CARNEVINO: Grandmaster of Meat

After a meal at Carnevino and having one of their amazing 90-120 day aged cuts of meat, I’m going to have to totally agree with Mr. Curtas’ classification of them as one of the best steakhouses in the country (his repeated, vitriolic endorsement certainly motivated me).

It’s like if the cold-war era wasn’t fought over nuclear stockpiles, patrolling bombers, and space travel, but rather steaks.  And while the Kremlin was trying to cross breed a Holstein with a Pachyderm, or putting the first person to stop clapping for Stalin in an abattoir, we were perfecting Carnevino.  Behind the facade of a giant Italian castle’s dining halls, there is a well-oiled (with artisanal olive oil, of course) machine working in back and off-site to turn cows into gold.

The Head Honcho, Exec Chef Nicole Brisson is a true Gangsta for real.  I was quite pleased to find that she was doing a couple items with ramps, an east-coast seasonal foraged green, that I was interested in trying.  In fact, I ended up trying quite a few things.  I would even go so far to say, just weighing in on food alone, Carnevino could stand as a wonderfully unique and creative restaurant even if there were NO STEAKS on the menu.

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Speaking of Culinary Disasters…

There was nothing wrong with this chicken pot pie at Triple George:

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…that a real crust,* more chicken, actual seasoning, a few herbs, fresh mushrooms, and a more professionally-made velouté wouldn’t fix. e.g.,

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In other words, it was just the type of out-of-a-can contrivance we’ve come to expect from this place.

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TWIST Reminds Us of All Cooking Can Be

The first bite is the banquet. – Chinese proverb

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Enough negativity already!

We at ELV are tired of pondering the craven meretriciousness that brings life-threatening food microbes into our digestive systems.

Instead, we should be focusing on the kind of cooking that got us into this gig in the first place.

Food like Pierre Gagnaire’s new Spring menu — containing ingredients so delicious you will think you are eating them for the first time.

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