The Alex & The Eleanor + 1

As I promised - more restaurant reviews!!! Last night we went to Babbo (Mario Batali’s used to be flagship (now he’s got Del Posto which is more upscale) restaurant), which many people might consider the best Italian food in new york, Myself among them - with caveats. It’s definitely not a traditional “italian” restaurant - no veal parm, no scalopini etc, but instead a very creative menu that travels throughout italy using fresh and creative ingredients.

The restaurant itself is much like Mr. Batali himself - large, loud and playful. Even though it’s a very high end elegant restaurant Babbo plays 80’s music over the stereo, and the service is friendly and casual, while still being attentive and perfectionist. Aside from the food, this seems to be what Batali does best - taking high end cuisine and making it comfortable. Per Se (Thomas Keller’s restaurant in the time warner center with 4 stars from the times) is a beautiful restaurant with amazing food, but I wouldn’t want to eat there more than say 2-3 times a year - Babbo I’d be happy eating at weekly.

This trip, the meal started with an amuse bouche of marinated chickpeas on thin slices of bread. Not quite as delicious as the marinated white beans I’ve had there in the past as an amuse, but quite a nice start; and like much of Batali’s cuisine, hearty yet complex.

For a starter I had the beef cheek ravioli with crushed squab liver (Batali loves to get innards all over the menu - they also have tripe, goose liver, lamb’s brain…) and black truffles. Insanely rich, but also wonderfully delicious. Unlike many restaurants, this wasn’t a truffle oil dish, there was a HEARTY amount of shaved black truffle in the dish. The pasta was perfectly cooked al dente, as only fresh made pasta can be. The filling was tasty and rich. Crushed squab liver sauce however was maybe a bit much for me. Still, a fantastic dish, and quite a large portion. Eleanor had the fresh local vegetable salad that looked quite tasty, and Mac (father in law) had the goose liver ravioli in a balsamic vinegar and brown butter sauce that looked positively decedent. Accompanying the appetizers we had he first of the Bastianich (Mario’s partner is Joe Bastianich, who’s mother is Lydia Bastianich who should be familiar from the food network and her restaurant Felidia to many) winery reds, the 2000 “Vespa Rosso” which is a very pleasant well balanced fruit forward wine. I’ve had it here before and enjoyed it, and this was a re-affirmation of that appreciation.

For an entree I went with the grilled guinea hen with spaghetti squash and a black truffle vinaigrette. Beautiful presentation with two stacked breasts with a beautifully crisped skin sitting on a bed of the spaghetti squash. First bite was heaven, the fat from the skin melding beautifully with the juicy hen. The spaghetti squash added a nice clean note to the richness of the hen. I will say that I was able to come nowhere close to finishing it, as the richness of that combined with my pasta starter became a bit overwhelming. We also got sides of roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts for the table. The sprouts were good, but the potatoes were a virtual revelation (I tend not to be a huge roasted/mashed potato fan) - they had the perfect combination of crispness on the outside and mushiness on the inside, combined with a fantastic olive oil and rosemary flavoring. Such a simple dish, yet it showcases what a difference quality ingredients and an attention to detail can bring to a dish. Eleanor had the stinging nettle pappardelle with wild boar ragu that I tasted and was excellent (it also was quite good cold for dinner the next night!) and I sadly can’t remember what Mac had, I think it was a veal loin special. We complimented our main course with our second bottle of wine - moving on from the vespa rosso to the 1999 Calabrone - the higher end wine from the Bastianich winery. Quite the revelation in a glass, a much richer wine than vespa rosso, and quite complex. Highly recommend it. A quick note on the wine list - all Italian, incredibly deep and covered with extremely affordable wines in addition to the high end ones (and I mean over 10 bottles under 40 dollars on the list!).

Although we were stuffed, there was a blueberry budino (basically a bread pudding) that sounded quite intriguing so E and I decided to split that as a dessert. Boy am I glad we did. Unbelievably good! It managed to be sweet and dense yet somehow not cloying. A revelation of flavor in my mouth, I can still taste it now writing about it. While there’s no question I’d try different dishes when I come back (everything on the menu looks and sounds so interesting) I think I’d be hard pressed not to order this again when we return.

On a final note, obviously I love the restaurant. Food and atmosphere alone make this one of my favorite restaurants in New York, easily in my top 5, and depending on the night if you gave me my choice of any restaurant to go to in the city it might be my pick, it has even more going for it. Price. There’s not an entree on the menu over $30. And as I said, the wine list has many bottles under 40 dollars, some under 30, and you can get wine by the quartino (about 2 glasses or so) for as little as $11. While not cheap, the food is on a plane with the best the city has to offer, where entrees can be upwards of $50 and you’ll be hard pressed to find a bottle of wine for under $100. Taking that into account, Babbo is a rare bargain - if you can get a table. Even though it’s been around for quite a while now, it’s still just about the hottest table in the city, and unlike some other perennial hot tables (coughbalthazarcough) it completely deserves it’s reputation.

A+