Roasted pork skin rasped against the butter knife, a promise of crackle and chew to come. The outer layer of a piece snapped under my teeth at first, but additional satisfying work was required to get through the softer skin and rendered fat beneath.
It was glorious. I invited the bartender at L’Roca Restaurant & Lounge to listen to the knife scrape again. She smiled indulgently, obvious pleased at my delight, but, since the restaurant has been open since early September, she knows how good the pernil is and what it sounds like.
L’Roca took over and renovated 170 Delaware Ave. in Albany, which was home for more than 30 years to The Elbo Room. The bar lost its liquor license temporarily for violations of pandemic restrictions in mid-2020, later reopening, but it seems to have faded into oblivion by the next summer; a Latham Elbo Room storefront for takeout/delivery, mostly of chicken wings, lasted a little longer…