Life is full of disappointments. Getting the "Darbie" doll instead of the real "Barbie" doll at Christmas. When college admissions committees decide that your "safety" school really should have been a "reach" school and then that same safety school dings your financial aid. Your prom date (or lack thereof).
This was the disappointment I felt when a small, fairly well known Italian eatery opened on my corner. I liked its LES sister and now it was mine for the eating. Morning, noon or late night. Paninis galore.
But alas. Like my prom, the experience is a let down, and the food is rather dull.
A mere 2.5 blocks further, Danny Meyer opened Maialino in the former Wakiya space in the Gramercy Park Hotel. Now Mr. Meyer is a quintessential host with gracious sensibilities, a discerning palate and a keen eye. I sat next to him once at Ed's Lobster Bar and he was reserved, though kind, and very soft-spoken.
And unlike the Darbie Doll, Danny Meyer has never disappointed me.
The front area (Bar Maialino) consists of a bar and other long high rise tables with barstools where you can dine on wine, salumi, formaggi and small plates. There is a $10 porchetta sandwich, which, may have been one of the finest new pork products to enter my mouth in years. The Italian Kale and Pecorino, was at once light, salty and creamy. And at $13, the eggplant parmigian (which is the most expensive of the small plates) is a hearty, thick cut, not over-cheesed version of my favorite vegetable in a portion that would feed more than 5 models screwing in a lightbulb.
The back of the house is formal dining. (This menu is not available at the bar.)
The wines were reasonably priced by the glass and the quartino and the service was exceedingly gracious and hospitable.
So sayonara little Italian-place-on-my-corner that will disappoint me no more. (If I wanted that, I'd try to on the size 25 jeans that sit in the back of my closet like a wardrobe arch nemesis, taunting my ass.) The extra 2.5 blocks to Maialino is worth it. And I'll need the calorie burn for the porchetta sandwich.
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