Peasant

Returning to Peasant last night when the menu was in English certainly made life easier.  What made life even easier is that everything was shared and I wasn't in charge of ordering.  As much as I tend to be the planner, it is really nice to take a back seat on occasion.

I have always liked Peasant.  The poured concrete floors with big glass windows held together in steel paired together with the dark wood and open kitchen creates a really unique vibe.  Modern on one hand but old world Italy on the other. 

There were six of us.  A good group and a group that likes their food.  The nice thing about the group order it was really the perfect amount of food.  We began with 2 appetizers that were doubled for the table and one extra.  The appetizers come in small iron pots.  In Paris, there is a restaurant that serves everything in these dishes which is called Les Cocottes.  One dish had tiny calamari bodies that had been grilled.  Very good and grilled just right. The other had a some type of green on the bottom that had been roasted ( think escarole ) and then pieces of mozzarella that had been rolled up with prosciutto inside and baked so the cheese was oozing.  Really delicious.  We also had some tiny grilled octopus – one of my favorite dishes. 

The table also has a big loaf of bread and a crumble ricotta for smearing on your bread.  Different and delicious.  The next course was a mushroom risotto that was out of this world.  Rich, creamy, layered with taste from the mushrooms to the rice and a buttery flavor.  Woah.  In addition we had the classic Italian pasta with broccoli rabe, large pieces of fried sausage, oriechetti pasta, olive oil and some garlic. 

Next round were the mains.  A roasted filleted fish in a large pan with a wine sauce.  Simple and yum.  The other was the lamb.  Slices of medium rare leg of lamb paired with sauteed greens and a polenta.  Last entree was the classic Florentine T-Bone.  Couldn't quite pinpoint the smoky taste.  Maybe it had to do with the preparation but I think it had to do with a marinade.  Didn't love it.

Desert was a cream laden bread pudding and a slice of dense chocolate.  How could that be bad?

Good food, good company and always a pleasure to return to Peasant.