Saturday, February 20, 2010

Hola Supper Clubbers!

Thought I'd share a recent restaurant visit that Shannon, Dan, and I had in New York.

Dan Demartini came to town for a few days to visit us. His family owns Columbus Sausage outside of San Fransisco which purveys salami and artisan meats to companies all over the country. When his family found out he was going to be in New York visiting us they made sure to set up a dinner at Salumeria Rosi, a True Italian restaurant who hand crafts their own meats on site. So we went in together and were special guests to the Head Chef, Cesare, a large and lively Italian man.

We walked in the door to be greeted by the hostess who promptly brought us aperitifs compliments of the chef which were Prosecco and Amaretto with a hint of orange. Dan introduced us to all of the meats in the display case such as the Speck, Mortadella, Salami Cotto, Prosciutto, and many more...

We were quickly sat at our table and presented with prosciutto and parmigiana reggiano biscuits from Cesare. Things from this point on were a complete blur, Cesare came out to the table to greet us and then cooked us up a storm of authentic, light, delicious Italian food. He didn't let us order anything but rather brought us everything on the menu from appetizers to main courses. He selected every course to follow the next in a perfect order, and took time to explain the dish and where its influences came from. He actually sampled us on 18 different meals which included:

A Plate of Artisans Cured Meats
Warm Radiccio, soft scrambled egg, pancetta salad
1/2 Beef 1/2 Pork Meatballs with a light marinara, over a bed of mashed potatoes
7 Heirloom Bean Salad
Italian Panini, spicy stuffed guanciale pork, over a bed of arugula
Escarole e Alicette - Escarole with a spicy anchovies
Traditional Lasagna with a light bechamel sauce
Pork Belly! Cooked in its own fats with white beans
Risotto, farro with butternut squash and cinnamon pumpkin seeds
Prime Skirt Steak with cannellini beans and basil
Polenta with a braised oxtail ragu
Fusilli Pasta with traditional tomato sauce
Leek, Pancetta, Parmigiana Tart

We enjoyed a bottle of Barbaresco 2005.

Then every dessert they had to offer. Mousse, Apple Cakes, Bread Pudding, Cheese Cake

Then we were again presented with a bottle of Asti, sparkling wine.

We saw more food then I have ever seen come out of a kitchen, but the best part about it was they made sure we were just tasting everything and not gorging. It was just a tour through their dishes. The service was amazing, and the chef was such a gracious host! At the end of the night all we received in our ticket folder was a note left from Dan's older sister that said I hope you enjoyed...

Now all of you have to come out here so we can take you to meet our new friend Cesare, and have an amazing authentic Italian meal (which low and behold is nothing like Olive Garden)





3 comments:

  1. Hootie, this made my day.

    ...and filled me with insane jealousy.

    Three weeks! Three weeks!

    x. A.

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  2. Haha, I am glad! I will start posting more of our culinary adventures here in the city! Soon you can join us here and we will hit up every joint like this and blog all about it!

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  3. Amazing. I'll just add this to my list of reasons to become a full-time purveyor of salami.

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