Perbacco trip report: cured meat in the Financial District

[ssfire]

I went to Perbacco tonight. Tip: a lot of on-street parking in the area is "no parking" until 6 PM, at which point it becomes open, unlimited free parking, and then it all gets taken by 6:19 PM.

First: the Salumi: I tried the tasting of cured meats ($16, photo #1 EDIT: Chowhound badly cropped the photo). From left to right: pork shoulder, duck, lard (why bother? I don't get it), lamb, and pork loin. All were great. Highly recommended. The tasting did not include any kind of bread, and I forgot to ask for the highly rated bread sticks. Maybe the bread sticks are only included with some of the other salumi, or only with the cheese tasting?

Then: The Chowhound-recommended Pappardelle with braised short rib ragu (small size = $12 - photo #2, large size = $16). Despite the fact that it came with a stingy quantity of ragu, it was phenomenal: The pasta was perfectly al dente, and the ragu was great. Highly recommended, despite the fact that the small size was downright tiny (less than a typical appetizer portion size).

Still feeling quite hungry, I tried the tortelloni filled with balsamic braised duck (small size = $9, large size = $14 - photo #3 (yes, the photo shows the large size)). I felt the balsamic vinegar overwhelmed the duck, and there was an off-putting gritty texture. It just didn't work. Not recommended.

(continued in next post)

[ssfire]

Then I finished out with the Fig Leaf Panna Cotta ($7). The waitroid placed the dessert in front of me (photo #1), then, horror of horrors, she realized that she had positioned the "front side" of the dessert facing away from me. Not wanting to impose her own re-interpretation on the chef's artwork, she quickly rectified the situation by rotating the plate into the proper orientation (photo #2). It was a respectable panna cotta, but nothing to write home about. It would have worked better if it were doused with more of that great fig sauce that was dripped on the plate. Not terribly recommended.

Finally, the complimentary sweets with the check; tiny cubes of Italian nougat and chocolate-hazelnut, measuring 12mm on each side (photo #3 EDIT: once again badly cropped by Chowhound).

Overall: satisfying, albeit overpriced.

-Scott