This just appeared as Riccardo Ullio’s Facebook status:
Cuerno will be closing its doors this Sunday, so for all of you that have enjoyed dining there in the past, please stop by this weekend for a farewell.
No word yet on the reason for the closing.
This from Riccardo Ullio’s Facebook page:
On Monday, April 6, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the Abruzzo region of Italy. At least 260 people lost their lives and more than 28,000 people have been left homeless by the disaster.
Please join us in the effort to raise funds for the people affected by the earthquake. On Tuesday, April 21st U Restaurants will host the Dine Out for Earthquake Relief.
All profits from dinner at Sotto Sotto, Fritti, Cuerno and Beleza will go to provide relief for the victims through the International Red Cross.
In order to raise additional funds, U Restaurants will hold a raffle featuring an array of great prizes, worth over $4500, from U Restaurants and other local retailers. Raffle tickets can be purchased at all U Restaurants.
I’ve been craving pizza all week, so we visited Fritti Thursday night. While I got my favorite Napoli — made with bufala, wild oregano, capers and anchovies — Wayne ordered the calzone, which arrived at the table looking like a gigantic crab, larger than the plate on which it was served.
Wayne admitted that it put the first calzone he ever tasted — when he was 10, in Columbia, S.C. — to shame. Light, crispy and creamy, it was filled with ricotta, mozzarella, salame and cotto ham. He accepted the offer of a dish of marinara on the side. It didn’t need it, but he never says no to extra food.
We also ordered my favorite starter, the fried mushrooms.
As we finished our meal, restaurant owner Riccardo Ullio arrived on his motorcycle. (Yes, we know one another.) Riccardo also owns Beleza, the groovy Brazilian cocktail lounge. He said that he is in the process of changing the menu there to all raw food. It won’t be just vegetarian food. Ceviche, carpaccio, tuna crudo and such will be on the menu, along with vegetarian dishes like the grains the spot is already serving.
Meanwhile, Cuerno, next door to Beleza, is featuring live flamenco at 7 p.m. Sundays. The show features guitar, dance and singing. If you’ve never seen authentic flamenco, you need to go. As far as I know, Cuerno remains the only Spanish restaurant in our city and the paellas estan fantasticas.
(Photo by Cliff Bostock)
In the Spanish city of Pamplona, natives and tourists come together for one week to celebrate the famous “Running of the Bulls.” You’ve probably seen pictures or updates on the news about multitudes of people running wildly down the streets being chased by large and angry-looking horned animals.
From July 7-14, Cuerno will bring this tradition to Atlanta, except without the fear of being gored or trampled by a bull. Specials include $5 sangria ($20 for a pitcher), and $4 pinxtos (basque tapas). The festival wrap up party on Mon., July 14 will offer complimentary tapas and live flamenco performances.
Cuerno is located at 905 Juniper Street and is open for dinner Monday through Thursday from 5:30-12 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until 1 a.m. To make reservations, call 678.904.4584.
(photo courtesy Wikipedia commons)
Here’s a cool way to try out Beleza and Cuerno, Riccardo Ullio’s new Midtown restaurants, without breaking the bank. There’s just one stipulation besides the $35 charge. You need to be gay. I bet you can do that for a few hours. I’ve seen it done.
The Big Gay Supper Club convenes at Beleza at 7 p.m. March 11. For more information and to make a reservation, call 404-668-5649. The monthly dining club’s website is here.
Cuerno (905 Juniper St.), Riccardo Ullio’s long-awaited Spanish restaurant, is finally open. We dropped by for a first look Sunday and found the food mainly quite good — especially the Valencia-style paella (above) with multiple ingredients, including rabbit, clams, shrimp, squid and chicken.
A few years ago, Wayne and I spent a week in Monte Frio, a mountain town north of Granada. It was winter and every evening, we walked down the hill from our apartment to a restaurant for the evening’s paella, usually one made with saffron rice. Cuerno’s is the nearest to that I’ve ever tasted in our city.
We also tried a bunch of tapas, including mussels, grilled shrimp, fried potatoes, onion soup (with raisin chutney) and squid stuffed with sofrito (above, right) The restaurant has a grill that reaches astronomical temperatures and leaves seafood juicy and unusually flavorful.
The restaurant itself is quite a looker, featuring a gigantic bull sculpture (with large testicles you may rub for good luck), Alhambra-like mosaic tile, glittering chandeliers and lots of red. Like Spain itself, the restaurant’s decor is a blend of the pagan and the Christian, including an image of the Virgin (above, left) opposite the bull.
Cuerno, Riccardo Ullio’s long-awaited Spanish restaurant, opens Sunday night after an invitation-only preview this evening, Friday.
The new restaurant is located next door to Ullio’s latest, Beleza, which we visited to try out the new chef, Ken Bouche, who has kind of de-weirded the menu. The sous-vide fish is gone and some much more substantial dishes have been added, including oxtail stew and a Brazilian shrimp stew that features the very unique taste of extra-virgin red palm oil.
The reason for the changes is mainly about cost. Ullio said people complained that the menu of small plates was too expensive and not filling enough. So he’s cut back the effort to make everything organic, as well as adding the more filling dishes.
Still, the comparatively light grains, such as the farro with heirloom beans and smoked San Marzano tomatoes pictured here, are delicious. A black rice dish is even better.
Of course, I had to try the new dessert of chocolate aphrodisiacs. You’ll have to read next week’s Grazing to learn what a sexual savage I became after eating the stuff.
