Bone marrow at Casa Mono

It really is amazing when you think about the NYC food scene.  With close to 25,000 restaurants, it is very hard not to find what you’re craving.  With new restaurants popping up all the time (close to 5000 in just 4 years), anything you can’t find will soon become available. 

So what’s my favorite dish in NYC?  It’s the “Roasted bone marrow with radishes”, on the menu at Casa Mono. 

Roasted bone marrow, pan con tomate, parsley and radish salad

Casa Mono is a small Spanish restaurant in Mario Batali’s huge Italian empire.  It has about ten tables, and a handful of bar stools overlooking an open kitchen, or a wine bar depending on which way you’re facing.  If you decide to try it out, I recommend going during lunch or off-peak hours between 3pm and 5pm, because the line is out the door once dinner starts. 

I have been to the restaurant about ten times, and have tried many things on their menu, but I always finish with the bone marrow.  It is their version of a classic dish from Restaurant St. John in London.  The chef of St. John, Fergus Henderson, is considered by many in the industry to be at the forefront of offal cooking.  Although I have never had the pleasure of dining there, I am happy that a lot of NY chefs are paying homage to him by recreating his famous recipes. 

At St. John, four to five pieces of bone marrow are served accompanied with a parsley salad, and toast.  The salad is parsley, capers, lemon juice, shallots and olive oil.  At Casa Mono, they take this a step further by serving two to three halved pieces of bone marrow (easier to scoop), pan con tomate (toasted bread with crushed tomato concassee, very familiar in Spain), and a parsley salad also containing capers, lemon juice, breakfast or red radish (whatever is on hand), olive oil, lemon vinaigrette, and lemon slices.

I can’t describe just how happy this dish makes me every time I have it.  It is the only restaurant dish I would never share with anyone.  I recommend scooping out the marrow and placing it on the toast, and topping it with the parsley salad.   Do not forget to pour the juice of the marrow over the toast.  The strong acidity of the capers, tomatoes, and lemon just cut right through the fattiness of the marrow, and brighten up the flavor.  Albeit a little messy, it is just one of those dishes I can never wait to dive right into. 

I have read many complaints about the ratio of bone to marrow on other sites, but for $15, what's to complain about?

So what’s your favorite dish? 

Casa Mono

52 Irving Place

New York, NY 10003