Flour + Water = Food + Heart

Gidget and I went to Flour + Water in search of good pizza.  Great pizza, actually.  And this pizza was so storied that we made a reservation, for two, 60 days ago back in December (testing the limits of Open Table for an early evening Tuesday night reservation). 

So of course, when we looked at the menu, selecting a pizza was a no brainer. I advocated the margherita pizza (with a foodie's addition of burrata) as a great way to test the mettle of a pizza establishment with a staple that relies on the texture of a crust and the tanginess of a sauce to differentiate.  The pizza itself silenced us for many minutes, its crust a perfect blend of crispy and slightly charred exterior (courtesy of the restaurant's Valoriani oven) with a chewy center.  The sauce tasted like crushed and extremely fresh, tangy tomatoes ... making me feel as if the pizza did not even need cheese.  But, it had burrata! 

It was much more challenging to select another dish or two from the menu of starters, pizzas, pasta, and secondi.  We relied heavily upon our server (whose recommendations and thoughtful commentary definitely guided on food and wine throughout the meal). We opted for the pasta special, a pig heart tortellini (the pig heart first sauteed with a mirepoix, then ground up as a pasta filling), served with an emulsified butter sauce.  Though the pig heart component frightened Gidge (and secretly dared me), the dish was well balanced between a salty but otherwise non-intimidating meat element, the folded handkerchief style tortellini pasta, and a thickened butter sauce that together created a phenomenally compelling mouthful.  So much so that a) we turned to our neighboring table and insisted that they order the pasta special and b) insisted to each other that we try a third dish (as a dessert substitute, of course).

With plenty to choose from, we grilled the server (whose recommendation, to note, was the duck breast served with romanesco and chard) and then completely strayed toward our original inclination and ordered another pasta dish: fennel and pork shoulder raviolini with chard.

All three were phenomenal choices, making me wish I could eat without implication for the rest of the evening.  This restaurant quickly worked its way into my top 5 with its quality of ingredient, preparation, and service.  The pizza was unparalleled in the city and the pasta a close rival to the likes of Farina.  I cannot wait for my next return visit.