Nashville Food Friday: Moto Cucina and Enoteca

I rarely make it over to the Gulch anymore. Sometimes I feel like I'm too old, too un-hip and that I just live too far away. Because of this I miss out on some really great dining opportunities. SHAME ON LAUREN. Last night I was invited to a special dinner at Moto Cucina and Enoteca, the newest venture from the folks over at M. Street (I've previously reviewed brunch at one of their other establishments, Tavern). Fancy pants dinner at a new Italian place? Sign me up!

First off I have to say that their execute chef Andy Hayes is top notch. I feel I should mention this first because all the food we ate stemmed from his creative and talented brain. Andy was a pleasure to talk to, as well as funny and informative. It also didn't hurt that he trained at one of my all time favorite restaurants, Gramercy Tavern in New York. M. Street snapped up a good one!

The inside of Moto is simply beautiful. Everything has clean lines, warm tones and soft lighting. They paid very close attention to every detail, including the inlaid patterns on the bar. They even have a rock bed open fireplace and a glass wine cellar. I sat at a booth and the booth seats were very comfortable, possibly the most comfortable booth I've ever sat in.

To start off, the kitchen sent out four appetizers for all of us to sample. The first one out was duck fat olives. These were served warm with whole garlic cloves and orange zest. They were delicious, but anything covered in duck fat is delicious. I loved the temperature of the olives- just barely warm and very nice on the tongue.

Next up was the pork cheek terrine with crispy pig ears. When we asked how this was made Chef Andy told us it was made with the whole head of the pig, and not just any pig, but a pig from Porter Road Butcher. It's good to know Moto gets their pigs whole from my favorite local butcher shop. This gets at least +10 awesome points. The terrine was creamy and spread easily on the crustini. I only wish they had more pig ears added for crunch; pig ears are always such a treat.

Next up was the deep fried Apalachicola oysters with peperonata and preserved fennel. The topping reminded me of a lightly spiced chow-chow and added a really nice vinegar flavor to the fried oyster. Even someone at my table who said they don't enjoy oysters loved these!

The last appetizer was the raw winter salad featuring shaved beets. I'm always skeptical of raw salads considering I've had a fair few that were disappointing, but this dish was simply divine. The vegetables were sliced so thin that they almost melted in your mouth. Add to that simple seasoning and blue cheese and you have yourself a winning raw salad.

Next up was the pizza course. We were served two different pizzas: The porchetta and kale pesto with mozzarella, and the mushroom and black truffles with fontina. The mushroom pizza had a woodsy flavor that was enhanced by the sweetness of the shaved truffles. My favorite was the kale pesto slice, even though it was a tad bit too oily for me.

On to pasta! First up was the gnocchi with crispy salsify and green apple in fonduta. This sauce was rich and paired well with the fresh crisp apple. The gnocchi themselves were light and pillowy and had a bouncy mouth texture. My favorite part was the crispy salsify, something I never tasted prepared in that fashion before.

The next pasta was the black spaghetti with lobster and calabrian chilies. The squid ink pasta was thick and al dente with that sea flavor that makes black pasta so enjoyable. The lobster flavor was mild but the chilies added a nice kick.

Chef Andy Hayes was nice enough to bring out a plate of their nightly pasta special after we talked about my love of sea urchin. The special was a sea urchin and scallop spaghetti in a light lemon cream sauce. This was far and away my favorite pasta dish. The sea urchin on top was so beautiful it brought tears of joy to my eyes and made this my favorite version of urchin that wasn't sushi-style!

And we weren't' done eating! They brought out the main entree of chicken saltimbocca with sides of brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes. Unfortunately I found the chicken the most un-interesting dish of the evening. Compared to everything else it was just kind of "meh." It was well-cooked, don't get me wrong, but it didn't blow my socks off (mind you I don't normally order chicken at restaurants because on my personal hierarchy of meats, it's on the bottom).

The side dishes were so good that they totally overshadowed the chicken. The brussels sprouts were served crispy with panchetta and apple agrodolce. If you dine at Moto you must order the brussels sprouts, YOU MUST. The potatoes were nicely roasted with sun chokes, black truffle and some taleggio cheese. There was just a small amount of cheese, but it was so nice that I wish that they'd smothered the potatoes in it. Too rich? Maybe.

Speaking of too rich, even after all this food, we had two desserts. Gluttony, Ahoy! First was a Meyer lemon bundino (custard) with pistachio biscotti and a semolina shortbread. The custard was very light and fluffy. The chef told us it was made with only lemon, sugar and cream (no egg or gelatin). It had a light lemon flavor and the biscotti dipped in it was pure joy. The final dessert was the Moto take on chocolate tiramisu. It was made with amaretto gelee, chocolate cake and mascarpone mousse and a cookie crumble. This was a very inventive take on the traditional tiramisu and gave me my chocolate fix.

I'll fully admit that I was spoiled at Moto. We had tons of amazing food, gracious and prompt service and our fill of red wine. I was very impressed with all of the food and how well-executed the event was. Moto made me realize that I should venture to the gulch more often. I've been missing out. ** While I was provided this dinner gratis, all the opinions are honest and my own. I would like to thank the people at Moto, especially Chef Andy Hayes for the tasty eats and Jennifer McMakin for putting together such a lovely evening.**