Pasta orgy

After a fairly disappointing lunch today, the group reconvened for more calorie consumption at La Baita.  It's a pretty new Italian place, and we set up a tasting menu with the chef that was very reasonably priced.  Everything was actually taken off the a la carte menu.

We had a sampler of 3 starters:

Soft polenta with smoked ricotta cheese and sautéed pork cheek - the polenta was basically in liquid form...not creamy, but I really liked the grainy texture.  The pork cheek was crispy like bacon with a great smoky flavor, and the ricotta shavings provided the final touch.  Yummy!
Cherry mozzarella wrapped with Parma ham and wild mushrooms - the mozzarella/Parma ham combo was pretty nice.
Sautéed baby squid with spicy tomato sauce - spicier than I expected, but nice.

Then 6 pastas which were hand/homemade...

Homemade black ink tagliolini with shrimps, scallop and zucchini - the tagliolini was pretty nice and al dente, the scallop was overcooked but the shrimp was nice, and the full ink flavor was complemented by the combination of cherry tomatoes and olives giving it that Mediterranean profile.  A very good start.

Handmade gnocchi with fresh cherry tomato and mozzarella - the gnocchi was tiny, a little sweet from the potato but somehow tasting of dough... pretty good.

Homemade ravioli stuffed with porcini, Taleggio cheese fondue - very good stuff.  The cheese was pretty strong and creamy, and the wonderful flavor of porcini was highlighted with the addition of rosemary.  I normally dislike rosemary as an herb, but this combination was just about perfect as everything else was equally powerful.

Homemade tagliatelle with sausage, green peas and scamorza - the smoky nose of the cheese hits you as soon as the plate arrived.  I joked that in the dim lighting at the table, my first thought upon looking at the piece of scamorza affumicata was that it was a piece of pan-seared foie gras, then my thoughts turned to... SPAM?!  But gotta love that cheese!  The sweet Italian sausage had the usual fennel seeds to lend their fragrance, plus a sprinkle of parsley.  A pity that frozen peas were used...

Handmade bigoli with duck ragout - we actually went into the kitchen to see the contraption used to make bigoli by squeezing dough through a copper tube.  Lots of bite.  The ragout wasn't heavy in terms of duck flavor, and again highlighted with parsley.  The only pasta to have been made with duck eggs.

Homemade tortelloni stuffed with veal shank, nebbiolo and juniper sauce - the first thought that came to mind was "餃子?!"  The veal shank stuffing was nice - the strands of muscle were clearly visible - with a creamy vegetarian mash to hold it together.  The presence of grapes was detectable in the nose but not heavy on the palate.

The portions for the pasta were not full size, but after 6 of these... I was pretty full, and we all passed on dessert.  All the pastas were very well-made, and I'd be happy to come here again for just about any one of them.

I think I made a wise decision not to bring vino tonight...wouldn't have been able to eat as much otherwise.  I headed home to give my stomach a break, while once again the rest of the crew headed for that durian-flavored Taiwanese-style milky shaved ice...  Oh well!  Next time...