These are beautiful wrapped dumplings with delicate skin and a soft pork interior surrounded by a powerfully delicious broth.
Plates of mortadella and cheese are followed by dishes like freshly made tagliatelle con culatello (considered the most delicate part of a pork haunch), eggplant Parmesan and house specialties like grilled pigeon.
But this delicate triumph of pork-butchery, cooked in the same broth as the beef, was itself supported by ample cuts from the breast and wing fillets of farm chickens, boiled in their own juice with a shin of veal, rubbed with mint and wild thyme.
No aperitif, Marc Lieb's first sparkling wine ($20) will dovetail best at dinner with delicate fish, chicken and pork dishes.
"Actually, they remind me of my mother's meatballs," I said, explaining how she had made meatballs with a delicate balance of ground pork, parsley, bread crumbs and egg.
More familiar dishes include excellent renditions of Sichuan cold noodles ($3.95), with a slight sweetness, which offsets the growing heat; delicate wontons stuffed with pork and served in a spicy red oil ($3.95); and fiery dan dan noodles ($3.95).
Crispy shrimp balls are too big, and the Beijing duck looks more like a burrito than a delicate crepe filled with pork and scallions.
Follow it with the won-ton soup, a rich broth containing large pork dumplings in delicate wrappers.
Happily, there is plenty on the menu for even the most timid diner, such as enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon, fried pork dumplings, and delicate tempura silverfish with green-tea dipping powder.
