Went to dinner for the first time at Fianco on Friday night and thought it was ok. 4 of us tried a bunch of dishes and the results were mixed.
We started out with 4 appetizers . . .
Grilled Baby Octopus - romesco sauce, cannellini beans, escarole
This tasted fresh and was only slightly chewy. There was really no noticeable charring on it, which led to an overly fleshy mouthfeel. Some of the cannellini beans served with it were seriously undercooked. Others were fine.
Duroc Pork Belly - sambuca glaze, sweet fennel jam, pickled fresno chili, brussels sprout leaves
Really enjoyed this piece of tender belly, which had a wonderful exterior crust and an ideal fat to meat ratio. The sambuca glaze didn't wow me but the belly outshined it easily.
House-made Pate - whole grain mustard, house-made pickles, preserves and olive oil crackers
Just fine. More of a mousse than a pate. Nothing wrong with it but not compelling in any way, either.
Arancini - fried risotto, fontina cheese, squash puree, fried rapini greens, parmesan
Really nice. Great textures, flavors and aromas. The pungent parmesan was a particularly nice note.
Next, we moved on to a salad and a couple of pastas . . .
Baked Salad - roasted tomato and teleggio tart, frisee, bacon, chives, sherry walnut vinaigrette
I really liked this salad, which combined the buttery pastry with super bouncy frisee and crispy bacon. What wasn't listed on the menu, anchovy perhaps, was a great addition to the tart. A very nice dish.
Gigli - horn-shaped pasta, house-made lamb sausage, mushrooms, rapini, ricotta salata
Far less than the sum of its parts. The whole dish was somewhat watery and bland. It just didn't come together well. The sausage was not very flavorful at all and had a steamed quality to it. None of the other components really delivered much flavor, either.
Hand-made Black Pepper Pappardelle - wild boar bolognese style, parsley, pecorino
Utterly fantastic dish. The texture of the noodles was perfection. The flavors were rich, intense and completely wonderful.
We fishished up with a couple entrees and a couple sides . . .
Duck Meatballs - braised fennel, stewed tomato sauce, spoon polenta, parmesan
Something just went wrong here. There was so much black pepper upon tasting this dish, everyone at the table immediately said 'mistake.'
Balsamic braised and grillled Bison Short Ribs - pan-roasted brussels sprouts, olive oil smashed potatoes, bison jus, gin soaked raisins
Very nice dish. Hearty and tasty like you'd expect from a braised dish.
Braised Cabbage - Seedling Farms apple cider, bacon lardons, crispy sage
Tender with layers of well-developed, complementary flavors.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts - lemon zest, pancetta, parsley
Roasted very nicely but virtually swimming in oil.
Beyond the food, I thought service was just ok. Even though the restaurant wasn't even half-full at 8:30 on a Friday evening, our server did the bare minimum. Until we prompted her, she deposited dishes on the table with zero explanation. Since none of us are comfortably familiar with Italian wine, we asked her for a recommendation. What she suggested did not match up at all with the attributes we told her we were seeking. It just felt like she wasn't engaged at all.
Overall, the meal was up and down. There were things I liked and more things that I didn't. With the exception of the pappardelle, nothing about our meal was particularly compelling. The 4 dishes pictured above are the 4 I would order again, if I were to return. If I were out with people who wanted to go there, or was hungry and in the neighborhood, I could see returning but I can't see making Fianco a future destination. I say this because there are so many places I've never been, that I'm rarely eager to return somewhere that doesn't uniformly impress me. Nothing at Fianco is calling me back.
=R=
Same planet, different world