Maialino

Danny Meyer is a genius at empowering chefs to greatness within the parameters of his particular vision, and the original cook he chose to run this high-concept Roman-style trattoria was Nick Anderer, who worked at Babbo during its heyday and, most recently, under Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern. Anderer is from Manhattan, not Lazio, but he and the various protégés who run the kitchen have a ventriloquist’s knack for soaking up the spare, earthy vocabulary of casual Roman restaurant cooking and reproducing it, more or less exactly, on the plate. There are a variety of faithfully rendered Roman pastas at this satisfying restaurant (cacio e pepe, a first-class carbonara), properly funky strips of “trippa alla Trasteverina,” garnished with Pecorino and sprigs of mint, and faithful renditions of aged classics like frizzled artichoke hearts (with bowls of anchovy-spiked sauce), salty fried sweetbreads and cauliflower on butcher paper (“frittura Romana”), and a wispy, egg-filled bowl of stracciatella, which tastes like some ethereal Mediterranean version of egg-drop soup.