Westchester Chefs Recall Their Best Meal Ever: Chef David DiBari of The Cookery in Dobbs Ferry

On any given night after a 13-hour shift, I might accompany some of my friends and staff for a late-night pop at The Spotted Pig in Manhattan. It is there where I’ve had the best thing ever: the sheep’s-milk ricotta gnudi. Eating the gnudi is like spooning (pun intended) explicit sexual content into your mouth.

Chef David DiBari at The Cookery.

The Spotted Pig’s sheep’s-milk ricotta gnudi—as good as sex?

The battling textures of the simple dumpling alone are well worth the trip. The outer shell is like firm but tender flesh. Once you gracefully crack through it with your fork, you reach the core of soft and slightly astringent sheep’s-milk ricotta that ends up coating your mouth with all its lactic glory. As your fork finally touches the plate after running through the dumpling, it then begins to mop up the nutty, aromatic brown butter scented with sage. The tangy, herbaceous leaf cuts through the creaminess of the cheese and almost makes you feel like you’re being healed (while simultaneously slowly killing yourself with the decadent dumpling). And isn’t pleasure sweeter with a little pain?C