Dishin': Barolo's Branzino Is a Beautiful Thing
One of the downsides of being a restaurant reporter is that when there's a night off from a planned meal out, we usually want to cook something at home--whether simple or complex. This probably sounds like a strange complaint to some, but we rarely go out and eat "critique-free," and when we do, we prefer little Asian restaurants.
That said, we appreciated the chance to revisit Barolo (they performed well in a Sound Dish-Off earlier this year) without expectation to write about it. Then we were surprised to like it so much that we feel compelled to tell you why.
The reason: Branzino alle Olive Bianche e Pomodori Appassiti. The rest of the food that evening was fabulous, and we ate a lot without feeling overstuffed, but this Chilean sea bass dish was something special. Perfectly cooked (and while we love fish, it takes a lot to impress us), with the Castelvetrano olives imparting a perfect briny-ness and the tomato confit packing a powerful "out of season" tomato taste.
Barolo's a beautiful place, but for us, the plate's more important to the place. We're pleased to report that the branzino is a thing of beauty. And it's on the menu for the rest of the month.
