Foodsday Tuesday: Pork, Please!

Two weeks ago, we mentioned a special pig roast going on at Alison at Blue Bell. Seeing as the last time we ate at one of Chef Alison Barshak's restaurants, it was for a Jewish holiday, it seemed only fitting that we should move from the kosher to the treyf, the divine to the mundane.

Not that there was anything mundane about the food at Alison's pig roast. We began with a rich gazpacho, pureed completely and blended with creme freche or a very rich sour cream. It certainly wouldn't pass Spanish inspection, but it was an interesting and delightful take on the classic summer soup.

After sampling a variety of Alison's bread (all good: we could easily have filled up on it), our main course arrived: the promised roast pork, accompanied by a summer vegetable salad and two tamales: one grilled vegetable and the other huitlacoche. The pork was perfectly moist and flavorful without the employment of any obvious seasonings, and the vegetables (which included fresh summer zucchini and tomatoes) were a perfect, light contrast to the meat. The tamales, while by no means the kind I grew up eating on the Mexican border, were solid—the "corn truffles" of the huitlacoche, musty and earthy without the heaviness of mushrooms, especially so.

We were informed at the outset of our meal that one of the promised desserts—a summer berry cobbler—was no longer available, much to my dismay. (I watched a dozen delicious-looking cobblers go out before I'd even gotten to the pork, but it seems they were the last ones available.) The replacement dessert, however—an almond brown butter cake served warm and topped with whipped cream and fresh berries—did not disappoint, nor did the chocolate torte also ordered to the table.

All in all, Alison's pig roast was an excellent (and filling!) way to pass a rainy Wednesday. The service was slow at times, but always enthusiastic, and we left the restaurant a little fat and very happy.

Image Credit: Flickr user IreneKaoru.