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
Steve says
lots of dessert! looks like a great meal.
Hungry says
Glad to see they finally met reasoning. I went before the whole prix fixe thing and spent $85 on myself for a measly portion of 3 mini agnolotti’s and something else I can’t remember. No amuses, nor free truffles. Left hungry and poorer. I only good thing from that meal was the lard spread which I completely consumed before my first course.
Nonetheless, with this prix fixe, I can imagine myself going back again. At least for that lard. Ah that lard.
kim says
I also went for the prix fixe with my mom. Definitely a great deal…if you’re not a vegetarian. The chef made a substitution with a plate of broccoli rabe sauteed in garlic and olive oil. I couldn’t chosen a pasta dish, but I’ve heard that pasta dishes are mostly oversalted…which happened to my mom’s dish.
Loooove the bread alone. I could go back just for these addictive carbs. 🙂 Glad you had a nice experience.
PS is it commonplace at upscale restaurant to season a salad with sea salt??