Anyway, on the new tip, Sorella fit the bill. Opened in early 2009, this Lower East Side Piedmontese wine bar puts out some amazingly delectable small plates in a really sweet space. Pretty much everything we ordered—save for the white bean special which was sadly a bit too salty and mushy to boot—was a homerun.
Following are just a handful of the not-so-small plates we enjoyed that night.
Acciughe al verde — lovely little Ligurian anchovies resting atop a creamy lemon butter and salsa verde, sprinkled with hazelnuts, accompanied by super crispy flatbread.
Delicate little gnocchi dressed in a rich Castelrosso (cow's milk) cream sauce, spiked with a dice of brown butter pears and garnished generously with chives. We liked this dish so much, we got two.
Pork rillettes — a really nice braised pork (braised in fat, that is) emulsified to a super luscious texture, accompanied by a dice of mango and some nice crispy bruschetta.
Paté de fegato — chef Emma Hearst's (yes, of the mega-millionaire Hearsts) signature dish comprising a duck fat English muffin bread with a veritable brick of artery-clogging, creamy chicken liver mousse sitting on top, along with a fried egg and huge wedges of candied bacon.
Tajarin — freshly made egg pasta tagliolini with heaping portions of lamb ragu, black pepper ricotta, Parmesan, pistachios and mint.
Grilled quail with a vincotto glaze (vincotto being a dark, sweet, dense grape), plopped on top of 'fried' riso venere (aka short grain, black rice), watercress and orange salad.
I gotta say, of the half a dozen or so new eateries that I added to cart this year, Sorella tops my NY newcomer list.
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