after dinner sneeze

Talula’s Garden now has a “pasta” section on the menu.  It’s pretty awesome, because now I can find the gnocchi dish even faster! (I used to have to search the mains and appetizers for it).  While the crab-and-spaghetti wasn’t quite as good as pop-pop’s, the above gnocchi over peas and a pea puree were delectable pillows of heaven.  So good.

g and my mom went for the tuna crudo (g? tuna crudo? surprised, right?)  It hit all the right signature Talula’s crudo notes: herbs, veggies, bright accents, scrumptious fish.  No wonder g falls into the crudo trap every time she goes.

yes, there’s still a scallop dish …  yes, it’s still amazing … and no, there wasn’t any left.

but now … it is my honor to introduce the new pork belly champion of adsz.  A title previously held by greats like Fond (I look forward to it on every Fall/Winter menu) and Bibou (it was one of those ephemeral Pierre Calmels specials that came and went in a blink of an eye), Talula’s healthily-unhealthy-sized portion has that oh-so-addictive crunch and sweet-sweet-pig-fat flavor that make this pork belly the poster boy of hedonistic meat (I know, I know … people like foie and caviar and wagyu … but come on – how you gonna dis’ pork belly like that?  why you gotta be such a gold-digger with your deep, benjamin-lined pockets?  think you’re too good for pork belly?  that’s ok – more for me.)  I’m sure there will come a day when I will not be able to consume such rich dishes like this … and that day will be sad indeed … but for now, I will count pork bellies on my way to sleep, ready to dream of the next opportunity to go back.  Oh, did I mention that there were some superbly prepared greens and beans underneath?  I ate all of those, too.  So it’s healthy, right?

every time there’s a s’more-themed dessert, talula’s kills it.  this one was called “s’mores cake”, and it was excellent.  The moist, chocolate-laden cake melted in my mouth, giving way to the scorched marshmallow and smoke-infused ice cream.  Desserts like this make me regret having eaten so well during apps and main courses (well … except for the pork belly above).

But this little bugger was the big surprise.  Don’t be fooled by this slab of white sitting atop a pile of crumbs; this marscapone cheesecake was un-real.  I would have expected Talula’s to try and make their cheesecake all light-and-fluffy with cutesy fruit accompaniments.  But no.  Forget that.  They went for rich-and-delicious.  ha declared it her new favorite cheesecake – and that’s with 28 years of cheesecake-tasting experience (inside joke).