Babbo

Surprise birthday dinner disguised as mother’s day dinner last weekend was simply amazing. Batali’s most loved outpost, Babbo certainly deserves the tremendous reputation that it has developed over the years. I had been dying to check out Babbo for quite some time but it requires a lot of careful planning and a reservation at least a month in advance. I was of course, blown away by the food but the service was impeccable as well.

Babbo is in a charming two-story townhouse in the West Village. The decor is simple and elegant, a calming backdrop to the explosiveness of flavors in the dishes. Batali is well known for his execution of delicacies from inner organs. Adventurous eaters will fare well at Babbo by tasting such dishes as beef tripe (cow stomach), sweetbreads (veal intestines) and testa (figure it out). For the more squeamish, Batali’s pasta dishes are rich, spicy and perfectly al dente.

Upon sitting down we were given some crostini with spiced chickpeas on top which we gladly munched on as we perused the menu. After a lot of careful planning and consulting with the helpful waiter, we made our decisions. Appetizers were: warm lamb’s tongue vinaigrette with morels and a 3-minute egg, grilled octopus with spicy limoncello vinaigrette, pig foot Milanese with rice beans and arugula, and autumn vegetable salad with goat’s milk ricotta and pumpkin seed oil. The lamb’s tongue vinaigrette was the star. Certainly the first time I had lamb’s tongue but it was delicious and married well with the earthy morels. They also gave us a complimentary buffalo mozzarella with some crusty bread.

Following the appetizers we had a pasta course and ordered four pastas for the table to share: garganelli with funghi, mint love letters with spicy lamb sausage, beef cheek ravioli with crushed squab liver and black truffles and black spaghetti with rock shrimp, spicy salami calabrese and green chiles. The mint love letters and beef cheek ravioli are signature dishes but I found the garganelli to be the best dish. The garganelli was packed with flavor without being overwhelming. I thought the mint in the love letters was a bit out of place though I appreciated the creativity.

We rounded out the meal with the whole grilled branzino, the grilled guinea hen with pumpkin and black olive vinaigrette, the fennel dusted sweetbreads and the grilled lamb chops with eggplant and lemon yogurt. Despite being incredibly full at this point we managed to make it through the entrees which were well worth it. I was also impressed with the sommelier who comfortably bantered with my Dad (tough to please) and recommended wines to pair well with every course, without asking what we had ordered. There seemed to be some effort involved in the background to integrate the sommelier and the waiter, something you don’t see often.

I highly recommend Babbo for your next special occasion. Make sure you have a big appetite and an adventurous attitude for the experience.

Babbo: 110 Waverly Place betw 6 Ave and Macdougal
Cuisine: Italian
Food: Excellent
Service: Excellent
Average App/Entree Price: $14/$23
Value: Excellent
You Gonna Finish That? Every last bite.

Otto-ly Inedible

My lunch yesterday at Otto started off wonderfully. The atmosphere is rustic and welcoming; our waiter was friendly. We started off the meal with some delicious antipasto- a 3 cheese assortment with fontina, a goat cheese, and an aged parmesan plus a platter of salami and proscuitto. I enjoyed the presentation of stewed cherries, apricots, and truffle-honey alongside the cheeses. We were wooed to the point of exclaiming “I love this place! How good is this?” etc. Unfortunately our entrees took a sharp turn at gross street and the meal was unsalvageable. My friend’s pasta was the single most disgusting dish I have ever had in a restaurant. She ordered the special which was linguine vongole (with a clam and garlic sauce). I understand that Batali has a unique and different approach to Italian cuisine but this dish was inedible. The pasta tasted like someone had dipped it in the ocean and then doused it in chilli peppers. She made a face of disgust as soon as she tried it and offered me a bite to see if something was wrong with it. OH GOD, NO! NO! NO! I exclaimed in sheer horror. “Something is wrong here!” I have never sent anything back in my life but this dish warranted it. We called the waiter over and explained that something was wrong and requested an exchange. We tried to be as delicate as possible and he was nice about swapping out the dish. She went for the carbonara in exchange, hoping that would be a safe bet.

I ordered the Quattro stagioni pizza which was OK but nothing to write home about. It came with four different sections of toppings- swiss chard, mushrooms, prosciutto cotto and peppers. I think I could have gotten better pizza down the street in my culinary wasteland of Murray Hill. It was pretty weak on the cheese and the crust was rather tasteless- certainly not special at all and not worthy of the Batali name.

My friend’s carbonara emerged a bit later. It was edible but I still would not call it delicious. Supposedly Otto is famous for carbonara and I can’t understand why. The pasta was nicely al dente but the preparation was sloppy. I found the sauce to be incredibly thick and too rich. I expected more elegance from Otto. Why do people love it so much? Someone please enlighten me!

Save your money and your time and stick to the antipasto at Otto or skip it all together.

Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria- 1 5^th Ave and 8^th Street
Cuisine- Italian, Pizza
Average App/Entree Price- $7-$14
Food- Poor
Service- Very Good
Value- Good
You Gonna Finish That? Not even worth a doggy bag.