Due Mari: A Fine Dining Experience
Fine dining is a learned skill. We often spen
Today, the missus and I went out to find lunch. We started off heading towards Somerville to see if Origin was open. Their website insisted they were closed, but Google gave me the distinct impression they might be open. Also, on Labor Day, we went to Origin, who was open for Sunday hours, so I was filled with hope. Well, after navigating the maze of Somerville created by the Tour of Somerville, a bicycle race which I had no interest in aside from times I was trying to cross the street, we found they were in fact closed. After some browsing through what feels like the last remaining antique store in town, we returned to the New Brunswick area, looking for a meal.
We slowly drove through downtown New Brunswick, noticing that most of the restaurants were surprisingly closed, as if it was 1980 or they were patriotic, despite my need for someone else to cook and serve me a meal. As we were settling on Chipotle, which manages to never disappoint nor excite, we noticed that Due Mari was open. We had avoided Due Mari for a number of years, since the menu posted to the world was not exactly vegan-friendly, a necessity for my vegan wife. However, she was interested in going and away we went.
Arriving at the restaurant, the first thing I noticed was how incredibly clean the restaurant was. In fact, it might be the cleanest looking restaurant I have set foot in, which was enhanced by the visible, natural lighting and open spaces. The table was also well designed, as a table for two contained just the right amount of space, leaving ample room for the food.
The service was also outstanding. I generally dislike the service in most restaurants. I am never a fan of seeing the server that often, but the waitress knew the exact right line between attentive and distant and even identified potential food problems for my wife, which were not readily identifiable from the menu. Another very nice touch was new silverware for each course. There is little less satisfying than eating two disparate food items, yet not getting different silverware. I mean, do I really want to have poached egg mixed into my squid ink pasta because the restaurant didn't want to wash two knives and two forks. For shame, other restaurants, for shame.
Of course, while cleanliness and service are important parts of the dining experience, the main draw is always the food. We started with the Crostini, containing a broccoli rabe pesto and white beans. At first, I was going to refrain, as I am not a fan of white beans, but eventually caved in and enjoyed one of the crostini. As you might suspect, it was excellent. Broccoli rabe, which ranks number 2 on my list of vegetables, just behind asparagus, makes an excellent addition to the pesto and enhanced the flavor profile of the entire bite. While I would not have regretted anything had I not chosen to eat the Crostini, that is only because I would've been blissfully unaware of the great food I did not eat.
We followed the Crostini with something from the Antipasti e Ensalada list. My wife enjoyed Misticanza, while I ordered the Asparagi. The listed ingredients were asparagus, prosciutto, poached egg and parmesan. I expect the ingredients incorporated into a salad. Instead, the ingredients were put together like an appetizer, which is a far more enjoyable way of eating the ingredients. The asparagus, thin and well prepared, were the based, with a poached egg wrapped in a slice of prosciutto, covered in parmesan was laid on top, with a small amount toasted bread off to the side. The bread was necessary for eating the egg yolk once opened and the prosciutto was just the right amount, as any more would have been salty and unenjoyable. In all, it was exactly what you would want to have in an appetizer or even a breakfast.
After completing this, we awaited our pasta dishes. The pasta, while good, was not quite as good as the last two courses. I had the linguine, which is a squid ink pasta covered in a seafood ragu. The pasta itself was excellent and expertly cooked and I did manage to take squid ink pasta off the list of food items I've never eaten. However, the seafood ragu left a little something to be desired. It really comes down to knifework, which sounds like a copout when you say it out loud. But a few of the edges of the seafood let me down.
Seafood is always a risky bet in a restaurant, as there are so many places you can go wrong. It can easily be overcooked, undercooked, not quite as fresh as you would like, none of which happened here, or it could have some cutting imperfections, which can ruin the experience. There was one type of seafood diced up into the ragu which I could not clearly identify, crab is the likeliest choice, but shrimp, octopus and even squid itself were still in the mix. However, the edges of the seafood looked like they had tiny, little fingers attached or tails if they were shrimp. It wasn't consistent and affected only a small part of the meal, but it gave a disconcerting look to some of the seafood, which was slightly off putting. Not nearly enough to ruin the dish or the meal, but enough to be worthy of two paragraphs of internet space.
After all of the food we ate, dessert was out, but looked like it would be a fabulous cap to an excellent meal. In sum, I would definitely recommend Due Mari if you are interested in fine Italian dining, as unlike many other fine dining establishments which tend to disappoint, Due Mari delivered an excellent meal and dining experience.
Today, the missus and I went out to find lunch. We started off heading towards Somerville to see if Origin was open. Their website insisted they were closed, but Google gave me the distinct impression they might be open. Also, on Labor Day, we went to Origin, who was open for Sunday hours, so I was filled with hope. Well, after navigating the maze of Somerville created by the Tour of Somerville, a bicycle race which I had no interest in aside from times I was trying to cross the street, we found they were in fact closed. After some browsing through what feels like the last remaining antique store in town, we returned to the New Brunswick area, looking for a meal.
We slowly drove through downtown New Brunswick, noticing that most of the restaurants were surprisingly closed, as if it was 1980 or they were patriotic, despite my need for someone else to cook and serve me a meal. As we were settling on Chipotle, which manages to never disappoint nor excite, we noticed that Due Mari was open. We had avoided Due Mari for a number of years, since the menu posted to the world was not exactly vegan-friendly, a necessity for my vegan wife. However, she was interested in going and away we went.
Arriving at the restaurant, the first thing I noticed was how incredibly clean the restaurant was. In fact, it might be the cleanest looking restaurant I have set foot in, which was enhanced by the visible, natural lighting and open spaces. The table was also well designed, as a table for two contained just the right amount of space, leaving ample room for the food.
The service was also outstanding. I generally dislike the service in most restaurants. I am never a fan of seeing the server that often, but the waitress knew the exact right line between attentive and distant and even identified potential food problems for my wife, which were not readily identifiable from the menu. Another very nice touch was new silverware for each course. There is little less satisfying than eating two disparate food items, yet not getting different silverware. I mean, do I really want to have poached egg mixed into my squid ink pasta because the restaurant didn't want to wash two knives and two forks. For shame, other restaurants, for shame.
Of course, while cleanliness and service are important parts of the dining experience, the main draw is always the food. We started with the Crostini, containing a broccoli rabe pesto and white beans. At first, I was going to refrain, as I am not a fan of white beans, but eventually caved in and enjoyed one of the crostini. As you might suspect, it was excellent. Broccoli rabe, which ranks number 2 on my list of vegetables, just behind asparagus, makes an excellent addition to the pesto and enhanced the flavor profile of the entire bite. While I would not have regretted anything had I not chosen to eat the Crostini, that is only because I would've been blissfully unaware of the great food I did not eat.
We followed the Crostini with something from the Antipasti e Ensalada list. My wife enjoyed Misticanza, while I ordered the Asparagi. The listed ingredients were asparagus, prosciutto, poached egg and parmesan. I expect the ingredients incorporated into a salad. Instead, the ingredients were put together like an appetizer, which is a far more enjoyable way of eating the ingredients. The asparagus, thin and well prepared, were the based, with a poached egg wrapped in a slice of prosciutto, covered in parmesan was laid on top, with a small amount toasted bread off to the side. The bread was necessary for eating the egg yolk once opened and the prosciutto was just the right amount, as any more would have been salty and unenjoyable. In all, it was exactly what you would want to have in an appetizer or even a breakfast.
After completing this, we awaited our pasta dishes. The pasta, while good, was not quite as good as the last two courses. I had the linguine, which is a squid ink pasta covered in a seafood ragu. The pasta itself was excellent and expertly cooked and I did manage to take squid ink pasta off the list of food items I've never eaten. However, the seafood ragu left a little something to be desired. It really comes down to knifework, which sounds like a copout when you say it out loud. But a few of the edges of the seafood let me down.
Seafood is always a risky bet in a restaurant, as there are so many places you can go wrong. It can easily be overcooked, undercooked, not quite as fresh as you would like, none of which happened here, or it could have some cutting imperfections, which can ruin the experience. There was one type of seafood diced up into the ragu which I could not clearly identify, crab is the likeliest choice, but shrimp, octopus and even squid itself were still in the mix. However, the edges of the seafood looked like they had tiny, little fingers attached or tails if they were shrimp. It wasn't consistent and affected only a small part of the meal, but it gave a disconcerting look to some of the seafood, which was slightly off putting. Not nearly enough to ruin the dish or the meal, but enough to be worthy of two paragraphs of internet space.
After all of the food we ate, dessert was out, but looked like it would be a fabulous cap to an excellent meal. In sum, I would definitely recommend Due Mari if you are interested in fine Italian dining, as unlike many other fine dining establishments which tend to disappoint, Due Mari delivered an excellent meal and dining experience.