bay scallops in some..sweet sauce and what I remember as panko crumbs?

No venison tartare :( we were sad. I think our other table got salmon tartare, but I don't remember anyone getting butternut squash soup (which i love! esp as a drink w/ palernum & rum at Tailor's hehe) or the porcini mushrooms (very sad to not have tried that one =/).

And here you see my Nantucket Bay scallops. Was thrown off by how sweet it was--made even sweeter with the thick cream. Not sure...how...I feel...about that! Otherwise, perfectly cooked :)

SiDES!! BROCCOLI and CHEESE! I don't...understand, but eh. yum. VERY yum were the brussel sprouts w/ apples which--can't make what the sauce was but it was buttery and savory :D Also had the creamed spinach and parsnip puree since the Crispy Cauliflower was actually in tempura batter =/ EH.

Entrees! Had to hurry it a bit w/ taking photos b/c the ladies were ready to dig in and with my--obsessive shooting things would er...get cold and whatnot :) hehe Opted for flash, kinda wish I edited some more but...OH wellllzzzzz. :) Miso glazed lobster with citrus fennel salad, John Dory w/ brioche encrusted poached egg & black truffles,

Filet mignon braised short ribs w/ root veggies, Dover Sole filet with herbs & brown butter (there was even a brown butter pecan ice cream! they lurves their brown butter...and so does the rest of the word ^_^)

Seared yellowfin tuna w/ avocado, grapefruit & ginger--and I think someone got the Organic scottish salmon w parsnip puree blah blah...Can we do more pics of lobster? mm surely!...

DESSERTS! - Chocolate flourless cake w/ Kentucky bourbon and peanut brittle mousse, Pistachio brown butter cake with red wine pears & Bartlett pear sorbet, Preserved plums with Ricotta custard, polenta crepes and pignoli...and THE CUBE! :) Chocolate cube with caramel mouse and chocolate cake bits inside, with what I remember as a coffee/chocolate-ancho ice cream on top of a meringue. Desserts were HUGE. :)

I really liked what they did with the sugar components in a few of the dishes--I mean nothing extraordinary in terms of flavor but made it quite memorable and enhanced my experience with the desserts--just...threw in some edge and complexity in it!! :) I mean honestly--kind of gimmicky but it really displayed a kind of mastery and playfulness u usually encounter when people are more than capable at what they do so it frees them up to play around with what's 'basic'! :) love love!!

B/c I'll never post if i have to discuss at length--everything was SCRUMPTIOUS. If I could afford it I'd eat here on the regular. Entrees are on average ~$40 bucks with appetizers and desserts clocking in at ~$15-20 each. This...is worth it. Butter--similar pricing, maybe a little less--more of a scene...food was WHATEVER. Can't wait to see the other seasonal incarnations of Park Ave Spring/Summer/Fall!

And this be our bill...notice on top the Gossip Girl promotion :P HEHE...miscellaneous items not listed in order of....order...-.O And then somewhere in the 6.50 tax. HEHE. I guess for that capuccino (was not included in the comping)...Needless to say, we left quite a tip.

A lil' shout out to Juan Carlos--our baddass and cheeky server with lovely suggestions to ensure we maximized our fun potential--and foodie potential!--at Park Ave Winter! A rare break in the lack of people appearances in the blog...but well deserved and noted :P This was only our table. Not gonna post the other ladies on here cuz that just might be weird to have ur face blasted on the interweb no? :)

I am conveniently absent since I'm taking the picture :D ANYHOO...The staff was extraordinarily nice and accomodating. A smidge cheeky, as I prefer it :P, all in good fun sorta spirits and helpful. Everyone was really nice and jocund--I'd say 85-90% of diners were 'school girl's including what I can tell was a mid-50's yr old woman in super pig tails. ROCK ON. reappropriating the whole trope as a sort of...empowerment...foodie thing! :)

Oh, and featuring the fellas from www.brokeassstuart.com who partook in such revelry :) Enviable gams, gentlemen!