Brunch at Maialino in NYC, New York

image of Maialino in NYC, New York

I had Maialino on my list of restaurants to visit for a while, the restaurant being suggested by one of my colleagues Dan. We decided to move it up the list when we saw their olive oil cake and chocolate croissant bread pudding on the show Unique Sweets. We chose to go to brunch, on a Saturday. The restaurant, located in the Grammercy Park Hotel is beautiful. 
image of Maialino in NYC, New York

It has three distinctive areas: the bar area with a few tables and communal tables, the cafe where you can order your espresso and some viennoiseries and then the dining room that had a very warm feel, casual but elegant at the same time. In the back, a wall full of Italian wines:
image of bottles of wine at Maialino in NYC, New York

Because Maialino is an Italian restaurant, another creation from Danny Meyer who already spoiled us with Gramercy Tavern,  Eleven Madison Park and Shake Shack. 
image of dining room at Maialino in NYC, New York

Opened in 2009, this modern trattoria proposes Roman dishes. Maialino means piggy in Italian, so no wonder why this animal is drawn on the menu as well as well represented in the dining menu crafted by Executive Chef Nick Anderer. 
image of table at Maialino in NYC, New York image of table at Maialino in NYC, New York

image of table at Maialino in NYC, New York image of table at Maialino in NYC, New York
image of sugar at Maialino in NYC, New York image of salt at Maialino in NYC, New York

We had very good service there and the waitress asked us first if we wanted to start with a beverage, mentioning that they have a nice "coffee program". Being a coffee drinker, I got interested and ended up ordering a cortado that is between a cappuccino and a macchiato.
image of cortado coffee at Maialino in NYC, New York

Not only did it look beautifully done with a leaf drawn in the cream, but it was also very good.

image of cortado coffee at Maialino in NYC, New York

We decided to start our brunch with Suppli al Telefono, some tomato risotto and mozzarella croquettes:
image of risotto croquettes at Maialino in NYC, New York

The croquettes were dense with a slight crunch and lots of mozzarella cheese in the middle.
image of risotto croquettes at Maialino in NYC, New York

I could have eaten them with or without the tomato sauce served with it.

Then, Jodi ordered the Frittata Bianca:
image of frittata bianca at Maialino in NYC, New York

At first, it found it deliciously herbaceous, but unfortunately, some parts of the frittata had too much herbs to the point that it completely overpowered the whole dish.

On my side, I ordered the Contadino:
image of contadino at Maialino in NYC, New York

These are poached eggs served with herb roasted fingerling potatoes and caramelized onions.
image of contadino at Maialino in NYC, New York

The dish looked fantastic and I understood fairly quickly why they brought me a spoon to eat it: the eggs were very soft and the yolks runny, playing the role of some kind of sauce when eaten with the delicious potatoes that were served skin on, adding some texture to the dish. This was so good that I wished there were more, despite the fact that there was not enough caramelized onions! This is a fantastic brunch dish that I definitely recommend.
image of contadino at Maialino in NYC, New York

Then came the moment of dessert! Yes, we went for that and were ready to eat that bread pudding!
image of torta di olio d'oliva at Maialino in NYC, New York

Unfortunately, they only serve it for dinner. Bummer! But don't worry, we found some replacements...First was the olive oil cake called Torta di Olio d’Oliva that we wanted anyway to try:
image of torta di olio d'oliva at Maialino in NYC, New York

It was served with a cream made of vanilla beans and mascarpone. I admit that I did not really care about the cream: just having the cake was sufficient. You do not taste the olive oil, but it gives a nice constancy to the cake, probably replacing some, if not all, of the butter. Needless to say that we finished it.

We also shared a toffee glazed brioche bun:
image of toffee glazed brioche bun at Maialino in NYC, New York

It was small, too small unfortunately, because also very good!
image of toffee glazed brioche bun at Maialino in NYC, New York

The brioche was probably cooked on a bed of sugar that had a nice caramelization on the bottom and sides, and the toffee was sublime. I truly appreciated that it was not too sweet.

I really liked my meal at Maialino and it is definitely on my list of places to go for brunch. I will probably go back to try their dinner, but it will not just be for their bread pudding: their menu looks fantastic!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Restaurant Information

* Restaurant Name
Maialino
* Overall
★★★☆☆
* Neighborhood / Cuisine
Gramercy / Italian
* Street Address
2 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10010
* Phone
(212) 777-2410