Osteria Morini

Last night I had the pleasure of dining with Mark Suster, Steve Blank and of course Fred Wilson (my husband).  Not only were we dining with plenty of interesting conversation at Osteria Morini so were a variety of people we knew which always makes for a fun evening. 

I have heard so many things about the restaurant.  Almost like reading a movie review before going to the movie.  My expectations were not high.  The restaurant has the feeling of a high end farm in Italy.  Lots of beaten up wooden tables with old fashioned floral plates.  Noise level is high. 

It had been a long hard day and I started out with Negroni.  I asked the waitress about it and wanted to know if I could have vodka instead of gin.  She went into a dialogue of why they made it with gin and that was important to the drink etc.  Seriously?  After she stopped rambling I just said, make me the drink with vodka, ok?  And she did. 

We started out with three treats.  A rectangular cheese covered with a light crispy coating on a stick which was good.  A small round piece of polenta coated with pesto and lardo.  One bite in the mouth and an oh wow, this is absolutely delicious.  The last piece looked like fried mozzarella but inside was oozing rich cheese with a small bit of prosciutto.  So delicious.  Be careful because it explodes when bitten in to.

I ordered a variety of things for us to all split.  Our first round of appetizers was a simple green arugula salad with lemon juice and shaved Parmesan.  Simple and perfect.

A pot of liver pate with toasted bread.  Wow and rich. 

Marinated sardines over a bed of red beans.  Different and tasty.  A nice change.

The constant theme I heard from people was "order the pastas".  And so I did.  Tortellini filled with braised beef.  Each tortellini was a square and then folded over with the contents held intact.  The sauce was a brown sauce that paired perfectly with the meat.  SO good.

I went with a simple tagliatelle with the house ragu antica which consists of beef, veal and pork.  Classic, fantastic and that alone will send me back for more.

I opted for one meat and one fish.  The porchetta was amazing.  Pork cooked forever with a variety of herbs and wrapped in a super crispy thin skin.  Flavorful.  Reminded me of being in Italy.  Can't ask for more than that.

Went with one fish.  Swordfish covered with capers and herbs.  Perfectly cooked and really good.

On the side mixed mushrooms sauteed with loads of olive oil and butter.  How bad could it be?

Sauteed spinach with loads of olive oil too.  So good.  Sorry for the blurry pictures, new phone.

The troops wanted four desserts.  So I obeyed the command.  Gelato coated with "decaf" espresso.  I love that we asked for decaf and they were able to please.  Could we just tilt that back and throw it down our throats?

Hot apple hand pies with gelato.  Perfect for the season.

Panne cotta in a jar with slices of orange.  Interesting.  At this point after a few glasses of wine everything tastes delicious.

Chocolate peanut butter bar with chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. 

I will absolutely be back.  Loved the meal.  Loved the place.  A great addition to the downtown food scene.  Michael White...you rule.