Convivio

A little over a month left before the end of 2010 and I’m actually pretty sure that I’m going to make it to all of the Michelin-starred restaurants in New York! I’ve been eating out a lot (in case you haven’t noticed from my foursquare check-ins) and meeting a lot of great people! I went to Convivio on a date a couple weeks back – it was my last Michelin-starred Michael White restaurant (Marea and ALTO are the other White restaurants I’ve visited) Convivio is located in Tudor City and I had absolutely no idea how to get there; I knew it was close to the UN Plaza and ended up walking around the area before realizing I had to walk up the steps across from the plaza to get to the restaurant. The restaurant is on the cutest block that’s semi-secluded but also has nice views of Queens and the East River.

We decided to do the four course prix-fixe menu since we were both pretty hungry (at Marea, the server suggested we do one full tasting menu and we should order a la carte for the rest). After we ordered, we started off with some crusty bread:

The sourdough bread was served with olive oil (instead of butter) – I should do a round up of all of the breads I’ve eaten this year – I really think I’ve eaten a couple pounds of flour (at least).

My first dish was the fegatini – rustic chicken liver crostini with marsala onions:

The antipasti and pastas were my favorite dishes of the evening (our main courses were both disappointing) – the chicken liver was spread on thickly and was lightly drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette that made the crostini taste absolutely decadent.

My date ordered the veal tongue radicchio salad:

We were contemplating whether or not to order the salad (I don’t think either of us have ever tried veal tongue) but decided to order it because it seemed interesting and light compared to the rest of the dishes we ordered. The veal tongue was thinly sliced, firm, and slightly salty, which paired well with the capers and contrasted nicely with the slightly bitter radicchio.

For my pasta course, I ordered the Maccheroni alla Carbonara – pancetta, pecorino, scallion, egg, and black pepper:

I was slightly disappointed with this pasta because I always associate amazing carbonara with the pasta they serve at Dell’Anima (I dare you to find a better carbonara in the city). The sauce was a bit watery, didn’t have enough body from egg yolks, and overall, tasted a little bland.

My date ordered the Fusilli -neopolitan pork shoulder ragu, caciocavallo fonduta:

I enjoyed the fusilli a lot more; the tomato sauce was so rich and creamy and luckily, my date liked my pasta more (or at least I thought he did) so we traded and I was able to eat all of his fusilli while he ate my carbonara.

For my main course, I ordered wild striped bass with squash:

And my date ordered the porchetta:

The server really sold us on the porchetta because he said it was slow cooked all day in a variety of spices and with apples and the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender. When the dish came, I thought the meat was a little tough and extremely salty – like it had absolutely no other flavor components to the dish! I wasn’t very impressed and I don’t think my date thought it was a huge hit, either. My striped bass was extremely plain and the squash and other vegetables were cooked down so much that they didn’t have any of their natural sweetness anymore.

For dessert, I ordered the chocolate panna cotta with candied citrus and vanilla gelato:

And my date ordered the Budino – warm dark chocolate, hazelnut gelato, candied hazelnuts:

Both desserts were really good, especially my chocolate panna cotta. The panna cotta had a very silky texture and was also very rich – even though I was beyond stuffed, I managed to finish the dessert!

I enjoyed the start and finish of my meal at Convivio but the most important part of the meal was a little disappointing, especially for a Michelin-starred restaurant. I’d definitely return for their chicken liver crostini, fusilli pasta, and their chocolate panna cotta.