Last week we celebrated our 5th year Anniversary…of dating, people, not marriage 
Now, we’re both huge Mario Batali fans and we’ve been wanting to come to Babbo ever since we landed in NYC. Babbo was one of his earliest restaurants in NYC and opened in 1998. Located in Greenwich Village, it’s a little cozy (read: small). Reservations have to be made 1 month in advance! Rob snagged a 5:30pm dinner res and ordered the $75 Traditional Tasting menu. This consisted of several dishes:
- Chick pea Bruschetta with 28-yr aged balsamic. I’m no connoisseur of balsamic but damn that was some great stuff!
- Duck Bresaola with Parmigiano and Aceto Manodori. Super thin slices of air-dried duck served with a parmesan cheese custard and cheese crisp. Great presentation but the amount was “Barbie-dollhouse” small.
- Papparadelle with Hedgehogs and thyme. First thought was: “Will this dish be blue? I didn’t know you could eat hedgehogs.” Turns out they mean hedgehog mushrooms. I’m a sucker for hand-made pasta and these wide flat noodles were the bomb dressed in a nutty butter sauce.
- Duck Tortelli with “Sugo Finto.” Little pope hat-shaped ravioli pasta with a creamy tangy ricotta and duck puree filling covered with a bright tomato sauce (the “sugo finto”). The filling is an off-putting brown color but still rather tasty.
- Grilled Hanger Steak with Celery Root and Cranberry Mostarda. The salty seared crust on the meat was excellent and the cranberry sauce was nice and tart to cut through the richness.
- Coach’s Farm’s Brie with green peppercorns with Fennel Honey. I’m not big on fennel seeds but this was eye-opening. That honey was the star of this dish!
- Fico in Mosto. Carmelized fig with marscapone cream, and a delicate slice of orange peel. You have to taste all the components together to really enjoy this one!
- Chocolate Tartufino. Perfect chocolate exterior with a firm creamy (hazelnut?) interior, dusted with powdered sugar.
- Spiced Chestnut Budino with Cherry Marmelatta and Maraschino Zabaione. Kinda reminded me of thanksgiving with the cinnamon spices and cherry.
- Pine nut Crostata with Buttermilk ice cream. This was my favorite dessert! Think of a warm buttery crust with a gooey honey custard filling topped with loads of toasted pine nuts, then paired with cold ice cream sprinkled with sweet toffee bits. Heaven! I just found the recipe online by Chef Gina DePalma – I MUST make this!
We didn’t get any photos of the food this time, but found some great ones by Robyn Lee thru Serious Eats. Thanks Robyn!
When comparing Babbo to Batali’s newest restaurant Del Posto, we liked Del Posto better. Del Posto is impressive, lavish, yet warm and friendly. Del Posto also has this amazing Lobster Salad Fra Diavola on their Tasting Menu, whereas Babbo’s had absolutely no seafood (perhaps a seasonal decision). Guess we’ll have to give Babbo a second chance and try their Pasta Tasting Menu
For our Pi(e) Day we made three pies: Skillet Shepherd’s Pie, open-faced Apple Pie and Lemon Meringue Pie.
