Monday night, a friend was in town for work from Cali, so we all decided to hit up another Michael White baby.. Osteria Morini… Yep, just the night before we were at Marea and a few days before that, we were at Ai Fiori :] After a long day of shopping, eating at DD, Dim Sum Go Go and Xi’An Famous Foods [omg Cumin Lamb Noodles are TO DIE FOR! – YOOO Hand Pulled NOODLES!!!]
Click here to see my Video of making Hand-Pulled Noodles @ Xi’An
Tons of shopping bags, a full belly, too much walking and a bottle of champagne in us later…. we got ready for another Chef White dinner – woot woot! 3 Michael White restos in a week?! AWESOME!
Me and Rhino.
Famous Celebrity Penis and Boob wall next to Osteria Morini – teehee…
Their sign actually reminds me of Yakitori Totto‘s :]
After sitting down at a table in the back near the kitchen we ordered a bottle of wine [and then another since it was so yummy] and picked out a slew of delicious yummies…
We were first greeted with a complimentary dish from the Chef.
Carciofo Fritelle
Artichoke, Chickpeas, Red Pepper, Nepitella Crema
Basically a chickpea veggie fritter or croquette minus the potatoes — Delicious, light, fluffy – full of creamy chickpea flavor and hints of artichoke and peppers.. delish! Fried to perfection and over a drizzle of Nepitella cream on the bottom…. Nepitella is a wild herb of the Mint family grown in Italy
Battilardo Di Affetatti
Cured Sliced Meats with Grilled Bread & Tigelle Modenese
Fegatini – Duck Liver Mousse, Passito Wine
Coppa – Cured Pork Neck
& Lardo – Prosciutto Bianco
The liver was TO die for and definitely the hit of the night for the charcuterie. Creamy, full of flavor and paired SO well with the nice crunchy grilled bread. The white round disks were flat fluffy bread.. I preferred the grilled crostinis though. The coppa was salty, porky and full of flavor. A nice balance of meat and fat… delicious.. and of course, the lardo, the fat, sliced super thin I could’ve eaten it all straight, but instead daintily placed it on my crostini and nibbled like a lady :]
Spiedini Per La Tavola: Assorted Skewers Alla Piastra
Maiale – Sausage, Sweetbread, Zucchini, Cauliflower, Tomato
Lumache – Grilled Snails Wrapped in Rosemary Lardo
The sausage was delicious… which was a blend of lamb and pork…. the sweetbread was a tiny piece but perfectly cooked… the zucchini and cauliflower and tomatoes were also grilled to perfection. Delicious.. which I had my own skewer though…
The snails were SOOOOO tender and delicious. It was great with a nice squirt of lemon and was great with the crostini but I enjoyed it better without – I like tasting things for their very own flavor. A GREAT run with snails lately…. First Plein Sud, then Marea and now here. YUM. New trend :]
Carpaccio
Thinly Sliced Beef, Arugula, Lemon, Parmigiano
This was actually very similar to a Bresaola.. a cured/salted and dried beef. I was kind of disappointed since I was expecting melt in your mouth paper thin beef.. these came in hugeeeee salty pieces that were pretty thick for a carpaccio, covered in a delicious olive oil [White is good with his oil] and the flavors packed a mean punch. A little bit too much oil for me but was much better balanced with the parm and the bitter arugula. Mwahahah I still ended up eating like half the dish anyways :] NOM!
Ventresca
Olive Oil Poached Tuna Belly, Fava Beans, Fagioli
This was SUCH a good pick! Definitely my favorite non-pasta dish of the night. The tuna belly, while I usually don’t like fully cooked tuna was poached SO beautifully.. instead of the fat becoming overpowering, it just turned into butter and made the flesh soooo tender and succulent – super juicy. The nice balance of some pickled red onion and perfectly cooked fava and fagiolis really added a nice freshness to the dish. Felt like spring. YES, spring is here.
Rigatoni
Ground Seppia, Shrimp, Fava Beans, Stracchino Cheese
The rigatoni was cooked to perfection, per usual, the fava beans [yessss!!!! I LOOOOVE spring!!!] The creamy cheesiness of the stracchino and the flavorful seppia really added SO much to the dish. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Not to mention how the green favas added a beautiful punch of green to the dish.
Gnocchi
Ricotta Dumplings, Pomodoro, Speck & Basil
Now, it’s been awhile since I’ve had amazing gnocchi – the best probably being Le Cirque or Mizuna….I mean the last time I had gnocchi was horrible. Horrible gnocchi which ended in a horrible night. [Long story] Horrible gnocchi sucks… heavy, dense… NOT fluffy… but these WERE not. Super light tomato sauce, which I ADORED…a hint of speck and basil…. but omg the gnocchi… SO fluffy and pillowy.. they tasted more like pasta dough pillows and not the fluffy potato-y kinds but it was a good kind of chew and yum!
Garganelli
Pasta Quills, Cream, Truffle Butter, Prosciutto
Like long skinny pennes.. model pennes? While regular pennes are regular people? I duno, bad analogy. Creamy, simple, the prosciutto was SO delicious and while there wasn’t a lot, it added SO much flavor to the dish. Very light truffle but definitely did a lot for the pasta. Once again PERFECTLY cooked pasta.
Before we get to the final pasta dish of the night, AND my favorite — I just have to say while I loved Marea, I was disappointed in their pastas being slightly undercooked… especially when I had White’s other restaurant the next day. I know that Marea is “prized” above Osteria Morini to some foodies but for me, DELICIOUS.
Ok, sorry for the break, continue.
Stracci
Pasta Rags, Braised Wild Mushrooms, Rosemary Oil
My favorite of the night.. here it is in all it’s glory. Thick juicy flavorful mushrooms admist the large “rags” of thin delicate pasta. SO FREAKING GOOD.. and addicting. It was like eating delicious thin thin egg wonton wraps – WHICH I’m SO thinking of doing tomorrow night :] Hahaha… We ended up adding more cheese and some hot pepper flakes to all the pastas.. well, I added the hot pepper flakes, everything else just had TONS of cheese :D
We were super happy and had warm bellies.. but since we were still on our second bottle of wine and I needed some chocolate and sweetness to push down all the savory we ordered one dessert to share amongst the three of us.
Gianduja Budino
Chocolate-Hazelnut Custard, Gelato Alla Caffe
SO FREAKING DELICIOUS. The thin crunchy, flakey puff topping on top was TO DIEEEEE FOR. Delicious gelato and the MOOOOOST CREAMMMMMY hazelnutty and chocolatey,BUTTTTTERY custard. OH EM GEE. It also came with whole roasted hazelnuts in a delicious light sauce drizzled around it. Sort of burnt caramely if i remember correctly. BUT, anyways. continue. SOOOO GOOOD.. I don’t even ever usually order hazelut/choc desserts since they all taste like nutella! I LOVE nutella.. but since I buy it and religiously eat them out of the jar like crazy it’s not too big of a deal usually when desserts taste just like them. THIS is NOT the case. GET THIS. DEVOUR IT. SAVOUR IT. LOVE IT. LIVE IT. Ok. Done.
Delicious. After a great meal we walked over to Madame Geneva.. but since it was Memorial Day and it was closed, we ended up heading over to the rooftop, Plunge bar/lounge, at the Gansevoort Hotel.
m i s s t i f f i e . n e t 