Review: Maialino
New York City’s food enthusiasts disagree on many things - whether or not David Chang deserves his acclaim, whether or not waiting 2.5 hours for a table at the Spotted Pig is worth it, or who makes the best cupcakes - Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Crumbs, or god forbid - Magnolia Bakery. But most can agree on one thing - Danny Meyer knows what he’s doing. He just doesn’t fail. His latest venture, Maialino, both lives up to his great reputation and the name he’s given the place (“Piglet” in Italiano, also his childhood nickname) - there is pork, glorious pork, running rampant through his trattoria’s wonderful menu.
I ate there a week or two ago on a Monday night, and the restaurant was full - although not uncomfortably so. When you walk in to the restaurant, just south of the gorgeous Gramercy Park Hotel lobby, there’s the immediate sense of warmth and hospitality that Mr. Meyer is known for. The Bar Room is spacious and has quite a few pub-level tables for those who just want to relax, peer out at the park, and maybe nibble on some small plates or try out a few pastas. From your seat at the bar, you can look into the glassy wine cellar, or take a peek at the guys in action at the bread counter, slicing away into fragrant focaccia bread.
The dining room is a bit dimmer, but even more inviting. I can’t praise the architects/sound engineers/whoever else is involved enough for creating a room in which I can hear the people I’m dining with. It’s so refreshing not having to shout over music, or be so packed-in that I hear the next table’s bizarre conversation during my meal.
Anyway, onto the good stuff: the food. The pork. We started off with a selection of the salumi, which was fine, but not out of this world, I must say. I was in Spain about 6 months ago, and had some wonderful hams, and these were great too - just not that memorable. We also shared a few pastas, which were all incredible. We shared the raviolo al uovo, which is a large single ravioli with egg yolk, spinach, and maybe cheese? inside. It was so rich, and so interesting to bite into - the pasta was cooked just enough be warmed through - but not overdone so that the pasta turned to mush, or that the egg cooked into what you might eat for breakfast. Instead, it oozes out luxuriously onto your fork as you slice into the pasta. We also shared the Carbonara, which was salty and rich and perfectly cooked, and the Spaghetti a la Vongole, which was so simple yet unlike any Spaghetti I’ve ever eaten. The noodles are big - bigger than spagetti, maybe near a centimeter wide - sort of like the noodles you might get in a Thai peanut-noodle dish. BUT, what made them so unique is that they had a tiny, tiny hole inside - too tiny for sauce to get into, but large enough for water to get through, to cook the dense noodle evenly. These were served extra firm, maybe too firm for some, but I loved it. Just really toothy and meaty, in the best way possible.
For our entrees, we went for it. We shared the signature Maialino al forno (“baked piglet” - maybe this was Mr. Meyer’s nickname when he got a little older, heh), which is brought to the table before it’s carved. It’s a combination of pork belly, thigh, and the rib, I believe. It’s infused - slowly baked with - married to - sprig after sprig of rosemary, which created this armoatic, tender-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside (due to the belly) delicacy that was pretty remarkable. I’ve had braised pork before at many southern joints, and more recently at Momofuku Ssam, but the taste and the smell of this pork were just remarkable. Pricey, for sure, but a brand new taste for me in my 25 years.
We also sampled the lamb chops, the fried artichokes and the endives - the fried artichokes come with a sort of mustard-anchovy sauce that I would like to put on every sandwich I ever eat again. The lamb chops and endives were okay, but both tough to cut into and not what I’d order when I return.
Finally, we finished with a few desserts - a chocolate cake with cherries inside, and an assortment of biscotti. Nothing earth-shattering to me, but, there were a few things I’d love to go back and try. That goes for the rest of the menu as well - Meyer doesn’t shy away from presenting some more out-there options, like the tripe, the pig’s foot, and maybe some of the cheeses. I’m a midwestern girl: I love my cheeses.
Maialino rates pretty high up there on my restaurant list. Besides ticking off all the boxes a great restaurant is supposed to, and that we’ve come to expect Danny Meyer to excel at - service, atmosphere, the menu, and the prices - there was a perfect mix of items that were instant favorites, but also many others that I’m eager to go back and try. It’s just so comforting and cozy in there. I can’t wait for the next cold, lonely night to strike so I can go back and explore some more.
