Skaneateles, N.Y. — Put Ed Moro and a beef short rib together in the same kitchen, and something delicious will happen. It’s a fact.
The short rib dish ($30) at his Skaneateles restaurant Moro’s Kitchen was so tender from braising that it split simply from looking at it. The long slow cook broke down the fatty tissue, flavoring it from within and contributing a concentrated beef flavor to the tomato- and vegetable-based sauce. Whole plum tomatoes mingled on the dish with the chunks of boneless beef.
Stringy and succulent, the short ribs provided contrast to the dense polenta beneath it. Salty and nutty parmesan cheese enriched the blend of dairy and cornmeal, which slowly absorbed the braising liquid.
Simply, it was what we’ve come to expect from an Ed Moro short rib dish. The elegant beef cut has been featured on the menu at his French-inspired Auburn restaurant, Moro’s Table, since it opened in 2010. Five years later, it joined the lineup when he opened Moro’s Kitchen, located in the Jordan Street space formerly occupied by Garage Eatz and Joe’s Pasta Garage.
Fellow restaurant critic Jane Marmaduke Woodman recently described Moro’s Kitchen as gourmet takeout. We wanted to see how good it is in-house.
Moro’s Kitchen is modern Italian. Traditional Italian-American dishes like eggplant parmigiana and ravioli appear on the menu alongside housemade pasta with African-spiced bolognese and a truffle-scented mushroom ragu.
It’s not too modern, though. You can still get a plate of chicken parmigiana ($25). Pounded thin, the chicken breast was coated in breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese before being lightly fried. It received a gentle blanket of marinara and mozzarella cheese before going under the broiler. It was served over a meal-sized portion of housemade rigatoni in marinara sauce.
Ordinarily, pasta side dishes are forgettable throwaway items. That’s not the case here. Pasta was cooked until just al dente, providing resistance when bitten but not so much that it was underdone. The pitch-perfect marinara sauce was chunky with a slightly sour and acidic flavor.
Our Saturday evening visit found a dining room that was consistently half full, which was more of a reflection on multiple high school sports teams competing in sectionals and relocating potential diners to bleachers and stadiums across the region.
Like its sister restaurant in Auburn, Moro’s Kitchen has a carefully curated selection of wines by the bottle and glass. Unlike Moro’s Table, this restaurant cannot serve liquor due to its proximity to a local church.
Cocktails are made with wine-based spirits, similar to those poured at Syracuse’s Luna Loca. The cranberry-pomegranate margarita ($8) was constructed with agave wine and fruit juices, rendering a boozy flavor with a tart, slightly sweet finish.
Housemade meatballs in marinara sauce ($12) were dense with a good balance of meat and cheese. The meatballs were cooked in sauce, not fried or baked, which absorbed the tomato flavors.
Moro’s Kitchen offers nine different 12-inch pizzas on housemade dough that was spongy and chewy from fermenting. Our prosciutto and arugula pizza ($15) was a salty delight. Cured ham, and a blend of mozzarella, fontina and parmesan cheeses were complemented by heat from chile-infused honey drizzled over top. Fresh arugula served atop the pizza added a peppery, fresh flavor contrast.
Also housemade is the gelato ($6), one of the regular desserts available on the menu. The traditional stracciatella featured a dense vanilla ice cream with chocolate shavings almost as big as the scoopfuls. A seasonal apple crisp ($6) was warm and tart, with a buttery oat topping beneath fresh whipped cream.
Service was extremely attentive and personable. We watched the staff interact near the bar during a lull in the evening and it seemed that they genuinely enjoyed working with one another.
This balance of upscale casual environment, high-quality culinary execution and warm service is something of a calling card for Ed Moro’s restaurants. It speaks to the longevity and success of each location and reminds us why we continue to return.
The Details
The Restaurant: Moro’s Kitchen, 28 Jordan St, Skaneateles, NY 13152; (315) 685-6116.
Reservations? Yes, by phone.
Access to Disabled: The doorway is wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers, and the interior has plenty of space to move around.
Credit cards? Yes.
Parking: The large municipal lot behind the restaurant has ample space. Just remember to plug the meter box.
Outdoor dining available? No.
Noise level: Moderate. The room is rather intimate, but we found the volume easy to manage.
Special diets catered for? Vegetarians, pescatarians, and those following a dairy-free diet will find multiple options. Gluten-free pasta and pizza are available.
Children’s menu? No.
Hours: 4 to 8 p.m., Wednesday and Friday; 2 to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Cost: Most entrees are more than $20 and the pizzas and starters are in the $10 to $20 range. Dinner for two with alcoholic beverages, starters, entrees, tax and tip was $151.52.
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