Went to Don Alfonso a few blocks away with my mum last night. It has one Michelin star. I've eaten and drank there before but only at the bar from the lounge menu.
There was no way my mother could go through 8 courses even if it was a tasting menu and the alcohol pairings are completely lost on us so we did the a la carte menu which was one antipasto, primo, and a secondo. Portions are small but the food was pretty rich. We were also given a bread course (the best for me). There were four amuse bouche like a mozzarella ball wrapped in tomato that must have been reduced down to liquid and then shaped with a thickener like agar. There was also one free sweet dish at the end too - a tiny baba, truffle, etc. Basically 3 free courses to go with the 3.
Of the things I picked I had an o-toro tuna seared with a caponata sauce. The caponata basically tasted like tomatoes reduced on a stove with basil and fried eggplant. Probably blended together and then passed through a sieve. I can actually make that exact taste myself - fried eggplant, tomato, garlic, basil.
I also chose paccheri with lamb which honestly came off like a ragu alla bolognese. It had the fat, not much of a gamey lamb taste, melted cheese, and tomato ragu that has been cooked from a soffrito.
The place was a bit chaotic. I sat where I can see the kitchen and the bloke calling out the orders. He wasn't a terribly pleasant man. Some re-dos were rudely requested. Some yelling into the kitchen. Some scribbling on an order ticket and then crumpling it and throwing it. At one point he left his station and some of the runners were queueing up there wondering which plate was for which. At least twice I saw a kitchen staff almost run into a waitress carrying something. You might want to call out when you go through the double doors. At one point the front of the house guy in a suit was in the back telling him to stay calm.
In spite of the entire brigade, my primo was basically getting cold after the first bite. You really don't want to be eating cool fatty tomato paccheri with melted cheese. My mother thought hers was too salty but it did say pecorino romano fondue dressing. She dropped a grissino on the floor which was then turned into bread crumbs from the wait staff marching in and out. She ordered a mint tea which she said felt like someone just put the bag in for 2 seconds and took it out.
Half the staff was Italian. But the people who wanted to correct my pronunciation were the non-Italians.
www.ft.com
Grand Potentate
for some reason I was able to read it directly on the website. I wasn’t aware to what extent Italian food is indeed American.
