Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1542302
pepper, cut open and layered with rings of pickled cipollini onions and kumquats with a side of cognac- soaked currants and finished with chile- and herb- laced breadcrumbs ($21 per plate). Alluring starters include black truffle arancini — tender orbs of black risotto rooted in sottocenere, a truffle-infused semi-soft cheese, and topped with a flurry of shaved parmesan and fresh truffle ($15) — and a beautiful roasted beet salad with blood-orange wheels, bits of gorgonzola, and pistachios ($16). Roasted prawns with their heads and tails intact are brushed with pepperoni-spiked butter, with slices of sourdough beneath to catch the fragrant juices ($22). Pastas, made in-house, include the wintertime standout: tortellini stuffed with butternut squash purée in a sage-scented brown butter with crisp pumpkin seeds ($26) and lumache alla vodka, otherwise known as the spicy Italian American tomato sauce with a kick of 'nduja (pork sausage) Clockwise from top: The dining room. Roasted beets. Fireplace seating in the dining room; far wall, Marcelyn McNeil's oil on canvas Dbl X, One, 2022. Blueberry lava stone and burl-wood bar. and dollops of creamy stracciatella cheese, that unctuous filling found deep within burrata ($31). Kudos to Gallivan for tweaking the long-cooking classic bolognese with duck in lieu of ground beef, pork, and veal, tossing it with curly cavatappi noodles, and topping the novel offshoot with fresh marjoram pesto and parmesan ($29). Mains include roasted half chicken ($30), Duroc pork Milanese ($33), and beef short rib Brasato ($39). We opted for the simple but sublime roasted snapper ($38). What arrived was a perfectly cooked filet set on a vibrant pool of salsa verde — essentially a jus of fresh dill, parsley, and a fragrant newfangled herb where mint has been crossbred with oregano, the latter courtesy of a collaboration with a Houston- area farmer. hypsirestaurant.com. 28