A Saturday Lunch: Casa Mono, NYC

Images from Casa Mono in NYC. Images to follow from Di Fara pizza, Midwood, Brooklyn and Rai Rai Ken, NYC. Three stellar meals last week in New York.

At Casa Mono with Dave, Ian, and Meghan, there was a feast of grilled baby octopus with grapefruit, serrano ham, beets with aged goat's cheese, perfectly cooked Ribeye steak with salted peppers, and some part (I think we had part of the shoulder) of a very special free-range, antibiotic-free, everything-free pig which the restaurant is systematically cooking from nose-to-tail. This slow-cooked pig shoulder was served with polenta and kale. A treasure trove of incredible Spanish wines is available to be experienced there: we had A. Palacios "Finca Dofi" 2004, and Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rosado 1997. (Always a pleasure to drink this estate's 10-year-old rosé releases, this rosé can be appreciated by the most vigorous doubters: it IS a serious wine). Casa Mono delivers incredible quality in a cozy atmosphere totally conducive to really rolling up one's sleeves and eating some food; its Ribeye is one of the best available, and enough for two.