Little Piglet List: 5 Restaurants

Starting today, I'm going to launch a Little Piglet List every week. I've always loved making lists. So much that my Mom once surprised me with "Lia's Lovely Lists" notepads. In college I carried a Filofax and scribbled random ones on blank pages in the back. Trips I wanted to take, places I'd been, books to read, future baby names. My blackberry now holds most of my lists. I even have one for Nico's funny sayings. How else would I remember gems like this: "It's nice to be naked sometimes. But only sometimes."

Daniel and I are going out to dinner this weekend. A night to ourselves is long overdue. I have lots of restaurant lists and my head is spinning with all the places we could try. Somehow I've narrowed it down to these five.

Dino
The owners of this Italian restaurant in Fort Greene named it after their 2-year old son. My Mom once said we should open a place and call it Cafe Nico. The manager and chef are both veterans of Frank, a restaurant I really like in the East Village.

Del Posto
I went to Del Posto when it first opened during my Food Network days. I thought it was so-so. The New York Times recently made it the first Italian restaurant to get 4 stars since 1974. I'm ready to give it another try.

Brucie
This Italian newcomer in Cobble Hill just crossed itself off my list. They're closed till January 11. I peeked inside while passing by a few weeks ago and it looks really cool and cozy. I remember when it was Cube 63 and a toy store before that.

El Almacen
The owner of Play told me about this Argentine spot, one of his neighborhood faves. I checked out their website and love its antique feel. Short ribs braised in Malbec sound nice.

Fatty 'Cue
This has been on my list for a long time. Fatty Crab is an old favorite and now they've brought Southeast Asian fermented funkiness and a whole helluva a lot of smoke" to Brooklyn. Sign me up! The bowl of noodles with meat juices, scallion and chili would be perfect on a snowy night.


Which would you choose? We're leaning toward Fatty 'Cue, but there's still time to decide, or to add more to this list.


Notepad image from LetterLoveDesigns via Etsy