Tuna-phyllo rolls ($19) at Pigalle (75 Charles Street South, Boston, 617.423.4944)
Marc Orfaly’s smash app is essentially a mashup of spanakopita and spicy tuna roll. Occasional cosmetic changes notwithstanding, it remains recognizable to those of us who’ve been stopping by the bar for years to indulge the yen it yields — and who owe a massive debt of gratitude to Orfaly’s wife, GM Kerri Foley. He says: “She won’t ever let me take them off the menu.” At present, we’re talking a neat log pile of rolls whose bite size belies their big taste: all buttery flakiness and deep-sea fleshiness, finished with sesame spinach and schmears of sambal and aioli (to equal a spicy mayo). The piquancy of oddly succulent pickled daikon, cubed and dusted with sesame seeds, a mound of pickled ginger, and a squiggle of salty peanut sauce is best paired with something particularly potent; luckily, Pigalle’s longoverdue full liquor license means you can now get cocktails with that
— RUTH TOBIAS
PHOTO BY KELLY DAVIDSON