Today in Food

Uri

SUMMARY

  • Korean-inspired Piemonte classics and Piemonte-inspired Korean classics.
  • Three menus (including one solely dedicated to vegetarian diets or preferences, 45€), the four course “Uri” menu is 47€ and the “Nuovi Sapori” five-course menu is 57€.
  • Pictured here: our bottle of Ca’ del Baio Riesling (paired well on a hot day); creamy eggplant in its skin with fresh mint and a wafer-thin cracker; steamed bao bun stuffed with marinated and grilled eel, ginger and seaweed; carpaccio of fassona with sesame oil, wild garlic and puffed black rice; pan-fried plin (Piemonte agnolotti) stuffed with bulgogi beef; blue cheese ravioli with apricot cream; pork neck wrapped with bitter salad (Korean Ssam); and (finally) pigeon, plums, fermented blackberries and its liver. Not pictured: desserts (the blood drained from my brain to aid in digestion, but innovative and delicious like everything else).

Dear Reader: Today in food, we ate (again) at Uri. It is painful to de-program a palate that has had a lifetime of Cheetos, Velveeta, and Dots. I joke; this diet was not the dining repertoire of my growing up, but I still had to force myself to re-think “pedestrian” flavors as simple as milk and butter. Many dishes stand out (deservedly), but the one I talked about incessantly was the ravioli. Not because it’s really agnolotti (because it is), not because it’s so cleverly and deliciously dressed in an unsweetened apricot cream (genius), but because of the latte itself. It’s a standout flavor; a pronounced layer in the company of many flavors which should obfuscate the delicacy of milk (namely its local gorgonzola filling). And yet, there I was: gobsmacked like a newborn kitten tasting something instinctive required for survival for the very first time. 

My second “slap yer mamma” moment was the crumble beneath a boule of gelato made of fig leaves. I see you — your eyes are glued on the fig leaf; but, no. The humble crumble, an afterthought … what some would dismiss as a texture-foil in celebration of an inventive gelato. But not here. Not an afterthought. I think that it’s indicative of every dish I had at lunch: if Uri served just one component of a dish, it would have been spectacular on a plate by itself: just the fig jam, just the fig leaf gelato, the apricot cream, tender ravioli, fermented blackberries …

But it never was any of those things alone and yet they could have stood alone. That takes extraordinary talent and more editing than this post.

And I didn’t even mention the stunning view from the outside terrace (I would have posted a few pics but for the haze that would have diminished the hype) or the exceptional personality of its interior. Front of the house is an absolute joy — friendly, intuitively attentive; I was 100% convinced that they hoped we were enjoying ourselves in all ways. That takes hard work and I hope that they know we are greatly appreciative.

With high regard to everything else on the menu not called out here — nothing disappointed. We each took a menu: the Nuovi Sapori (5 courses for 57€) and Uri (4 courses for 47€ plus an extra appetizer from the Mat Uri menu to match Amy’s course load.

We dined on August 21 and again on August 28. It certainly won’t be our last visit by any stretch (even if that stretch is my waist-line).