Italian Cowboys Are Nothing to Get too Excited about...

Ciao a tutti! This is my inaugural post to my new blog, as it is also my first ever! :) I'll spare you all of some lame, over-written, under-punctuated, rant-infused monologue documenting my purpose here and instead express my eagerness to share my insights and thoughts about my experiences eating out in NYC by getting things going immediately....I'll get right to it and kick things off with my meal at popular West Village spot, MAREMMA.


Maremma, which refers to the "Cowboy" region of Tuscany, was a bit more fancy than I had anticipated since I knew I was walking into an establishment that featured rustic, simple food from Italy's version of the Wild Wild West (that movie sucked by the way). The sleek shiny bar, dim lighting and multicolored dishware created an intimate atmosphere that assumes you are dining with somone you don't mind talking to (and looking at)...I of course was. Only a few minutes passed before I was over the polished, and rather trendy decor, and had begun to focus on giving the waitress the high sign looking for some bread. I was hungry and ready to eat at the place that boasts food from the "Wilder side of Tuscany". The menu starts with your usual appetizers, moves on to a handful of pasta dishes and wraps up with your usual "Secondi". After some playful banter with my lovely dining buddy and a few refolds of my jacket next to me in the booth (no coat racks), we ordered the heirloom bean salad, grilled berkshire sausage, and "tuscan crepes" to get things going.

The heirloom bean salad ('Sette' on the menu) was a collection of various beans tossed in olive oil and mixed with a few leafy greens for good measure. Anyone who likes cannellini, butter, or kidney beans would like this dish, and while I don't doubt the freshness of these lavish legumes, I could crack a few cans of Progresso's canned versions at home and make this dish for less than $5 bucks. It might not be quite as authentic, but it would be close enough given the fact that beans are hard to ruin, especially when liberally covered in olive oil. The "tuscan crepes" (Testaroli on the menu) were for all intents and purposes, open-faced ravioli tossed with fresh pesto. Again, this dish was good, but nothing my Mama couldn't make at home on a Sunday afternoon. The pork sausage was the highlight of the three starters, coming out on bed of cannellini beans (again with the beans!) and drizzled with a bit of olive oil. Aside from being a bit salty (even for sausage standards), the pork was juicy, grilled correctly and boasting a bold fennel seed flavor, the way sausage should taste. While we ate all the apps (the portions were a bit on the small side), we were ready for our pasta. Though this may turn out to be a frequent critique of mine, I can't help but note that the appetizer portions were a bit meager, especially at $11 bucks, but isn't this always the case?

Craving more, the Rigatoni Gricia, the evening's pasta special, consisted of rigatoni tossed with olive oil and chili flakes, sauteed red onions from Calabria, tasty bits of pancetta, and your perfunctory Pecorino Romano cheese. While the red onions were some of the sweetest and I've ever had, I've always felt that an expensive dish of pasta must be dynamic and unforgettable. At $10 the Gricia would've been a reasonable option, combining sweet and hot flavors at a good price, but at $20, this dish was underwhelming and overpriced for what it brought to the table (pun intended). Much like the heirloom bean app, this dish could be recreated at home for a few dollars and be nearly as enjoyable. Against the painfully ordinary Rigatoni Gricia, my Tagliatelle with Wild Boar and Chocolate (Cinghiale on the menu), at $19, was more along the lines of a dish you'd expect to get at a place like this. Still, as much as it was along the lines of something you'd order here, it wasn't necessary something you'd want to order. Whether you find the combination of wild boar and chocolate intriguing or absolutely disgusting, tragically, it is neither. The tagliatelle were firm and well cooked, but the the unsweeted chocolate dumbed down the unique earthiness that is the very reason you order wild boar in the first place. At the same time, the taste of chocolate was compromised by the stringiness of the meat and went strangely with the ribbon-shaped tagliatelle. Neither the the chocolate nor the wild boar did anything to enhance the flavor of one another and to be quite honest, don't strike me as two ingredients that would work together anywhere on any dish. For those like me who are intrigued by this combination, I would say the dish was disappointing. For those who find the idea of this combination unappetizing and unnecessary, I would tell them to stick to their gut and stay away.

On a positive note, we enjoyed a quality bottle of white wine from Tuscany, made from the less popular Ansonica grape variety. This white resembled a clean more fragrant take on pinot grigio, had no aftertaste, and represented a fine balance of sweet and dry that would appeal to Riesling lovers as much as those who go for a dry Chardonnay. I highly recommend it to say the least.

Maremma is a well-regarded, quite popular West Village spot for which I had high expectations. Given the short-attention span of the New York City dining scene, I can only attribute this restaurant's popularity to its efforts toward image, decor, and ambiance, which seem to compensate for its surprisingly ordinary food. I'd like to think that New York City restaurant-goers know better than to be fooled by mediocre food in a fancy package, but I could be wrong, and if I am, then I am as disappointed in them as I am in Maremma.

Report Card:
Food - C+
Ambiance - A-
Service - A-
Experience in a thought - "Next time, I'll make it at home for $1.50"