Best of New York 2011 • Eating

• Osteria Morini

  218 Lafayette St., nr. Kenmare St. 212-965-8777

  Michael White has turned out elaborately delicate pastas during the course of his impressive career, and dabbled in the effete realm of gourmet seafood. But you have only to look at the burly, hypertalented chef to know that he’s an avid pork hound at heart. And his most impressive pork achievement to date is the opulent cut of porchetta served dinnertimes at his casual downtown taverna-style restaurant Osteria Morini. White prepares his Hampshire-pork loin the way the Tuscans do, with clouds of rosemary and sage and a generous rubbing of lemon zest. The pork is spit-roasted until the meat is pink inside and the skin a deliciously crackly golden brown, then served in giant, wagon-wheel-size slices. For truly avid pork hounds, the best way to complement this dish is with the house potatoes, which are tossed with rosemary salt and roasted in fatty, sizzling porchetta drippings.

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