Foodle

The first thing you notice about the fish at @estro.hk is the jolt: a bright-green fig emulsion cut with enough fish sauce to make your head spin. It carries a pearlescent cod, cooked to the brink so it flakes on command, and it’ll haunt you. The second is how the curves of this dish — as in the slender ribbons of zucchini, stacked atop each other, gracefully wrought into an tilde — mimics the room, as if you’re in Elven cottage inhabited by a Neapolitan grandma who runs errands with her Bugatti, bartered her Impressionist-era Dali for the choicest truffles, and couldn’t care less if her ragu is traditional.

Estro’s chef, Antimo Maria Merone, is behind this thoughtful and deftly-executed menu, filled with cerebral dishes like the cod. And the restaurant is designed not by some worldly, renegade grandma but by the architect, André Fu. Instead of paying upwards of $1,000 (USD) for a hotel room designed by him (no shade), diners here — myself included, a month ago — get at least two hours designed for both pleasure and appetite.

A reasonably priced meal (lunch from $75 USD; dinner from $215) may open with king crab under slivered cucumber and a cold emulsion resonant with lime. But the first dishes that make your heart race, besides the fish, are the pasta courses. The first one is a twirl of linguine cloaked in a potent arugula pesto, crowned with tiny cubes of raw tuna — a la ‘al tonno,’ only sharper — and the second is bottoni, which are silky, miniature discs the size of macarons, paired with fried artichokes and a heady pecorino sauce. It stands tall among the best pasta dishes I’ve had all year, until the next one arrives: the ragu, which has the long-labored depth and a kind of bitterness that invites you in, much like the duck entree. This, too, gently re-introduces bitterness without it thrashing at you. The skin of the duck could be rendered a little more, and yes, dessert sends slivered, slightly underripe peaches.

But the sweets still triumph, the curves hold, and so does the vogue-ish Neapolitan accent. It trails you out the door, which is how you know you’ll return. Less

In our Brooklyn travels, we stumbled by accident into a trattoria called @pizzasecret Pizzeria & Cucina Napoletana, ranked the 16th Best Pizzeria by @50toppizza USA.🍕

I discovered that after we ordered everything but pizza, so I made up for the error by adding a Quattro Formaggi, which turned out to be one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. That crust could have floated into the air, it was so light.

We were alone there (it was about 4 pm) until a busload of 28 people came in—it was one of four stops that day as part of @scottspizzatours, where I chatted with Scott himself, who told me all about chef Rosario Granieri’s talent (and his father’s before him.)

Scott knows his stuff, so take his tour when next in NYC. Pizza Secret was one of four places on the tour that day, so you know it must be damn good.

#pizzasecret #quattroformaggi #pizzanapoletana #nycpizza Less

Dinner debut at @mozaika_mezze on Old Milton — the new Turkish spot across from Avalon that’s bringing serious flavor to Alpharetta.
Started with the cheese and charcuterie, and the surprise star was the kasseri — a sheep’s milk cheese that’s more creamy spread than “semi-hard.” Even this Wisconsin dad (my son lives there, so cheese runs in the family) was impressed. The smoked duck came in second but close behind.
Entrée was the garides souvlaki, tiger shrimp in a rich tagine stew — reminded me of the shrimp saganaki at Yalda. Pricey but worth it. The Old Milton corridor just keeps leveling up with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean gems.
📍 Mozaika Mezze – Alpharetta, GA
🥗 Turkish • Mediterranean • Fine Dining
#AtlantaEats #AlpharettaEats #AtlantaFoodie #MediterraneanFood #TurkishCuisine #AtlantaRestaurants #NorthFultonEats #OldMilton #AvalonAlpharetta #AtlantaGrubber #FoodReview #AlpharettaGA Less

30 SECOND REVIEW: @barragunda 🐄 🥕

The Cape Schanck restaurant has been years in the making and finally we get to see what @simonewatts_chef and the team have been cooking.

The farm to fork regenerative restaurant is truly one of the best value degustations out there at the minute. At $155 a head, it's cheap as chips compared to the likes of Brae, Tedesca and Moonah. Sure, they offer different experiences, but share the same DNA of championing the best of the land they live on.

Affordable doesn't mean less of an experience. Barragunda is rich with storytelling and delicious things- from the snacks (those sesame croissants!) bread and butter (my word) main events (we must talk about that chicken) and the mind-blowing dessert made from scraps (meringue has never looked better) and the wine.

Worth a visit if you're on the Ninch!

#melbourne #victoria #food #30secondreview #review Less

@firema_usa

CHARCOAL SMOKED SHAWARMA HTOWN 🤘🏽🌯👀

No one in Texas is doing it like this‼️
Smoked straight on a mix of charcoal that brings that Smokey flavor to it, it’s one of the most flavorful shawarmas I have had. That tender wrap surprised me as well 🤤

Will definitely be coming back here 🔥

Rating:
Chicken/beef shawarma - 9.2
Chicken tender wrap - 9.4
Shawarma burger - 8.1
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#food #texas #halal #supportlocal #houston #htown #supportsmallbusiness #new #smoked #shawarma #top #musthave Less

La Bottglieria del Ruché was not my first choice. It was not even my third, but this quaint-from-the-outside enoteca set into a street corner sharper than a bird’s beak in bucolic Castagnole Monferrato caught our eye while driving passed almost daily.

La Bottiglieria’s decor feels homemade and knowingly haphazard, organic and crafty, busy and lived in. Their one bathroom also features a washing machine inside in case you need a quick wash and dry while working through their plate of salami and cheese (€12).
Some walls are mustard yellow; others, Ruché red. Murals overlay some surfaces, such as a door painted with cartoonish wine drinkers. La Bottiglieria’s bohemian pastiche draws a smile, but some will find its incongruence jarring.
A dark bookshelf stores libraries of Barbera, Nebbiolo and, of course, Ruché (so, mostly red wine) sourced nearby, whose bottles are etched with handwritten prices. A little sign confirms that the owners add a €5 markup to the winery’s sale price. Not bad.

You can read more via the link in my profile on EatGoSee or here on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/liamcollens/p/la-bottiglieria-del-ruche-restaurant?r=12rjc7&utm_medium=ios

#itsliamcollens #castagnolemonferrato #monferrato #restaurantreview #ruche Less