After reading
this interview in Grub Street and still being bummed that I never got a chance to try Chef Baltzley's food when he was at Pensiero, I dined at the restaurant this evening. I definitely see potential in Chef Wilson Bauer but I think he's still perfecting his dishes. Chef Bauer was kind enough to bring us a couple of dishes to try in between our appetizer and entrees. Service was excellent. I really liked our waiter.
We started with housemade focaccia and grated parmesan in olive oil - a simple and delicious start to our meal. Parmesan soaked in olive oil = heaven.
Housemade Focaccia / Pensiero by
TrackBelle, on Flickr
Olive Oil and Parmesan / Pensiero by
TrackBelle, on Flickr
I started with a Polpo (octopus) salad with garbanzo beans, curly endive, radish, citrus and brown butter vinaigrette. The octopus was amazing and I thought this was a really well constructed dish, although I think it may have been on the menu before Chef Bauer arrived.
Duck Confit Kumquat Mustard Greens Crostini / Pensiero by
TrackBelle, on Flickr
Chef Bauer then brought out a new dish he is working on for us to try. Duck confit with mustard greens, pickled kumquats and fish roe on a thick rustic bread. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first since the bread is too thick and fluffy to be a crostini. Yet the bread crust and mustard greens were really hard to cut with a fork and knife. I would have eaten it with my fingers, but it was piled so high with deliciousness that I feared looking like a slob. I loved the flavor profile, especially the sharp kumquats, but maybe the dish could be a little more user friendly.
Gnocchi con Coda / Pensiero by
TrackBelle, on Flickr
Our next course was Gnocchi con Coda - gnocchi, oxtail, smoked onions, celery root. This is a classic dish impeccably prepared. I think I enjoyed these gnocchi even more than that gnocchi with wild boar ragu at Cafe Spiaggia.
Arctic Char / Pensiero by
TrackBelle, on Flickr
My entree was the Arctic Char with mustard greens, salsify, mascarpone, pomegranate. After two surprise courses before our entrees, I was really glad I opted for fish instead of the Alan Lake's famous tagliatelle. Loved all the flavors except for the mascarpone. I normally adore mascarpone, especially in cheesecake, but it just did not work here. It reminded me of a Philadelphia roll and not in a good way. The fish was yummy and the pomegranate was perfect with it - however there were several bites of the skin that were far too salty.
Eggnog French Toast Strata / Pensiero by
TrackBelle, on Flickr
At this point I was stuffed, but I really wanted to try a new dessert by Chef Bauer, who is currently without a pastry chef. We split the eggnog French toast strata with blueberry and orange pate filling topped with kumquats, with pistachio cream and an eggnog mousse inside a dehydrated blueberry cylinder topped with pistachio brittle. The eggnog mousse was awesome, and the dehydrated cylinder was like a Fruit Roll-Up but better. I saw it described as "blueberry glass" on Pensiero's Facebook page. However, the "glass" was hard to break, and even harder to get the right proportion of mousse to fruit roll-up in each bite. Pistachio was a perfect complement though and I wish I could have taken some of that brittle home. The strata was more fruity than eggnog-y, and I don't think that as a whole this dish is really there yet.