Oh, Convivio. As I mentioned previously, after Matsugen and Lily O’Brien’s, I headed over to Convivio to meet up with the ladies of FBM for dinner. We’d made plans to have dinner there during February so we could eat the old menu with the new chefs after the ‘divorce’ – yes, Michael White and Chris Cannon split their restaurant partnership, and unfortunately, Convivio, my favorite of the group that I’d visited thusfar, wound up with Chris Cannon, who’d hired new chefs. Rumor was that the old menu would remain until post-February, when a new menu would be introduced, showcasing the new chef’s talents. Unfortunately, though we had plans for the last week of February, something came up at work for one of the ladies, and we moved dinner to the following week (March 2)… where, upon our arrival, we discovered a new menu already in place.
Aside from that great disappointment off the bat (my favorite dish no longer on the menu, though something semi-similar was… though not quite; you’ll see), we put our game faces on and enjoyed the meal best we could, indulging in the $64 prix fixe for four courses from the dinner menu. Service was a little odd, and a very loud woman with a piercing voice made the dining room almost unbearable towards the end of the night. It was what it was, and we sadly trooped out, two of us extremely disappointed in what had previously been the obvious recommendation to others… two of us, having never been before, just disappointed in the less than wonderful experience, after hearing so many nice things.
Two days later, the bombshell dropped: Convivio was closing for good. We’d managed to somehow eat one of the last meals they served, with no clue this was going to happen. I feel a bit relieved to have been able to return prior to its shuttering: I know in my heart that the restaurant that closed was not the same as the one I’d fallen in love with. But I was still sad that such a lovely, wonderful restaurant – the one with which I’d fallen in love – disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. I also felt a little weird that I’d visited two restaurants in one day that no longer operate…
True to my form, though, I record here for posterity what we ate that night.
The last dinner at Convivio.
KC and I arrived together, a little early, and decided to order cocktails at the bar. I started with a glass of prosecco (not pictured); she chose a cocktail made with whiskey, I believe. The name escapes me, but there was ginger in it, I recall taking a sip and being less than thrilled with that, though I believe she enjoyed it. (I fully expect everyone to chime in with their thoughts if I forget or don’t get them right!)
Hungry arrived shorly after, and ordered something with ‘bitter’ in the name. I didn’t try this one.
CT, coming from the farthest away, arrived last and didn’t order a drink until we were seated. She chose something that came frothy… I think she liked it.
KC’s starter of polpettine (meatballs, gorgonzola, oyster mushrooms). I tried these – they were pretty tender and tasty.
CT’s first course: polpo (octopus, chickpea panelle, taggiasca olives). I think she liked this… but not the olives.
Hungry opted for the zucca e gamberi (butternut squash and shrimp soup). I think she liked this well enough.
We also ordered crocchette (potato and pecorino fritters) for the table, because we’re crazy like that. These were nice and crisp on the outside, creamy potato on the inside. Wonderful? No, just good.
I chose the crema di bufala (buffalo milk custard, prosciutto di parma). The buffalo milk custard was, in a word, amazing. Soft, rich, and bruleed on the top to create a crackly crust through which I had to break in order to get to the center, I was in heaven just spooning this into my mouth. YUM. The prosciutto was salty and soft, as expected.
Bread accompanied this plate, but I barely touched it as I inhaled the soft prosciutto with the wonderful custard.
KC’s pasta course, fusilli alla carbonara, was unlike any I’d eaten or made in the past. I love carbonara – made properly, without any cream – and this didn’t appear to have any cream in it, but the sauce itself was rich and creamy to the point where I was just completely confused as to how it was made. I mean, I need to figure out how to make this myself; I really love creamy sauces in general and carbonara is actually rather healthy (or I should say, not that bad for you)… so good! The fusilli was also cooked perfectly al dente, long, chewy strands and just incredible. I don’t think KC liked it as much as I did, though.
CT ordered the spaghetti con i ricci; Calabrian chili pasta, crab, sea urchin and zucchini. I tried a small bite, though I didn’t really care for this similar dish in the past. CT liked it, though not quite as much as she’d liked a very similar dish at Marea.
Hungry, who I’m sure will be blogging this meal eventually, ordered the ravioli – burrata, yellow tomatoes and baby eggplant. None of us tried this, because as soon as she took a bite, she yelled, “I’m not sharing this, don’t even ask!” Hahahaha. That sounds pretty good, though I know she later said something else – but I LOVE burrata, and yellow tomatoes are great too. Yum?
And my pasta course: mafalde alla vaccinara (slow cooked neapolitan oxtail ragu, shaved pecorino). My previous favorite course had been the fusilli with pork ragu, so I went with a similar sounding sauce… but no, this fell far, far flat for me. I was incredibly disappointed with this; the pasta was cooked properly, and the shape is one I’ve encountered very little or not at all, but the overall taste just wasn’t impressive. I found myself wishing I’d ordered the fusilli at least for the pasta’s wonderful texture, and for what I now knew to be unbelievably creamy carbonara.
KC’s scallop dish; I don’t recall if she liked it.
CT chose filetto di maiale (Berkshire pork tenderloin, quince mostarda) for her secondi. I think she enjoyed it, though it was quite a small portion.
Hungry, for a $10 supplement, ordered the veal chop. She shared with us, and this was incredibly tender, delicious, juicy. It was also HUGE. I think she just barely finished it. It was as I’d experienced when BF ordered it. Really, really tasty.
I decided to go with the lamb chops. I thought this was tasty, but again, not outstanding. Just good, and it doesn’t stand out in my mind at all.
Onwards to dessert – KC chose the torta, chocolate olive oil mousse, praline crunch, Valrhona chocolate cake and olive oil gelato. It was really, really rich.
I know Hungry & CT each ordered a trio of sorbetti and gelati, but I don’t remember who ordered which. I also don’t recall the flavors, though I know
one of these was torrone (?) flavored, or Italian nougat. I tried all the flavors and I remember they were all pretty good, but not amazing.
As for me, I chose the bomboloni, because I love Italian doughnuts. Also because the dessert we’d all drooled over – the tartaletta (Meyer lemon crema, huckleberry compote, coconut gelato) – they wouldn’t let us order it after we asked them to remove the coconut gelato and add something else, in deference to my coconut allergy. We were confused; it shouldn’t be pre-plated (not the gelato, anyway), but our server kept insisting we couldn’t have it since we had an allergy. When we asked if it was in the tartaletta itself, she seemed confused, agitated, and said no, but then wouldn’t let us order it anyway. Very odd.
The bomboloni came with a gianduja chocolate dipping sauce, and were supposedly filled with banana custard.
I actually thought they were filled with banana chunks! These were tasty, but very dense and more cake-like in texture than like glorious bomboloni. Ah well.
As with Matsugen, there isn’t much to say in terms of an “Yvo says” section. I realize I was fortunate enough to visit Convivio a record three times before it closed (I don’t generally go to high end restaurants more than once, because I simply cannot afford it, and there are always other places to try!). I also realize that I was even more fortunate to get to visit it before it closed permanently; as I mentioned earlier, I know for sure that this was not the same restaurant I fell in love with. Had it remained open, it would have been simply a ‘pretty good’ restaurant, but not one I would recommend over and over to everyone. In a way, it’s … well, it’s definitely bittersweet that such a wonderful restaurant had to disappear, and now that it’s shut for good… at least it ended on a mostly up note. I am eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to dine there twice last year before the changes took place, and once this year afterwards.
Onwards to better things for everyone, I hope.
PS I noticed that during the meal, we all seemed to be enjoying it enough, and while not amazed or thrilled, it was good. But after the meal, it seemed like a switch was flipped, and the other girls seemed to have progressively worse opinions of the meal. I’ve noticed this happen in the past with other friends, and wonder to what this phenomena can be attributed… in any case, I fully welcome and encourage the other girls to pipe up and share their opinions! Thanks ladies!
TT says
Mmm octopus, that’s my girl! Can’t believe you ordered something with olives.
3 fritters for four girls? Battle to the death?
carbonara rather healthy? maybe sans egg and bacon/guaniciale.
too bad that it closed, but i guess without Chef White, it was for the best.
Feisty Foodie says
I recall she said something about the olives while she was eating it – I’m pretty sure they were unobtrusive so she could easily push them to one side. And no, we shared the fritters.
Carbonara is rather healthy compared to alfredo. Eggs are not unhealthy, they are protein, and bacon/guanciale is not unhealthy either, in moderation. For such a creamy preparation, I don’t think you can get healthier than carbonara.
Also, I don’t think White was cooking there for quite a while already – long before the split – but the chef who was there previously was very good (I imagine had been trained by White, though).
kcijones001 says
I did not like the scallops. I later tweeted something about taking a trail seperation from scallops. This experince made me take a break from my favorite molluscs…
kcijones001 says
“did not like” is an understatement. I HATED the scallops. My main course portion was also significantly smaller than everyone elses.
kcijones001 says
I also think that drunk blond woman with no indoor voice ruined part of my experience. Oh and I didnt like that it took us over three hours to be served our entire meal….
Feisty Foodie says
There were a lot of minor missteps that, on their own, may have been forgivable, but together added up to a pretty unpleasant experience. I guess I just have rose colored glasses and like to look at the bright side – evidenced by my closing note… 🙂
Hungry says
The drink I had was too bitter to have on its own. I disliked it. However, when we started eating, it was a nice complement to the meal. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name either.
My soup was pretty creamy and smooth with chunks of shrimp littered throughout. It was nice but not anything amazing.
My pasta was good but some agnolotti had overcooked burrata so the cheese actually became stiff. I only love loose, creamy, runny burrata cheese. Also, I think the dish would be better for spring, not winter. It was pretty light.
The veal chop was really good. It had a nice crust but it slipped off from the meat at once point. The portion was more than enough for one person but I did end up finishing it anyway.
My dessert was torrone, chocolate, and something forgettable.
CT’s sorbet had an amazing mango flavor!
Oh and I refused to try a bomboloni because I was too full.
In the end, Convivio disappointed me because it was so much better in the past and you know what it’s capable of. I think the service and the food was subpar. And I was totally annoyed about the change in the 4 course prix fixe. I specifically remember being able to mix and match as I pleased. I guess after eating, I can reflect better without being hypnotized by food (good or not).
Also, to make a creamy sauce, I learned this trick from Daniel Boulud. Use a poached egg and beat it up until thick and creamy. You can use the same method for homemade mayo.
Feisty Foodie says
Regarding the prix fixe, that was a bit annoying because I know without a doubt that the servers have said in the past “it’s pretty much without limitation” and one even said if we REALLY wanted to, we could have 4 main courses (I’m sure with upcharges). However, I also know that when I went in October, though we were encouraged to choose anything we wanted, we were definitely told that one of the two first sections weren’t included – the sfizi or the antipasti, I forget which one – so this wasn’t completely shocking to me. Not that it wasn’t annoying, but rather, not unexpected (for me).
Thanks for the tip on the egg – partially poached? Or do you actually fuly cook the white (which doesn’t make sense in my mind, ha) to add? I don’t order carbonara in restaurants often (either because the restaurant lists cream as an ingredient, or because the rare occasions I’m in places that make it properly… I’d rather eat something else! haha) – in fact I think I’ve only ever eaten the ‘real’ kind when I made it at home – so this really impressed me.
Hungry says
I think it is fully poached. The whites should be so delicately cooked so when smashed (I think food processor), it’ll just become a paste instead of chunks.
T.C. says
Too bad I won’t get a chance to try their delicious-lookin’ pasta dishes.
Me want bombolini!!