The kitchen has found just the right choices: quick hits of clean, sharp flavors, tender bites of salty sausage or cheese, salads for slim figures and good bread to soak up the cocktails.
Tender bites of the buffalo could be dragged through a red pepper aioli that leavened the dish's sweetness with heat; nearby were a squash-filled taquito and jalapeño-spiked grits.
Tapas shine; we liked the shrimp seasoned with marsala and chili flakes; the luscious little slabs of skirt steak with pico salsa and crisp potato twigs; the tiny meatballs in a rich tomato ragù; the snappy fried calzone filled with sweet ricotta in a pumpkinseed pesto; and tender bites of grilled octopus.
In the main-dish category, two stood out: meltingly sweet eggplant sautéed with fresh basil leaves, red and green bell peppers, and onions; and a green curry that could cure a cold, or at least ward off the cold of winter, with its unctuous base of coconut milk and curry paste that smoothed the way for bamboo shoots, bell pepper, eggplant, fresh basil leaves and tender bites of chicken.
For the purpose of this soup, I cooked them, but just for a minute so there was still a tender bite.
The roast pig is glorious, served in moist, rich, tender bite-size pieces, slightly salty and nutty, with a thin layer of sweet fat and crisp crackling skin.
The chef has improved upon the traditional toppings, offering house-cured meats instead: guanciale, or pork cheek, is a thicker, richer cut of bacon, while pepperoni is easily trumped by the tender bite of fennel salami.
Other main courses to check out are the tender, bite-size morsels of Malaysian pork chop ($12) soaked in a fragrant barbecue sauce, Chiangmai beef ($13.50), alive with tropical Thai tastes, and the whole teoh chow-style steamed fish ($16.50), a striped bass smothered under a savory mix of pickled cabbage, shredded mushrooms, minced pork, tomatoes, tofu and pickled mustard.
We also enjoyed Salt's less conventional take on hanger steak, the meat heavily marinated in garlic, then sliced into tender, bite-size morsels and draped over a little hill of jasmine rice; citrus-and-garlic-marinated shrimp, skewered and served with a vibrant mango salsa; and seared sea scallops with an autumnal garnish of bacon and chopped sweet potato.
That, along with an order of polpo con patate e fagiolini (tender octopus bites, with well-browned potato chunks and haricots verts), was the start of a memorable evening.
Each bite had a crisp layer of prosciutto and a tender bit of veal.
