Best of New York 2012 • Eating

• Salinas

  136 Ninth Ave., nr. 18th St.; 212-776-1990

  Like all delicate works of art, Luis Bollo’s classic Iberian-style rendition of suckling pig takes a little bit of time to prepare. At the Spanish chef’s Chelsea restaurant, Salinas, the house �porcella� is slow-roasted for almost half a day, and glazed with a sherry reduction until the skin is the color of candied oranges. It’s served on the bone, although it’s so soft you won’t need a knife to eat it. Bollo plates his masterpiece with a vinegary little mound of frisée to cut the richness, and a little pile of grilled fruit (apple in winter, apricots and peaches in spring and summer) to accentuate the tender, steamy sweetness of the meat. Some may quibble with the hefty $44 price tag, but we true pork obsessives know better. �This isn’t some fiesta pig,� said one of our discerning pork-hound friends as she nibbled on a melting piece of crackling. �This is the filet mignon of pigs!�

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