SD26's Seasonal Menu Will Help Beat The Winter Blues

SD26, the Italian eatery across from Madison Square Park, definitely makes winter a lot more bearable.

Their seasonal menu utilizes unique ingredients and surprising combinations successfully in dishes like pan roasted veal sweetbread with mustard zabaione and coffee oil, chestnut pappardelle with wild Scottish hare salmi, veal filled ravioli del plin in a capon broth, and housemade garganelli in a light fish velouté with chives and American caviar.

There's also a special White Truffle menu that includes toma piemontese cheese fondue, organic fried egg with toasted hazelnuts, risotto with aged grana Padano, and veal scaloppine with butter and sage.

If you'd like to bring a crowd and partake in "sharsies," their Sunday family dinner ($40 per adult; $20 children under 12) is for you. It features a choice of three appetizers and entrées like lasagna bolognese, red wine braised chicken, and a mélange of roasted and layered winter vegetables. 

Of course, you can also rely on staples like the uovo in ravioli: a soft, egg yolk-filled ravioli with truffle butter. Or there's the slow-roasted baby goat with rosemary roasted potatoes and braised artichokes. 

Somehow, you have to leave room for dessert. We won't ruin the mystery, but try the "Floating Island on Vanilla Sauce" or the "Nutella and Coconut Temptation." 

On the way out, ask if you can tour the downstairs prep kitchen — you might just get to meet Alfonso, the pizza chef from Naples, who's so affable you'll just want to pinch his flour-covered covered cheeks. Molto Bene.