Del Posto

In one of my recent posts concerning New York City, I promised to review two well-known restaurants in New York, Del Posto and Gramercy Tavern.  To do justice to both, I decided to write a separate post on each.  This post is about Del Posto.

Del Post, located at 85 10th Avenue in the meatpacking district, is an Italian restaurant with a flair that is unmistakable. Owned by the television chefs, Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich and her son Joe, it reaches for the stars and manages to get there. As you enter the restaurant, it immediately reminds you of a library in a fine men's club, with panelled walls and  marble seemingly everywhere. In addition to the main restaurant floor, there is also a balcony and we were told, additional space in the basement. In all, we were advised it can hold over 500 people!

At dinner, Del Posto offers two prix fixe menus, one five course for $115 per person and the other, $145 per person.for seven courses.  Obviously, at those prices, it will have to be a very special occasion. Unlike Batali's other New York City restaurant, Babbo, which does not accept reservations, reservations for Del Posto are a must.

We opted for the five course dinner, which involves an antipasto, an entree and a dessert.  In addition, the table shares two pasta dishes. I had the vitello tonnato as an antipasto.  It was a very interesting combination of veal and tuna. For my entree (or secondi), I opted for the lobster.  It was well-prepared with funghi, celerine and balsamic vinegar, among other savory ingredients.

The table shared two pasta dishes, including a superb gaargannelli with a bolognese ragu. It was of the melt in your mouth variety.

For dessert, we each had the tartufo, with cherry vanilla ice cream  covered with dark chocolate. I have to say it was even better than the tartufo that I had in the restaurant in Rome in the Piazza Navonna where the dessert was invented.

The wait staff is quite solicitous and knowledgeable about the menu.  The head waiter explains what each course contains since it is not always obvious given the tremendous variety of ingredients.
The sommelier was extremely helpful in helping us pick out an inexpensive red wine, which he indicated was one of his favorites, a Bravia Barolo. It was ours also after tasting it.

The restaurant is expensive but given the atmosphere, quality and uniqueness of the food and the helpfulness of the staff, I would recommend it for those special occasions that merit a step up from the ordinary to the extraordinary..

The phone number for Del Posto is 212-497-8090 and their website is www.delposto.com, where you can view the entire menu.

Buon Appetito!