The Spotted Pig

The Spotted Pig

So the idea and the movement of the gastro-pub started with this west village joint. Very well settled place where servers are hip and yet attentive, decor preserves that cute comfort theme and the food…was well- presented but— a bit salty. However, kudos to the chef; she captured an interesting balance of texture.

Food Analysis:

We started out with an appetizer, aka ‘the plate.’ Sheep's Ricotta Gnudi with Brown Butter & Sage. Gnudi are basically gnocchi stuffed with ricotta in a ball, semi- soaking in a pool of creamy butter and brown-doses-of-contrast and garnished with crispy baked sage to add great texture to the dish. The sage did wonders for the dish, in terms of waking the gnudi’s flavor up!

The entrees arrived. We ordered the house favorites; the two that are almost always in the menu. I ordered the Char-grilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestrings. Presentation was great; the shoestring potatoes were piled up high. Though the bun was bigger than the burger itself, the patty was cooked just as asked; medium rare. Toped with the patty was a strong dose of Roquefort Cheese. Personally I would have the cheese on the side; the Roquefort was overwhelming the goodness of the meat. Back to the shoestrings, very good, the combination of toasted garlic and rosemary infused into the deep fry of thin laces of potato was smart and very flavorful—yet the salt was given too generously.

Next up was the Grilled Calf’s Liver with Onions and Crispy Pancetta—props to the chef. Who would ever think calf’s liver would make it to an American restaurant—oh it’s a seller. This dish is unique in two ways; one: the calf liver was cooked medium rare which brought out the tenderness and buttery sumptuous flavor, I would say the texture of the liver was playing tricks on my taste buds—highly sensational. Secondly, the crispy pancetta neutralized the buttery liver with a salty crunch to balance that saturated fixation as well as pairing the lovely artery clogging agents with a refreshing, lightly bedded balsamic vinaigrette dandelions. The texture on the liver dish gets high marks, the salt content of this dish gets low marks for its high level of salt content.

For two people, the three dishes and a glass of homemade draft beer (Spotted Pig - Bitter) came out to $80 (with tip). Not cheap, not even close to cheap. It is more like paying for the experience and appreciation of the unimagined edible parts of a pig and ‘good’ and ‘high quality’ ingredients that are placed on your dish (there is detail involved) then perhaps you will find it worth the money.

Sheep's Ricotta Gnudi with Brown Butter & Sage $ 15

Char-grilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestrings $ 17

Grilled Calf’s Liver with Onions and Crispy Pancetta $16

The Spotted Pig. 314 W. 11th Street @ Greenwich St. New York, NY 10014 Tel: (212) 620-0393