The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1093411
If you're familiar with Chef DePersio's food, then you know how much pride he takes in making fresh pasta—something he's done his entire career. His new menu features six fresh pasta dishes, two of which I was fortunate enough to sample: the Tagliatelle Verde served with lamb shank ragu, mint, sofrito and piave vecchio, as well as the Smoky Prosciutto Bucatini with crispy pork belly, scallion crema, blistered cherry tomatoes finished with parmesan and black pepper. e result is a tender wonderland of flavors that trumps even the great pasta dishes on Battello's original menu a couple years back. Seafood appetizers remain a staple at Battello, which are headlined by the savory-meets-sweet Grilled Octopus with crispy potatoes, nduja vinaigrette, charred pineapple and tarragon, and the Big Eye Tuna Crudo with broccoli slaw, grapefruit gel, red olive powder and basil caviar. For entrées, there's a nice mash-up of land and sea, with a brilliant Sirloin and Short Rib—which is made with breaded potatoes cooked in aged beef fat—cippolini onions and natural juices from the short rib. As always, the highlight of Battello's seafood (for me) are the scallops. is time, it's Pan Roasted Day Boat Scallops with tuscan white bean stew, steamed cockles and quinoa torta—the latter of which, a sort of compacted, crispy quinoa, is a creation DePersio happened upon while at home. V U E N J . C O M 130