Rino

Hooray for birthdays—a great excuse for a food extravaganza and a chance to try another bistro on our exceedingly long list:  Rino.  Ever since we saw Giovanni  Passerini show off his ravioli-making skills at the Omnivore Food Festival, this restaurant has been on our radar.
 
The restaurant gives you the option of choosing either a 4 or 6-course menu.  Being insanely inquisitive, we opted for one of each, and a glass of wine to complement every course.
 
The first dish (above) was ravioli topped with smoked mozzarella, anchovies, pickled onions and rye crumbs.  These delicate dumplings housed a stuffing of eggplant, ricotta and a refreshing touch of mint.  Sounds like a lot on such a small plate, but somehow it worked.  The wine pairing, unfortunately, did not.  The strength of the Montepulciano, though normally not too heavy or tannic, overpowered the dainty first course.

 
Next came a filet of monkfish accompanied by yellow and green haricots, lemon confit foam, zucchini, and bone marrow on a light zucchini puree.  All in all a pleasant dish, but we felt that the fatty bone-stuff had been added just for the sake of richness, and failed to contribute anything worthwhile to the dish.

 
The third course was a delectable plate of crispy sweetbreads, tri-colored heirloom tomatoes, fresh white beans and lovage.  This dish was extremely simple and even more delicious.  The fatty flavor of the sweetbreads contrasted with the acid in the tomatoes and the freshness of the greens, and the al-dente beans added the texture the soft interior of the thymus glands was missing.  A mineral Sauvignon Blanc was paired with this course, and helped to wash it down and prepare our palates for the next forkful.  
 


Crispy skinned duckling was served fourth.  The sweet and tender meat was complemented both in flavor profile and color by the pink beets.  Onions, pea shoots and shiso provided a clever counterpoint to the dish, and a light red from the Languedoc rounded out the course nicely.

A trio of cheeses - comprised of a chevre, comté, and fourme d’ambert - was the second to last dish, and was paired with an apple-y Lou Blanc Chardonnay.



Finally came dessert:  an apricot semifreddo sitting in a demi-apricot cup, topped with a gossamer thin sheet of puff pastry which itself had a thin layer of caramelized sugar. This refreshingly cool summer dessert brought to mind an orange sherbert flavor from the ice cream truck days of yore.  Paired with a syrupy Muscato, it was a wonderful conclusion to the meal.

On top of the food, the wait staff is a diamond in the rough within the Paris dining scene; they were extremely attentive and friendly.  Not a minute went by after finishing each carafe d’eau before a new one was brought to the table.  Americans, you would be impressed!  Thank you, Rino, for a wonderful Friday night, and a perfectly intimate birthday celebration.