Manzo

On a sunny and hot day a few summers ago, I had the best meal of my life.  I was traveling through Tuscany with my sister and my brother-in-law, and we took a day tour that stopped for lunch at a family farm that ran their own restaurant, cooking the food that they had produced with their own hands on their own land.  They served us plate after colorful plate of fresh fruits, veggies, meats and cheese, and I don't know if it was the Tuscan soil, the Tuscan wine that they served, or the intoxicating view of the hills and valleys before us, but I have never tasted anything so delicious and satisfying in my life.  I may never do so again, but I recently had a meal in the good 'ole US of A that came pretty darn close.

As I mentioned before, S was visiting and she, her brother M, and his friend C met me after work at Eataly.  I know that I've written about Eataly before, and if you haven't yet visited, it is well worth the trip.  A huge Italian food emporium, it also has seven restaurants on site.  We decided to go big or go home, and went to Manzo, its fine dining option.

We had our own little corner to ourselves, and we began with a round of bubbly, which, if you ask me, is always a very good place to start.  

We slowly perused the menu and decided to order at least one thing from each course and share a bit of everything.  We started with the mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes, basil and pancetta. 

If you dine at any of Eataly's restaurants and the mozzarella is on offer, DO NOT pass it up.  They make it fresh in-house and it tastes better than you can even imagine.  As S said, it was like eating a cloud.  

 

After fighting over the last bite, we moved on to our primi pasta course, opting for the gnocchi with spicy tomato sauce and fresh ricotta....
and the parpardelle with braised pork and radicchio (sorry, this one got blurry!).

 

We tried to choose our favorite of the two, but it was too hard, so we gave up and ordered more wine instead.

Next we moved on to secondi. M and S plumped for the ribeye for two with cannellini beans and broccoli rabe...

I'm not usually much of a steak person but this made me reconsider my stance.  It was easily the tastiest cow I've ever encountered.  Tender and juicy and almost painfully good.  And speaking of tasty cows, for his second course, C went for the slow roasted beef rib with spina rossa polenta and barolo vinaigrette...

while I bucked the beef trend and went for the pan seared scallops with pickled ramps and cherry agrodolce.

The scallops were buttery and melted in your mouth and the agrodolce was a delicious complement to the vegetables.  

And since we clearly didn't have enough food on the table at this point, we also ordered a side of the Yukon gold crocchè to share.  

Can you really blame us for not passing up what were basically fried mashed potato fritters?  

At this point, S and I were convinced that we had died and gone to foodie heaven.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking that, after eating all of that amazing food, there was no way that we'd have room for dessert.  If that's the case, you've seriously underestimated us and our ability to just keep eating.  

Don't try this at home kids.   Leave it up to the professionals.  

We started with coffee.  S opted for a classic cappuccino which arrived with a tiny, adorable bucket of sugar cubes....

while the boys and I needed a nightcap and sprung for the Finale Perfetto:  Amaretto, Grey Goose, Café Moka, and Cream.  It was strong, warming despite the fact that it was a cold drink, and tasted like Christmas.  

 Once we had settled into our coffees, the sweets arrived.  First up:   the bomboloni (Italian doughnut holes) with vanilla gelato....

and then:  the cioccolato with hazelnut gelato.  A rich, dense chocolate cake with a crisp chocolate shell and a layer of hazelnut praline at the bottom.

I loved everything about this dessert right down to the presentation.  It looks like the cake is skidding away from the ice cream.  But I don't know why it was in such a hurry to get away; they made a beautiful couple.

After polishing off dessert, we had finally reached the end of our appetites and called it a night, all agreeing that it was one of the best meals we had ever had.  Stop by Eataly and go to Manzo if you get the chance. It's definitely a pricier option but the quality of the food makes it well worth it.  And don't be intimated by the fact that it's called "fine dining"  if you're usually into more casual places.  There is no dress code and the staff is very friendly and unpretentious.  You can make a reservation here, or stop by the Manzo entrance, put your name down, and then wander around the market with a glass of wine in hand, ogling the Italian delicacies while you wait.  There are worse ways to kill time.  

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