...involved dinner with Don at Otto. Waits for two were 40 minutes around a quarter to 9pm, so we put our names down at the bar and luckily scored two seats in just 15 minutes. A great bartender coupled with some of the best dishes I've had at Otto made the night highly enjoyable. Up until yesterday's meal I though Otto to be just decent - tasty, and a good value, but nothing more. Well it turns out that (aside from the gelato) I've been ordering all wrong. A meal at Otto for me always = pizza or pasta + awesome gelato for dessert. I've been very stupid indeed for it is the whole top half of the menu, including small dishes of vegetables, meats, fish, and cheese is what you should focus on. It's also the half of the menu I've neglected the last few years. But not to worry, I'll be making many more returns to Otto in the future. Dishes like...
�the English Peas & Prosciutto will keep me returning, for it was equally delicious as it was visually appealing, with just enough of oil and mint. This photo doesn't even begin to do the spring colours of fresh peas justice, they practically glowed a sunny green, offset by the buttery pancetta. The peas, crisp and sweet, popped in your mouth a few a time, pancetta melting into each nibble.
The waiter brought out our order of Fava Lonza at the same time and I didn't know quite which one to dive for first, for they both looked incredible. Razor thin cuts of savory lonza (made from the pork tenderloin) with fresh fava beans (oh man, look at the soft green shades!) and pecorino cheese. Ridiculous.
Thin enough for you? :)
We moved onto the testa, pressed with oranges, adding a decidedly light but decadent whisper to the creamy gelatinous meat. The testa was so delicious the first time we tasted it two weeks ago, that before even walking into the restaurant last night, we had already decided to order it. However, this time around, especially in comparison to the fava lonza, the testa was less appreciated and left in the shadows. With that said, it's still worth ordering over and over again.
But our main reason for the visit was this dish pictured above: Bucatini with Ramps & Guanciale. We've had it once before - this warm tangle of bucatini noodles tossed in a pungent ramp pesto and savoury cuts of guanciale, finished with dusting of garlicy breadcrumbs�we had to have it again. So we did.
We also ensured room for another dish that piqued our curiosity: the Pasta Alla Norma. Rigatoni with tomatoes, cubes of roasted eggplant, basil and pure white splodges of bufala ricotta. A dash of red pepper flakes was just what the pasta needed to bring it all together. Don still liked the ramp bucatini more, but I think I've found a new favourite pasta - it was the doubtlessly the ricotta splodges which pushed it over edge for me. Next time I shall request twice as much ricotta on the dish :)
Post pasta, we took a little breather, and I had sips of Don's nocino, made in house. I don't know much about liqueurs at all, but I am learning quite a bit from Don, who I kid you not, qualifies as a human encyclopedia on liqueurs.
The tiramisu came soon afterwards, and oddly enough, dessert, which is always the highlight of my Otto meals, for the first time, fell very flat. It also happened to be the first time I've ordered a non-gelato dessert here. And it will be the last. (Except for the budinos - pudding fall in a category all their own ;) But as far as the tiramisu went, save for the rich zabaglione crema, a little of everything was wrong - unexpectedly big chocolate chunks hidden between layers, and an espresso soaked sponge cake crusty and hard.
But by the point I was so very content with the meal that even a lousy dessert could barely put a damper on the night. Besides, we had a quite a few sweets from Sripraphai waiting for us in the fridge back home...
Otto
1 Fifth Avenue
NY, NY 10003
(212) 995-9559
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