The hubby, me and a friend of mine recently tried out Piccolo Restaurant in South Minneapolis. It had "been on the list" for all of us for awhile. We had an early reservation because that was the only option unless we wanted to eat super late. Upon walking into the restaurant I could see why reservations are hard to get - my family room is bigger than the dining room. The space is simply appointed with soft colors, small candles, and nothing cluttering the tables.
The restaurant lives up to its name in that it offers various small plates to share. We were advised to order 9 plates for the 3 of us. After looking at the menu we determined that we really only had to pick 4 plates that we did NOT want and then order the rest. Those we avoided included squid, clams, and veal neck.
Our first round of plates included the Duck "chorizo" with bread, olives and truffle vinaigrette, Compressed apple with pumpkin, fennel purée, sorrel and pimenton, and Tempura fried fresh fig with sheep’s milk cheese and Spanish olive oil tortas. All three were beautifully presented. The compressed apple was an interesting presentation of layered apple slices in the form of a rectangular block. It was topped with a pumpkin shaped dollop of the pumpkin. The fig plate was quite tasty...the combination of the sweetness of the fig paired with cheese is something I will always order from a menu.
The second course included Mortadella agnolotti with pistachios, lardo and Dijon mustard, Scrambled brown eggs with pickled pigs feet, truffle butter and parmigiano, and Butter poached Alaskan cod with celeryroot, king crab and white kimchee. So, where to start...the pasta purse agnolotti was soft and creamy with the pistachios giving it a bit of a crunch; though the pistachios were not as crunchy as is typical. Definitely worth ordering. The scrambled eggs with pigs feet was the one plate I was going to definitely avoid. But, the presentation was appealing...no hooves to be seen. I reluctantly took a bite and was surprised at how much of a non-event eating the pigs feet was. I still won't be the one at the butcher asking for pigs feet for a recipe, but the eggs and feet was actually quite good. I can't really describe the taste of the feet. The overall taste I got was of the truffle butter. The final plate was the Alaskan cod with kimchee. I didn't know what kimchee was and now I know I don't care for it. To me it seemed like sauerkraut which I'm not a fan of. The cod was the least favorite dish from the second course.
Our third course was the "meat" course or "entree" portion of the meal. We enjoyed the Berkshire pork belly with mortadella, chestnuts, Brussels sprouts and truffle honey, Magret duck with artichoke and celery ragout, Iberican lomo and pickled cherries, and the Callister Farms chicken with "French" onions, smoked ham hocks, timanoix cheese and walnuts. All three of us agreed that this was the best course of the night. I'm not much into game, but the duck was surprisingly quite tasty and is one I would get again. The pork belly and chicken were also very good. The chicken had a nice brown crunchy crust and the timanoix cheese provided a creaminess with each bite.
My friend and I each ordered the chocolate and apple cider cake with coffee syrup and figs. The hubby ordered the cheese plate for dessert. We all were very happy with our selection. Great way to end the meal.
The only downside to this restaurant is the namesake plates. While so many restaurants offer ginormous portions, Piccolo's are almost too small. We did not do the fast food drive-thru on the way home, but we were hungry again later in the evening.
All in all, a great evening...good food, good conversation, and another restaurant "in the books."
Happy Eating!
