The ample large plates, on their own, easily constitute dinner. Nearly every entree comes with a side dish or two, and while I'd prefer them actually on the side instead of stacked in the vertical cuisine that's rampant nowadays, these accompaniments are wonderfully delicious. A big grilled pork chop, even glazed with honey and bourbon, perfectly cooked, and very good, is still a pork chop. But serve it with an apple poached with sage, pearl onion and applejack butter, and slightly sweet fig polenta, and it transcends such a mundane earthly existence. Keep a bread crust handy for swabbing.
Singular offerings provide the same satisfaction.
Duck risotto is redolent of fresh sage, truffle oil, crispy bits of pancetta, and parmesan cheese. Wild mushrooms, pine nuts, tomato, artichoke hearts, basil, and feta cheese flavor pappardelle, the wide pasta common in roadside trattorie across Tuscany. Pastry chef Sarah Iannaroni keeps dessert on track. And there was whipped cream involved, too. So many different flavors could've resulted in a confusing mishmash, but this seemingly disparate collection cooperated perfectly.