The Pó Panini
Pó isn't a restaurant that I frequent, but it's a restaurant that I should frequent more. After all, this is where Mario Batali got his start, and however much distance now exists between him and this restaurant, every time I eat here I'm reminded of all the things I loved about Mario when he first came on the scene: his exuberance, his intelligence, and, mostly, his bold way with food.
Take this panini, for example. This isn't his creation, but it may as well be: it has grilled chorizo, creamy goat cheese, and onion marmalade. It's an attack of flavors (salty, spicy, sweet), textures (rough and smooth) and temperatures (hot chorizo, cold goat cheese) and it's a seriously good sandwich. So good, in fact, that I'm craving it again right now: and it would be very easy to get because when I ate this sandwich for lunch last week? The restaurant was entirely empty. Maybe it's a summer thing, and I was there kind of early, but if you're looking for lunch in the West Village, you really should patronize Pó. Where Del Posto (Mario Batali's largest venture) is a colossus of a restaurant, Pó is an adorable kitten. And if you sit in the window, the breeze blows in and you can watch life pass by on Cornelia street, one of my favorite streets in New York.
And for those of you who don't live in New York, I bet this is a sandwich you can make easily at home. Buy some French bread, spread on some goat cheese, grill some chorizo and--here's the hard part--make an onion marmalade. Anyone have a recipe for onion marmalade? If not, buy a plane ticket and let's all go to Pó. We all need to eat there more often.
31 Cornelia Street
New York, NY 10014
212-645-2189
