March 25, 2026 Frasca Regular Dinner
We don’t wait until a special dinner to get to Frasca. Their “regular” dinners are pretty special, after all!
Four courses with choices to be made. This not easy 😉! We went with the full glass wine pairing, Martin did the Asparagi Bianche ( I had to try this, White Asparagus is amazing), Bill the Tonno, we both did the Tagliatelli, and the A5 Manzo, Martin did the Ciaramicola, Bill the Birra Di Ananas.
You simply have to start with the Frico Calda! It is always wonderful and never quite the same.
The amuse-bouch was buckwheat crisps in a Montasio cheese fondu. Actually more of a whipped Montasio cheese sauce, it wasn’t hot and then dusted with porcini mushroom dust. Wow! I wish we could have ordered this as a course.
The sourdough uses the chef’s own 9 year old starter. The butter is Rodolphe Le Meunier’s Beurre de Baratte, the two together are heavenly.
ANTIPASTI
PRIMI
Bill’s Tonno, Bluefin Tuna, d’anjou pear, finger lime, and a bit of horse radish. It is almost impossible to get Bluefin tuna, it is quite simply the best sushi tuna there is and the Japanese get almost all of the small amount caught. This was paired with an Edi Kante Malvasia 2022.
Martins Asparagi Bianchi, some sort of cheese “sauce” with alp blossoms, citrus, watercress and a honey vinegar dressing. This was good, but Bill definitely won with the tuna. This was paired with a Veyder-Malberg 2023 Grüner Veltliner which really worked. Everything worked together, I wouldn’t have thought honey and citrus, but it was really good.
The Tagliatelle Al Vitello Tonnato, tonnato sauce, braised veal, dried caper and spinach pesto. The Tonnato sauce is a tuna, caper and anchovy sauce which really paired well with the veal. Martin was surprised that it didn’t overwhelm the delicate veal. This was paired with a Hedele 2021 Sauvignon Blanc from Vipava, Slovenia.
SECONDI
Martin was so entranced by the wine, that he didn’t swing over and film the course!
The A5 Wagyu was from Miyazake Prefecture in Japan and if you’ve never had wagyu, it is a must try. This was served very rare, which is how you have to treat wagyu, otherwise too much of the fat will render out. Bill says “Fat is Flavor”!
This was paired with a Larkmead 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon. A really perfect Cabernet, with amazingly subdued tannins. We approve of this wine.
DOLCI
Martin’s Ciramicola is based on a spiced cake, then black olive, butterscotch, mango, white chocolate, ginger and yogurt. The mango sorbet was just a blast of mango, which played off against everything else.
Bill’s Birra Di Ananas, sherry, macadamia(server forgot the name of this nut), brown butter, fermented pineapple.
These desserts are so different from anything we’d had before that it’s almost impossible to describe them.
Bill’s was paired with a Royal Tokaji Aszú Puttonyos 2018. This was sharp enough to work with Bill’s dessert.
Martin’s was paired with a Vini Belluzzo 2020 Aurum, which is made from botritized Friulian Verduzzo grapes and it was much sweeter than Bill’s to work with the fairly tart mango sorbet.