Up From the Depths

Seek the pig, ye foodie snobs, ye noble gastronauts, ye bewildered and befuddled and besotted masses. King Pig, hanging under the lights like a beacon, like a promise. Find Osteria Marco, go down into its embrace and eat until you pop.

That kinda says it all, doesn’t it? Osteria Marco, chef Frank Bonanno’s newest restaurant that took over the space formerly occupied by Del Mar Crab Shack in a basement off Larimer Square, is amazing and (to those of us obsessed with the art of curing meat, anyway) downright awe-inspiring -- a descent from which you might never surface if you were not very, very careful.

I ate at Osteria Marco shortly right after I returned from New York City, where I stopped by Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain to check on chef Rebecca Weitzman, late of Café Star. Read all about it in this week’s Bite Me, where you’ll also find sad news about Chris Douglas’s Tula. And finally, in Second Helping, I offer an ode to take-out Chinese as weary traveler comfort food. -- Jason Sheehan