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Michael Mina Tries to Sell the Downtown Crowd on Crispy Pig’s Ears

We commend Michael Mina on his chutzpah. Following on the recent trend on high-end menus toward embracing offal (especially pork trotters), we found an entrée on the menu at the newly relocated, revamped Restaurant Michael Mina that incorporates crispy pig’s ears on a dish with a braised pork short rib and ham hock croquettes. Just yesterday Jonathan Kauffman was extolling the virtues of pig ears (“whose gelatinous crunch no molecular gastronomist has yet duplicated”) on a much more downscale menu. We didn’t notice the pig’s ears on Mina’s opening menu, but that’s because they’re actually not mentioned in the dish description (Braised Pork Short Ribs, Mission Figs, Anson Mills Polenta, and Hock Jus). Also notable on the menu, a delicious “crab BLT” starter served in a lettuce cup, and the “Five Oceans” dish which is a beautiful evocation of Japan in about a dozen flavors, all on one plate. [Grub Street, Earlier Slideshow]

Michael Mina Tries to Sell the Downtown Crowd on Crispy Pig’s Ears