I seem to be on a dining out kick whether it is with friends, family, or business clients. I guarantee tomorrow, we will get back to cheese education and recipes but for today, I must tell you about the restaurant I ventured to for lunch -- Pulino's. The new Keith McNally joint on Bowery with San Francisco star chef, Nate Appleman, known for its artisanal pizza pies. It's been months overdue in opening, so of course there was much hype when it did open only just a few weeks ago.
Walking into the space on the corner of Houston and Bowery, you feel like you are walking into an amalgamation of McNally's tried and true hotspots -- Balthazar, Pastis, and Spitzer's Corner. The open kitchen gives the space a much more welcome and relaxed feel than say Balthazar. And luckily enough for us at lunch today, the place was already packed with the requisite McNally crowd -- a mixture of model types, business men, Europeans, and downtown hipsters.
Before we get to the food, one thing needs to be brought up -- there were way too many servers, busboys, waiters, and waitresses for the space, so many that it almost made you feel uncomfortable as a diner. The worst part of the overpopulation of waitstaff was the fact that the majority of them did not seem as though they were particularly experienced. As I remarked to my dining companion, it is interesting to see how McNally takes such care to design his restaurants down to every last detail, but when it comes to servers, it seems like they were somewhat of an after thought. As many of you can attest, a meal with poor service definitely impacts the meal, no matter how delicious the food is. Granted, it might be unfair for me to criticize this aspect of the restaurant too much because it has just opened and is still working out some of its kinks...
I'm sure you're thinking enough already, get down to talking about the food. You might be a little disappointed with me ladies and gents, as my dining companion was not eating carbs, I didn't feel right ordering one of their pizzas for my lonesome at 1 in the afternoon on a Wednesday, so I will have to go back to give you my opinion of their pizzas. Here is what we did have:
Roasted Olives: Green and black olives roasted with almonds, macadamia nuts, raisins, and moscato. This was a simple, unique, yet utterly delicious preparation of olives. Rarely do you get served warm, even hot olives at a restaurant, unless they are an ingredient in a dish. This preparation allowed the olives to sing! A definite dish I will be adopting on my own.
Red Cabbage and Roasted Sunchoke (otherwise known as a Jerusalem artichoke) Salad: Shredded red cabbage was combined here with grated pecorino cheese, roasted sunchokes, quartered oranges and honey, hold the pancetta. This was a bright, flavorful salad full of oomph. The creamy saltiness of the cheese coupled with the sweetness of the honey complemented the bitterness of the cabbage to create an ideal flavor profile. Again, something you would not necessarily think to pair together but imminently successful!
Burrata with Roasted Leeks and Beets and Herbs: In case you aren't familiar with burrata, let me fill you in. If you ask me, it is the ultimate delicacy when it comes to fresh cheeses. It is created by basically taking a strip of cow's milk curd that is very new and molding it into the shape of a coin purse and then stuffing it fresh sweet cream and stracciatella or threads of young mozzarella like cheese and the seal your coin purse. It's now ready to eat. Burrata means buttered in Italian and sure enough this cheese holds up to that, creamy, unctuous, buttery, fresh, and out of this world, a true treat! Paired with the roasted leeks and beets, a lip-smacking dish.
Ricotta Bruschette : Not the typical bruschette that you imagine getting in an Italian restaurant, toasted or grilled bread topped with vegetables, meats, or cheeses, this was grilled bread placed next to a cast iron skillet full of hot ricotta with orange, herbs, honey, and yummy goodness. A simple yet delish dish that is hard to go wrong with. Something that you do tend to find on many different Italian menus around town and always yum!
One last comment, what I did really like was the fact that you saw the chef, Nate Appleman in the kitchen cooking and leading his sous chefs. Always nice when you actually see a star chef cooking and not just attaching his name to a restaurant and not doing the cooking -- a definite plus!
Overall the food was delish, unique twists on tried and true Italian favorites, definitely a lovingly created menu. I would definitely go back for the food, but I think the service definitely needs to step it up a bit! A fun, lively restaurant and most certainly up to Keith McNally standards.
Check it out ladies and gents and let me know your thoughts.
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