Six Course Meal From the Nino's Folks

First of all, the chef/owner and his wife are young, personable neat people who have a genuine interest in fresh farm to table foods and promoting the organic and local farmers, meat producers etc... If you look on their website under the "About" section, you'll see a list of purveyors they use. Many places have these lists on their sites. I have a new respect for this couple and I highly recommend Nino's if you haven't been there.

I didn't know they opened a pizza joint called Oscar's Pizza Joint. Anyone been there?



Here's a photo of the menu, but it's hard to read unless you can magnify it.


I neglected to photograph the first course, but it was called Faccia Pancetta-thin sliced cured pork stuffed with mascarpone, apples and pecan. Delicious.



Next up was a soup described as cool strawberry, carrot and champagne puree. Excellent and refreshing. Not nearly as heavy as it appears to be in the photo.



The third course was a salad of spring greens, oven roasted beets, daikon and radish in a charred green garlic vinaigrette. The dressing was very light and just enough of it to compliment the fresh picked greens, beets and radishes. All of the produce was fresh picked and the meat was locally produced most recently. The chef explained at the beginning of the meal that the intent was to highlight the fresh flavors of the foods.



The 4th course was called Lobster Blood Risotto. The chef warned us of the color before the meal started. This dish was arborio rice simmered in lobster stock and beet reduction finished with parmesan cheese and garnished with a fresh slaw. I'm not usually a risotto lover. I find it can be heavy to me, but this was delicious. The flavors were mild, but so worked so well together.



The 5th and my favorite course was seasoned and grilled (with a bit of pecan smoke using pecan shells) pork tenderloin topped with a fresh corn salad with a squash medley on the side. I don't think I can adequately describe the flavor and freshness of this pork. Incredible. I want more right this minute. A lot more. It was cooked to a juicy tender medium. Everyone at the table was wowed by the first bite. It was seasoned just right and didn't overpower the flavor of this very fresh pork. I rarely get excited over meat, but every bite of this was exciting.



The last course was an orange chiffon cake, fresh macerated strawberries, salted caramel pecan ice cream and Rougaroux praline rum sauce. My goodness, this was good. The cake was moist and the orange flavor was perfect. The ice cream had that wonderful homemade flavor. The whole thing was a fine way to end a lovely and delicious meal.