Is Maialino fully open yet?

I think you can do better on ice cream — Morgenstern is much better than van leeuwen imo. I prefer Cafe Panna to both. (Or venchi or amorino if you want gelato.)

Re EMP: if you’re curious but don’t want to commit to the price tag, and can be a bit flexible, just swing by and see if they have a seat in the bar room. They have great cocktails and will often let you order a la carte (in the $30-50 for a small dish range). Last I was there, some of the dishes were still really really good. It was not as uniformly amazing as before (the sunflower butter is gross and I will always miss their lavender duck), but was still fun.