I’d heard so much (both good and bad) about The Marrow, Harold Dieterle’s new restaurant in the West Village, that I had to try it. I’m a big fan of Perilla, so I figured I’d like the food at The Marrow too. The concept is interesting, as Dieterle’s family tree is German and Italian, so the menu is broken into two columns, one representing the German side of his family and the other, the Italian. If you are an aficionado of German or Italian food, do not go here thinking you will get any traditional dishes. What Dieterle does is use ingredients from German and Italian cooking to create unique dishes.
For example, I got the grilled baby chicken from the Italian side–with fregula, fried salami, fava beans & smoked tomato vinaigrette. For one, I was surprised with the plentiful portion. Second, the chicken was so incredibly tender and juicy. While the salad had tomato, fava beans, salami and farro, and the vinaigrette was tomato, it didn’t have an Italian flavor to it. The salad was so refreshing and enjoyable, but it tasted more Middle Eastern to me than Italian. The smoky tomato vinaigrette was a perfect accompaniment to the chicken, but its flavor was more reminiscent of American barbecue sauce than anything Italian.
I wanted to try something from both sides of the menu, so I got a German appetizer and an Italian entrée. To start, I got the duck liverwurst with cornichons, green mustard and grilled bread.
For dessert, I got the rhubarb crostata with toasted almond and mascarpone ice cream, which was absolutely delicious.
Julie, of the Texan New Yorker, got the crispy mortadella with muffuletta dressing.
Her entrée was the polenta, a special, which she enjoyed very much.
I also really enjoyed the pretzel dinner roll with accompanying sweet mustard (German) and olive oil (Italian).
As I said, the food here is excellent, but just don’t go in expecting your standard bratwurst and spaghetti.
All the dishes look very appetizing! Have a beautiful weekend!