You can nibble on tasty head cheese. You can sup on succulent braised ribs. But you can’t very well call yourself an authority on swine unless you’re taking down Porky on a grander scale.
As in the whole damn hog.
That’s what’s on order at Bestia, the new Italian restaurant from Chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis — an entire roasted, crisp-skinned, and crackling Sonoma Suckling Pig.
This is a feast for 20-25 of your closest (and hungriest) friends (or coworkers).
Just give Bestia a week’s notice. They’ll brine your hog for a day in sugar, salt, juniper berries, fennel seeds, rosemary, garlic, and pepper, then cook it overnight in the Acunto wood oven.
Take Babe to go — hello New Years, hello Super Bowl — or dine in Bestia’s 4,100 square feet of converted factory, every nook of which is warmly lit by funky fixtures.
For sides, this feast comes with treats like Anson Mills polenta with grana padano, and candied fruit. They can plate it, or you can pick at it whole.
Dining in, you’ll also be tempted to order some things a la carte, like the octopus carpaccio. Or wood-fired pizzas cooked to perfection at 500 degrees.
Just save room for Chef Gergis’ desserts. The Crostata al Cioccolato e Caramello Salato is so good it could end wars.
But at the very least, it should end your dinner.
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