Restaurant Review: The Purple Pig

Ouch.

That's what I said about three hours after arriving at The Purple Pig.  As their sign mentions, there is "Cheese, Swine, and Wine"...and I had alot of each. My stomach was full. I had alot of wine.  In short, the pain I felt made for a perfect evening.

If you've never been, be prepared to wait as there are no reservations accepted.  But, come on a beautiful night like we did, order a bottle of wine, and wait outside while you agonize over the delicious smell of pig wafting through the air.  (Bonus recommendation: if you sit outside, watch the couples who walk up to the hostess stand. They walk up hand-in-hand with smiles from ear to ear... after hearing the wait will be upwards of two hours, they will immediately walk out.  The fella will have his head staring at the sidewalk trying to explain why he's an idiot and his date, with fire in her eyes, will look as if she is considering whether to cancel her Match.com account. Priceless.)

Oh yeah, about the food...  If I had one recommendation, it would be to try as many items as possible.  The company I was with did not share my passion for bone marrow or lardo, but I made them try it nonetheless and it was met with rave reviews.  In fact, one friend evoked images of Joey Chestnut as I sat across the table from him while he seemingly tried to break the record for the amount of bone-marrow-smattered-pieces-of-toast eaten in one sitting.  Not exactly a pretty sight, but I was glad he enjoyed it.

One of the other nice, little surprises at The Purple Pig is the wine list.  Most of the bottles were under $50, and there is a nice variety of wines from regions we don't get to see much of around here (Greece... Portugal...).  We splurged on a few of the more pricey bottles, which is to say I spent $40 less per bottle than at most restaurants I go to.

So, overall, great food, great wine, great atmosphere... on a cold or rainy night, the wait would've been a bummer, but the stars were aligned for my birthday meal.  Definitely worth the hype and worth a visit.

Cheers!