Happy Anniversary to Us

It’s not everyday that Sean and I get to go out for a dinner sans Belly but when my sister and brother-in-law volunteered to watch her so we could celebrate our anniversary we snapped up the offer. And we are so greatful because Sean and I experienced probably one of the best meals of our lives last night at Maialino just off Gramercy Park.

Maialino is a Danny Meyer creation and one of their chef’s, Ben Gaynor, is an old friend of Sean’s who more than graciously arrange a reservation for us on a busy Friday night. Thank you Ben! :)

The food is rustic Roman style. Everything is clean, traditional Italian flavors. The kind of food that many would call simple home cooking not knowing the care and thought that lies behind each dish. We ordered salumi misti (the sliced meat and olive plate) and crostini di fichi to start. The crostini were perfect little treasures of fresh ricotta and honey with sliced figs so delicate and pink they melted like candy. The salumi, I’m guessing, consisted of mortadela–fantastico–a proscuitto–guessing from Fruili-Venezia–and a thick cut salami served with an assortment of olives with just a slight hint of red pepper and a nice dose of citrus. Ben sent out a salad as well, the di Scarola, which was escarole, hazelnuts, grapes and pecarino chopped fine in a light not citrus but not balsamic dressing…maybe a white wine vinegar.

The wine’s by the glass are just a few fine choices which keeps ordering fairly simple. Sean and I shared a glass of the Pinot Bianco with our appetizers and primi course. For primi we ordered the agnolotti di zucca–a pumpkin filled pasta with a light balsamic sauce and a sprinkle of ricotta salata. It was sweet and savory with just the slightest balsamic tanginess to it. Sean and I struggled to decided on our entree the specials sounded amazing: a pan fried rabbit and salt encrusted sea bass but we were overwhelmed by the house specialty, a slow cooked (six hours we were told) suckling pig which we ordered with just a small bit of hesitation since rabbit is likely one of my favorite things to eat. But it seems someone in the kitchen was reading my mind because with our pumpkin agnolotti came a dish of house made fresh pasta–larger than a penne and far thinner–with rabbit and a savory tomato broth that we soaked up every ounce of with the amazing Italian bread that greeted us when we first sat down. The rabbit was so tender and flavorful, and was a nice pairing with the sweeter pumpkin.

Finding a wine to go with our main course was a little trickier. I don’t usually drink red but thought the pork deserved something rubust to stand up to the fat. The wines by the glass featured a special section of nebbiolos and we knew we wanted one of these so we asked our server, David, for some recommendations. I didn’t write the wines down but we tasted the Carema and Sfurzato. We went with the Carema which was lighter with a carmel sweetness.

They brought out the pork before they carved and served it. And it was a golden orange, crisped to perfection on the outside. When they returned with it carved you could see the meat was falling apart and over a bed of boiled potatoes soaking in the pan drippings. Ben sent out some greens–kale–with chickpeas to accompany the pork and it was all delicious. It’s safe to say we were fairly stuffed at this point and just ate a small bit of the pork and greens. But the ribs were sprinkled with fennel seed and I ate a section of those and tried the crisp skin and tender meat that was moist and full of fatty goodness. The flavors were mild, not over salted, nothing overdone. Just the amazing flavor of really high quality meat and greens. Just the way they would do it in Italy.

We couldn’t decide on a dessert and asked David for his opinion. Well suffice it to say, we didn’t need to decide because they sent out five desserts: the olive oil cake with marscapone cream (Sean’s pick), a pignoli/lemon tart with citrus honey (my pick), along with pear gelato, concord grape sorbet, and the triumph of the desserts a pannacotta with gently stewed figs and honey. Along with a cappuccino for Sean and a lavendar mint tea for me it was altogether an amazing meal. Ben came out one last time to say goodnight and we wished him goodnight with our sincerest appreciation. As we walked around Gramercy Park, our stomachs groaning but entirely pleased and not in anyway upset from all of the indulgence we appreciated six years of marraige, many amazing meals (although few and far between these days) and travels finding those meals, and thought about the next six years and where we will be then.

I never would have guessed half of what has happened in the past six years and the future holds much excitement and uncertainty. But the one thing I am certain of, Sean is my partner on this trip and I am so glad.