While visiting New York, I arranged to meet up for a very early dinner with a friend Thought of various places to dine at the bar, as this was a last-minute decision. Settled on Annisa since it was their last day of service. Nice receptionist is on the phone said that if we got there right at opening, getting seats at the bar would be no problem. Got there 10 minutes before opening, and there was a film crew documenting the restaurant’s last hurrah. Finally got to the reception desk. Very snippy attitude and was advised that there was one single seat available: four had been reserved, and one was being secured otherwise. Walked a couple of blocks over to Babbo. I think we wound up making a very good decision.
I wish they still had the pasta tasting menu at Osteria Mozza back home in LA. This was phenomenal. A couple of the dishes fell on tiny bit flat for me (garganelli had no acid hit at all and bolognese was kind of watered down, like Mom’s quick and dirty “meat sauce” for spaghetti). But the pasta itself in each serving was nailed perfectly.
The kitchen sent out two different desserts for us to split rather than giving us both the same. Olive oil cake was fantastic as was the pineapple crostatda. Our bartender, Amanda, was friendly, warm, helpful, and very enthused about the food being served. A lovely way to spend an early eve in NYC.