Pork, pasta and more

I was thinking of keeping things simple and low-calorie for dinner tonight when I got a call from Fergie as I was finishing up in the office.  He was bored, had time to kill, and just happened to pass by my office building.  Would I have time for a drink, he asked.  The reality was that I had a head start on him, and already downed a beer with Fat Donkey in the office.  So I guess another drink couldn't hurt...

We got to discussing about dinner plans, and I suggested that we go and check out Orto.  A couple of years ago, a friend had introduced me someone who was thinking about opening a restaurant, and some time later Orto opened up just steps from my new office.  Not quite sure, though, why it took me this long to go check it out...

Salumi misti - not a bad start to go along with our wines.

Capesante avvolte con guanciale - we saw this being served to another table, and the second I saw the word "guanciale" I was sold.  This was very nice indeed.  The scallop was delicious, can't go wrong with the guanciale, and the tomato and basil salsa on top was good, too.

Tagliatelle al cioccolato con salsa di calamari e pomodori - we were curious about the homemade pasta, so we took the cocoa tagliatelle.  The cocoa flavors didn't really hit me as being something outstanding, but overall this was pretty good.

Ravioli di salmone con salsa di asparagi, gamberi e pomodori - another homemade pasta.  The ravioli was very much undercooked the first time, and was a lot harder than just al dente.  So we sent it back.  The second time was better, although the corners were still a tad chewy, but it was close enough to al dente.  Pretty yummy otherwise.

Carpaccio di manzo in salsa cipriani - a little surprised at the spiciness of this dish...

The grilled lamb chops were pretty decent, if slightly under-seasoned.

We asked for medium-rare, although I wished it were a teeeeny bit more pink.  Still pretty juicy, though.

The original plan was to grab a drink, so we did...

2009 Nicola Santoleri Crognaleto - bland at first, but became nutty and metallic with prosciutto.  A little ripe on the palate later on.  Ordered this so that we could get corkage waived on the bottle that I brought...

1985 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde - very smooth on the palate, but towards the end slightly denser than expected as we did not decant.  A little violet and leather on the nose.  Pretty nice but this wine is on the way down.

Not a bad dinner.  With this place being so close to the office, and pricing being very reasonable, methinks me should come back for a quick dinner or two...