Del Posto – Prix Fixe Lunch Menu

As I mentioned in my post on Otto, I’d originally wanted to eat the new menu at Del Posto for lunch that day, but they had no availability.  Since I took the week leading up to Christmas off, I had some flexibility and managed to score a reservation relatively easily.  Yay!

I started off with a Sidecar just because – well, why not?  I’m on vacation… Unfortunately this was not a drink I wanted.  It was on the bitter side, laugh if you want because Sidecars are probably supposed to taste like that, but I didn’t know. 

Our amuses. 

It’s been a while, so I forget exactly the name of this little rice krispie treat lookin’ thing, but I do remember it was crispy indeed and I liked it.

Something stuffed with mortadella which I didn’t think I’d like since I don’t like mortadella, but it tasted like a mini-ham-sandwich bite, which doesn’t do it justice.

The third and last amuse was a Roman style egg drop soup, and that was totally as boring as it sounds.  Sorry.

The wonderful bread basket that I had to stop myself from inhaling, especially when spread with…

whipped butter and/or whipped lard.  Dude… lard should be illegal to be used as a spread.  That’s how amazing and yet horrible it was.  I felt so bad when I was eating it… because, honestly, eating lard spread on bread is just… not… [right/wrong].  I still can’t decide! 

Carne cruda that my dining companion decided was worth the $10 supplement.  I’m pretty sure it was enjoyed – I tried a bite but the memory doesn’t stand out to me…

I had wanted to order the terrine mentioned in the Serious Eats write up but the super friendly waitress told us it had been switched out for this – cotechino.  This was good – I really liked the lentils underneath and there was a crunchy sweet bit above the chunk of meat, but the meat itself tasted like a really, really high quality sausage of sorts.  The flavors blended well together; the sweetness from the lentils and the hearty meatiness of the sausage? itself. 

For main course, my dining companion chose grilled pork Emilia-Romagna style.  While thick, it was still cooked properly, maintaining its juiciness.  I enjoyed my bite dipped in the accompanying swirls of pretty-colored puree – they tasted of apples and tart fruit. 

But even better – we both agreed there was no way around it – was my duck breast.  Perfectly cooked, with a slightly crisp, succulent skin atop it, each bite I cut for myself was just heaven in my mouth.  I did kindly share a piece with my dining companion, who lamented this not being his own dish – which I politely ignored and continud eating my entire dish.  Mmm.  I’m not sure there’s much better in this world than a perfectly executed duck dish. 

My dining companion ordered the chocolate ricotta cake, accompanied by a scoop of olive oil gelato.  As I mentioned when I wrote about Otto, this didn’t wow me as much as it seems to wow other people.  However, I did note that it tasted a little bit oilier here, even though one might guess they are both made by the same person… no? 

Dark chocolate tartufo was my order, and while I enjoyed breaking into the tartufo, I found myself much more interested in the crispy breadcrumbs drizzled with chocolate alongside.  The crunch on these was amazing. 

And then they brought us more desserts – this box filled with goodies for us. 

Chocolate truffles which were bitter, a nice end to a very sweet meal.  I almost wish we’d been directed an order in which to consume these mini bites, because… well… the candied grapefruit would have made a much nicer ending then in the middle where I chose to consume it; they were palate cleansing and refreshing, but eaten in the middle, made everything taste much sweeter. 

But wait, there’s more!

Bomboloni – I was so-so on these, but I liked how cute and bite-size they were. 

Lemon ricotta tarts with apricot ‘roe’ on top (not roe at all!).  These were pretty refreshing and very tart, which I liked as a way to cut all the sugar. 

Chocolate covered olive oil gelato, dusted with crunchy bits.  This would be now the 3rd time/way I’ve had olive oil gelato and something about this application made it taste super, super oily.  Maybe because I put the whole thing in my mouth in one shot?  I’m not sure.  The crunch, the chocolate, the creaminess of the gelato itself were all nice but then the oiliness I felt from eating it… not so much.  Oh well.

Yvo says: From the website, it looks like they’ve lifted the restriction (this menu was previously only available Wednesday-Friday) and it is available daily.  Not a bad deal, honestly – $29 prix fixe?  Since we had an add-on and drinks, our total bill (before tip) came to $100, which is still pretty reasonable for all that we got, but you can definitely choose amazing dishes from the menu without ever going into the supplemental items!  I totally recommend checking our their prix fixe menu as soon as you can… I know I’m going to try to go back sooner than later 🙂
highly recommended lunch menu