Cinghiale



Modern, upscale Italian

Cinghiale

822 Lancaster St.

Baltimore, MD 21202

410-547-8282

http://www.cgeno.com/

Cinghiale is Italian for Wild Boar and this restaurant is one of the hottest foodie spots in Baltimore. Perhaps there is wild boar on the regular menu or at least in the salami. It is operated by the Foreman – Wolf collaboration that has several other restaurants in Baltimore, including Louisiana, Charleston and Petite Louis. Cinghiale is actually divided into two venues, the Osteria for formal dining and the Enotecta which is more casual with a wine bar and an impressive salumeria.

The restaurant is in Harbor East, sandwiched between Little Italy and Fells Point – it couldn’t be easier to get to and they actually offer free valet parking, a rarity these days. While the menu for Restaurant Week was very limited and predictable, the daily menu at Cinghiale changes daily and entrée prices range from moderate to very expensive. For Restaurant Week, Cinghiale is offering a very limited three course selection for $30 and or you can opt for the accompaniment of wine pairings with each course for $55. We opted for the wine pairings and recommend against it as none of the wines impressed nor seemed particularly well matched – they were anything but bold or challenging wines so if one is so inclined to have wine with their meal you are better off choosing from the wine list of 600 Italian selections in many bottle sizes.

We were promptly seated although the place was quite busy, especially for a weeknight. Our server Audrey promptly brought us their bread selection, both chewy, moist focaccias and another server arrived immediately thereafter with olive oil and black pepper for dipping. I went off menu to order the calamari as it’s one of our favorite appetizers to share and I expected something out of the ordinary at Cinghiale. I was right about the unique presentation as the steamed squid was bare and skimpy. It was delicious but there was pitifully little of it for the price. I can appreciate and welcome the absence of breading and the oil it was prepared with but “cute” is the best adjective I can find for the portion, particularly when this appetizer is traditionally shared.

We both chose the heirloom tomato salad which was a nice plate of different type heirloom and cherry tomato slices in seasoned olive oil. The salad was quite nice but not the most inventive. There were only two entrée offerings for this special menu, a Norwegian Steelhead which neither of us cared for and a freshly made tagliatelli with veal Bolognese which we both ordered. I wouldn’t think that this dish is what the restaurant would offer as a window to its regular menu but it was a winner. I also wouldn’t normally care for such a wide noodle – almost Penn-Dutch wide- but it worked well as the sauce and ample veal pieces clung to it. Very refined and tasty; certainly not your typical spaghetti smothered with tomato sauce for sure.

Only two desserts were offered and we both settled on the chocolate panna cotta with fresh peach slices. It was beautifully presented and quite chocolaty – a nice ending to our meal. When Audrey brought us our check she asked for the valet parking receipt so that our car was waiting for us at the front door when we left – a nice touch.

Cinghiale dares to suggest a dress code, which is a jacket for men – baseball hats worn frontwards or backwards and shorts are not permitted in the Osteria. Dress is more casual with jeans and shorts permitted in the Enoteca. One would hope they frown on the wearing of hats while dining in either forum.

The best I can do to suggest the difference between Cinghiale and most of the restaurants in the Little Italy district is to say that at La Scala or Rocco's Capricio one expects and welcomes hearing Dean Martin over the sound system. At Cinghiale, Andrea Bocelli is more appropriate. There’s certainly room for both in this world and Cinghiale gets my recommendation.

It’s about a 45 minute trip to the restaurant from Finksburg and extremely easy to get to by taking the JFX to its end where it becomes President Street; continue straight ahead to the very end of President street where it becomes a roundabout at the quite spectacular Christopher Columbus fountain; go part-way around the fountain and exit onto Lafayette Street; the restaurant is one block ahead on your left. The free valet parking is a bonus that helps take the sting out of the cost of the meal.