Just O.K.

We ate at Cuerno last week. This is the place I mentioned before that is owned by the same guy that owns Fritti, Beleza and Soto Soto. We have eaten at Fritti more then once and it’s one of our favorite spots for Pizza. I read about Cuerno, the Jamón Iberico and the lady writing the article really made it sound great. I was excited to go. We went on a Monday, kinda early and before we left a fair sized crowd had gathered. That’s what a glowing review in a local magazine will do for you.

So we settled in and ordered Spanish wines and a couple tapas. We had the croquets jamon and a lobster dish that was a special of the day. Nothing special about the croquets, not bad by far, but just ok. The lobster was grilled with shrimp and served with a brown butter sauce. Once again, just ok. Could have been better, but didn’t suck.

From the entrees I ordered the Cochinillo Confitado. It was described as “confit suckling pig, roasted apple, pistachio and anise jus. Now I’m thinking confit will be like roasted pork pull from the bone. Not this, it was on the bone, it was roasted and the skin was very, very crispy. The apple had been roasted with the pig and it was good. I don’t recall the pistachio anise jus, so I guess that speaks for itself. But the pig was really good and I ate every bit of it.

Stacey had the Monk fish wrapped in Serrano ham, it was served with smoked egg plant and a caper raisin citronette. Stacey did not like the smoked eggplant at all. Other wise, it was all just ok. Didn’t suck, but just ok. The Monk-fish wrapped in the ham was beautiful, but it just didn’t blow me away and I think I was hoping to be blown away after the article I read.

Now a couple of really great things about the place. Adam, I think he is the wine guy, I can’t remember his title, but he turned us on to a white sherry that was really good. He was a nice guy and we chatted about some of his wines. I ask what he was drinking, I had noticed he had a desert glass he was sipping from. He told us it was a sherry and ask if we would like to try a little. Of course, thank you very much. So he got us a couple of glasses with a taste in each. It was good and it was dry, not sweet. It was like a “rancid” wine we had enjoyed in Spain at a winery by the name of Avinyo. We were there with a friend who sold this family’s wine in the states. He was calling on some accounts and Stacey and I got to tag along to about 3 or 4 places. I got to write about that trip one day. So, where was I? Oh yea, rancid wine. Wine that had been left in large glass bottle. These bottles were between 5 - 10 gallons, half full with a piece of cloth tied over the top. There were about a dozen of them and they were sitting in the sun “cooking” if you will and you should. I mean if you get the chance have rancid wine. Wine is controlled spoilage, this is just taking it a few steps further. The wine list is large and I saw lots of wine I was familiar with. Spanish wines, good wines, wines from some really small boutique wineries.

Oh yea, there is also a great sculpture of a bull. Click on bull, then click on Cuerno and check it out, right in the middle of the restaurant. It is beautiful and it’s worth going for a drink, just to check the bull out!