Otto

1 5th Ave.  New York, NY
www.ottopizzeria.com

Price: $$
Favorite dish: Cacio E Pepe

Reunited (again) and it feels sOoOoOo good. This past weekend, my parents flew into New York to visit and spend some time with me while I am still in here. How sweet!!!!! On Friday night, Nicole and her parents came to meet my parents and me in the city for dinner for some family bonding time of course! We decided to take Arleigh along for the ride because why not? The Jablon's decided on celebrity chef Mario Batalli's restaurant Otto Pizzeria. The restaurant had a vivacious atmosphere, and it was completely packed, and therefore was very noisy. Despite making a reservation, we still had to wait almost 25 minutes for a table. The restaurant was modeled to resemble an Italian train station, so when your assigned "train" goes up on the board, you know your table is ready. We were actually seated at a corner table completely smushed together. Good thing we like each other, right?


Here is what we ordered:

Nicole and her parents got the chopped salad with salami and chickpeas. 

My dad and Arleigh both got the baby spinach salad with ricotta salata and truffle honey.  This salad was really good…basically anything with truffle is good to me!

My mom got the watermelon salad, served with cucumbers and feta cheese. I am not the biggest fan of watermelon or cucumber, but I actually loved this salad. It was sweet and delicious…I almost couldn't tell there was watermelon in there. Loved it.

For the main course, we ordered some different pizzas and pastas so we could all try each others' meals.

The first pizza we got was the fennel & bottarga, with tomato, pecorino, and mozzarella.

My dad got the Cacio E Pepe pizza, which had mozzarella, cacio (an Italian cheese), pecorino, parmigiano, and black pepper. This was my favorite of the pizzas, and probably my favorite dish of the whole meal. There was so much flavor packed into this one pizza. All of the cheeses combined together were just too good on a great thin crust. YUUUM.

Nicole got the classic margherita pizza, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil. 

Ong more pizza for the table: the vongole, with garlic, mozzarella, and clams.

We got the Pasta Alla Norma, which was penne pasta with tomato, roasted eggplant, basil, and ricotta. I thought the pasta was good and I really liked the roasted eggplant. The pasta was a little bit undercooked but the tomato sauce was really fresh and yummy.

Do you think we ordered enough food?!?!?

I really enjoyed my time at Otto with my friends and family. The food was pretty good and everything was extremely reasonably priced in contrast to the prices I typically see throughout the city. There were a few issues, being that the wait staff was a bit slow, and we were served bread, but with no butter or olive oil or anything. But….. overall the food was good, the mood was fun, and we had a great time together.

To finish off the evening, we walked toward Greenwich Village and got cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes. How perfect! (to view my recent post on Molly's cupcakes, click here).

An awful and blurry pic of Nicole, Arleigh, and me at Otto. But still….FRIENDS! <3 <3

 XOXO,
Danielle

Butter

Location: 415 Lafayette Street  New York, NY

http://www.butterrestaurant.com

Price: $$$$ --Great place to go if you're looking for a nicer or fancier dinner. More of a parent-in-town meal than for simply going out with friends.

Favorite dish: Cavatappi Pasta with Spicy Lamb Sausage

To kick off my summer of eating (and working) in the city, my family (mom, dad, and Jaynie) and I decided to start off my move-in weekend in the city with Butter. Being a huge fan of the Food Network, I am always interested in trying the restaurants of some of my favorite celebrity chefs. Having heard of Alex Guarnaschelli's restaurant Butter for a while, we finally went to try it out.  The restaurant was dimly lit, and was decorated with tree-like branches lining the ceiling, and more nature-inspired decor lining the walls. In my dad's words, the restaurant seemed a little more "nutter-butter" than Butter. However, it was very inviting, and got me very excited to try out the food that Butter had to offer. It was so delicious and I highly recommend this restaurant to adventurous eaters. Chef Alex Guarnaschelli does an excellent job mixing unusual ingredients together and making them taste fantastic, and I encourage you to try out all the delicious flavors featured on this menu. I would definitely go back!

        Our Meal:

Coming to a restaurant called Butter, I could only come in expecting some of the best bread and butter out there. With bread and butter being one of my all time favorite things, these definitely lived up to my standards! A warm bread basket was accompanied by 2 different selections of butter. One was a standard soft butter, and the other was a wonderful herb butter. Delicious and perfect way to start off the meal.

Right off the bat, when we see a grilled calamari on a menu,  we are always on board! We decided to try the grilled octopus, served with a marinated cucumber salad with fresh oregano and a red wine dressing. This octopus dish was unlike any other grilled calamari I had ever tasted before, and it was really delicious. The pieces were cut thicker than usual, and were extremely flavorful. One of the best touches to this dish was the little chunks of watermelon mixed within the cucumber salad…an absolutely perfect combination with the octopus. We all loved it!   **my apologies about the terrible lighting!**

The first appetizer we ordered was the Cavatappi pasta with spicy lamb sausage, smothered in a yellow tomato sauce. Before arriving to the table, I did not expect it to be as good as it turned out to be. However, the second the dish showed up the table, the four of us quickly dove in to get a taste. Hands down, this was the BEST dish of the night.  The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, and the yellow tomato sauce was out of this world. It was sweet and flavorful and just plain fantastic. The lamb sausage was an awesome touch that added great flavor to the dish. I could've eaten this whole thing myself, and then some. My dad and I finished off scraping the bottom of the dish for any excess remnants of the sauce….whoops. 

For my mom's main course, she decided to order the duck breast, which the waiter couldn't say enough good things about. This duck was SO GOOD. It was served with a peach marmalade and wilted dandelion greens, atop a bed of rice and topped with grilled peaches. YUM! The duck was super tender and perfectly cooked. We all couldn't get enough. In the end, my mom now couldn't say enough good things about it!

I am a huge fan of sea scallops, and whenever I see them on a menu, I usually jump to ordering them. Turns out that these scallops may be some of the best I have ever had. The scallops were served with braised peas and sugar snap peas, topped with lemongrass, and ginger. The ginger definitely added an unexpected bite which I loved, and the sauce that was on it was so delicious. The scallops were sweet and juicy, and were perfectly cooked. Mmmmmm…...

Jaynie's main course was the wild mushroom ragout. It was served with a warm toasted brioche with duxelles, truffle butter, and a fried farm egg to top it off. Right as Jaynie's dish was served, I couldn't help but smell the amazing aroma of the truffle butter (one of my favorite things)! That was when I decided to try, and it was delish. The addition of the fried egg with its runny yolk was a great combination with the mushrooms, and was great eaten atop the brioche. 

My dad ordered the New York Strip steak. A classic. It was served on top of a bed of sautéed wild spinach and toasted breadcrumbs. With steak being one of my favorite foods, THIS was a great steak. The meat was tender, and was prepared to just the right temperature. Very very good! 

As our waiter was reading the specials, as soon as he mentioned Blondie Sundae, I was sold. Brownie sundaes have always been my favorite dessert, so at this point in the meal, a Blondie sundae sounded mouthwatering. As the dish was served, my mom and Jaynie were so excited, they dove in so quickly that I almost couldn't take a picture (thanks for fixing that up for me ;) ) This sundae was awesome. It was served with vanilla ice cream, blondie pieces, fresh strawberries, cognac caramel sauce, and a drizzle of chocolate. In the wise words of Ina Garten, how bad can that be? It was really delicious.

Although we originally decided to pass on the raspberry beignets to save some precious calories, we found that they are one of Butter's staple desserts, so how could we pass that up? The beignets were filled with a raspberry jam, served with a vanilla dipping sauce. The scent from the beignets was heavenly, and they tasted even better, with a wonderful coating of sugar on top. The vanilla dipping sauce paired perfectly with the raspberry flavor. They were absolutely addicting. I could've eaten all 3 by myself, no matter how full I already was. They were scrumptious. 

Can't wait to continue blogging about my delicious experiences!
XOXO,
Danielle