Incanto "Quinto Quarto"

[Robert Lauriston]

Finally got around to trying Incanto's "Quinto Quarto" fixed-price offal dinner

- crisp-fried sweetbreads with soft noodle-like beef tendon, minutina, and fresh chiles: amazing, the best thing I've eaten in months, sort of Sichuan-Italian fusion

- Sicilian-style spleen panino: this was a variation of an item on the regular menu that night!

- pork tripe, beans, and blood cooked in a pig's bladder: also amazing

- whole roasted lamb's head smothered in onions (whole meaning one whole head per person: jowls, tongue, brain, eyeballs): tasty and lots of fun to eat

- candied cockscomb with candied kumquats, blood orange, and mint: very nice light dessert after the rich food

Cost $65 per person, optional $30 wine pairing was well worth it, the wines were very well matched.

I highly recommend this if you like that sort of thing. Book a week ahead for a party of two or more. I suggest not too many more as you're more likely to get more insanely labor-intensive items (like the bladder) with a smaller party.

Speaking of offal, the 4th annual head-to-tail dinner is May 21. They're also having a book-signing dinner for Marco Pierre White on May 8.

http://incanto.biz/information.html

[Robert Lauriston]

Turns out Cosentino used that meal to test some possibilities for this year's Head-to-Tail special dinner. He's tentatively serving my two favorite dishes, and a variation on the cockcomb dessert.

http://incanto.biz/h2t_menu.html

[Daniel Duane]

Funny coincidence--I had a combined "Whole Beast" and "Quinto Quarto" meal at Incanto on Sunday night. Fourteen of us consumed an entire lamb, along with hearts, kidneys, sweetbreads, fries (testicles), liver, etc ... and the lamb's head was served precisely as the OP describes it. I was dazzled. A wonderful experience, oddly soothing and satisfying. Highly, highly recommended.

[Morton the Mousse]

Sounds incredible! Is the "soft noodle-like beef tendon" nervetti? I had a bowl of nervetti and white beans at Incanto last year that was really delicious.

[Robert Lauriston]

Nervetti is Italian for tendons, right.

We had some beans with beef tendon there a couple of weeks ago, was indeed delicious.

[Big Larry]

candied cocskcomb....what was that like?

i had the cockscomb in a finanzeria (sp?) there, along with duck testicles, sweetbreads, and chicken livers. it wasn't candied of course...

[Robert Lauriston]

Gelatinous, firm. Sort of like unflavored Gummi, though not that chewy. Very pretty plate.