Convivio

After our lovely brunch + museum, then running around the city to buy various items for ourselves (comics, groceries, fun stuff!), BF was hungry and wanted to eat Italian.  We were parked near Grand Central (across the street, actually) at the time, and I whipped out my BlackBerry and just Google’d… and stumbled on Convivio.  Now, despite the fact that I write about food, I don’t actually have time currently to keep up with blogs or food news (school is killing me), so I just knew I’d heard the name previously, and I had a vague notion that it would be difficult to just walk in and get a table.  So I called and the hostess politely told me they had no tables (no laughing; sometimes hostesses laugh at me if I call for a table on too-short notice), but said we could eat in the lounge area where there were 3 tables currently available.  Awesome.  We drove over quickly, though finding the place was a bit of a nightmare…

I have to say, I was really surprised by how snug in a nook this place appears to be.  The crowd seemed mostly older, mostly locals, people who lived in the immediate area.  Any case, BF and I sat down and were handed menus.  He seemed wary at first of the menu, not noting a simple pasta dish as he’d have liked.

I decided we should try two appetizers, first up polpettine or tomato-braised pork meatballs.  As soon as I put a ball in my mouth, I knew we had a hit.  Meltingly soft, bursting with flavor, the first thought that flashed through my head was “Hmm, a bit like Pop’s meatballs.”  I dared not say it, because you know how some people are amazingly protective of their parents’ cooking… it can happen.  But as BF chewed thoughtfully (honestly, chewing was barely necessary), he finally said, “These taste kind of like Pop’s meatballs,” and I immediately burst into a huge grin.  “Yes, yes they do,” said I, eagerly.  “That’s exactly what I was thinking!”

One of the ultimate compliments – to have meatballs taste like home.  So far, so good.

I also chose arancini, rice balls – these were saffron risotto croquettes, another big hit.  BF was pretty impressed with these as well, and we happily consumed these.  The saffron was delicate but present, and the creamy risotto inside a crisp outer shell really played nicely in terms of texture.  Another win.

BF finally chose fusilli with a pork shoulder ragu.  The melty cheese on top was an excellent touch; the ropes of fusilli were a shade more al dente than I usually manage to make mine, but in the best way possible.  The chewy pasta against the super soft pork bits, cheesy sauce, flavor bursts everywhere – this was an amazing dish.  We were both super impressed, and I was immensely jealous of his choice, which is intensely rare for me to want what he ordered more than what I’ve ordered.

As a side, I’d ordered fried cauliflower to be healthy.  Maybe not that healthy, but totally delicious – flavored breadcrumbs adorned the tops, but the florets were still pretty firm, very tasty.

And my own dish, though I envied BF his, was no slouch either.  Cicatelli al forno, or oven baked ricotta dumplings with roasted baby lamb and mozzarella was quite tasty as well.

Piping hot, small dumplings of ricotta topped with chunks of lamb and this absolutely delicious tomato sauce were stuffed into my mouth with abandon for a few minutes, except I kept burning myself – and I couldn’t stop.  That’s how good they were.  Just delicious… nomm nom nom.

I never want to order dessert if I’ve packed food to go (and pack food, I did!); I don’t even like dessert that much.  But a record three dessert menu items jumped out at me immediately, and my darling BF picked one for me without hesitation, skipping over the panna cotta (“lime yogurt sorbet? no, no, no”) and the bomboloni (“sounds good, but really…”) and going straight to tartaletta di caramelle – Valrhona chocolate ganache, salted caramel, vanilla gelato (“it’s like it was made just for you, baby – you couldn’t get your Valrhona chocolate pudding today, so there’s your Valrhona, and then salted caramal? Come on, that’s all you”).  How do you not love this man?  He encourages my gluttony!

As for the tart, I stupidly didn’t take a picture of it after I’d broken into it – an ooze of caramel, the sea salt sprinkled on top, and amazing.  Pure. Amazing.  Honestly, I’ve mentioned that I’m not a dessert person, and I can pass on it.  I really can.  But this one?  BF took two bites and I ate the rest.  It’s usually the other way around – I’ll take a bite to be polite, and a second if it’s good (a third if it’s REALLY good), but this time, BF sat back and smilingly, adoringly watched as I wolfed down the dessert because it was so.freaking.good.  I loved the playing of the various tastes and textures off each other – salt, caramel, chocolate, tart shell (which was hardly sweetened or not at all)… Ahh, heaven.

Yvo says: I honestly can’t remember a time when I have so thoroughly enjoyed every single component of a meal, not one item that I had to relent slightly and say “That wasn’t the most delicious” or excuse in some manner.  This was that transcendental meal; not one single “eh” or “meh” at all – every last bit was amazing and wonderful.  I was blown away by everything, so thoroughly pleased with the food, I’m not sure I could have been more impressed with a place.  Absolutely fabulous.  (Prices were somewhat reasonable; we didn’t order wine, but I believe the meal was just over $100, which, considering I later discovered the place has a Michelin star and total bragging rights, I was very pleased.  No reservation to sit in the lounge, which suited our needs just fine.  And yes, I was a little underdressed for the place, but to the hostess’s credit, she made no comment nor did any server make us feel less than deserving of eating in the establishment- we encountered no snootiness.)
highly recommended