We have been celebrating the anniversary of our first date for 6 years now. Every year we trade off our anniversary and Valentine’s Day and choose restaurants to surprise each other with.
This year, we had to rename our event to our Date-iversary, since our real anniversary is now our wedding date. (Awww)
But the tradition will not go away! Now we just have one more day to celebrate (and eat)!
This year, Mike chose Del Posto as our date-iversary meal. Del Posto is famous for being one of the all-time best in NYC and is owned by Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali. I had been there once before for lunch (and thought it was good but not great), but he hadn’t been yet. I was excited to go back with my honey.
They offer a 5 Course Tasting menu, which we opted for, at $126 each as well as a Captain’s Menu with 8 courses at $179.
The restaurant itself is stunning. Sweeping interior with very dark wood and cream accents.
And I especially love the circular balconies on the 2nd level.
Everything is set formally yet modern.
And there are little statement pieces throughout, for instance, this pitcher. (So not my style, but I loved the aesthetic in here)
The lower level has the wine cellar, private rooms, and some restrooms. The stairs that connect the two levels are equally stunning.
And I love the collection of old globes under the stairs.
We sat our table and started with cocktails. They were strong but very well done.
Our amuse bouche were a collection of truffled goodness, including mini lobster rolls (top right), celery root parsnip soup with a truffled rim (botttom), and dried rice pasta puff in parmesan (top left).
The rim of dried truffle on the soup made for quite a decadent few sips.
And just in case lobster isn’t good enough on its own, adding truffle ain’t so bad!
The bread basket had 4 different breads, each better than the last, with lardo and butter.
The lardo was nice in small doses, but I preferred the very creamy, flavorful butter.
Our first course of the tasting menu was Truffled Beef Carne Cruda with Grana Padano and Watercress Buds. The beef carpaccio was seasoned perfectly and all the flavors and textures went very well together.
Our second course was Charred Octopus with Umbrian Garbanzo, Celery Hearts & 25 year Aceto Tradizionale (Balsamic Vinegar).
The char on this octopus was really flavorful and I really enjoyed the warm octopus and beans with the cooler and crisp greens. The sweetness of the balsamic was really nice on the dish.
There is no way to photograph this next dish nicely, so you’re just going to have to trust me that this Luna Piena (moon shaped pasta) with Castelmangno & White Truffle Butter was out of this world. What it lacked in color it had in flavor (in spades). The truffle was fantastic and the pasta really tasted like pasta. (While this seems obvious, I’m always saddened when pasta tastes like nothing)
We then had Traditional Del Posto Garganelli Verdi al Ragu Bolognese. The pasta was green from spinach and the bolognese was lamb and veal. All the flavors were rich and hearty.
Next was the Lobster with Artichoke, Almond, Basil Salad, & Gangerine Essenza. The lobster tail was from Maine (and finally tasted like it!) I absolutely loved loved loved the sauce on this. It perfectly complimented the dish without taking away from the delicate lobster flavor.
Next was labeled as follows: “Veal & Beef: Cosa Viene Prima? – Rocky Mashed Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts & Barolo Fondo”
Cosa Viene Prima translates to “What came first?” While the usual end of this question is the chicken or the egg, in this term, it referred to the fact that it was beef wrapped in veal (or was it visa versa?) and it was served tableside with jus.
Very nice, meaty dish, with some mild offal flavor and nice richness.
They then changed out our napkins very formally. Funny that both Mike and I recognized this. Fancy service is still so surprising.
We then moved into the sweeter courses with an intermzzo of Sfera di Caprino with Celery, Fig Agrodolce & Celery Sorbetto. This was a sphere of goat cheese in a bread crumb crunch. I usually really dislike celery as a flavor, but this was light and it all went very nicely together.
While we decided not to do wine pairings for this meal, we sipped our cocktails throughout and then went for some dessert wines.
Both were really fantastic.
And then it was time for some celebratory desserts (sorry about the photos, lighting was very tough in here).
We had a Tartufo al Caffe with Dark Chocolate, Sant’Eustachio Coffee & Candied Bread. I really enjoy a tartufo. Something about breaking through that outside shell to the ice cream inside fills me with childhood joy. It helps that this was a deliciously executed version.
Also included in the tasting was a Butterscotch Semifreddo with melon Agrumata & Crumbled Sbrisolona. I loved the fruit with this and the butterscotch semifredo was fantastic.
There were also a few extra desserts, including this apple fritter, which I absolutely loved.
And this fun grater box with candies below and petit fours above.
Very whimsical, and nice bites of everything.
And at the end they sent us home with a specially printed menu and a box of treats for the next day.
Overall, our meal was fantastic. Great execution, excellent flavors, very well paced, and it built from start to finish. Each dish was unique and very tasty and felt classic yet somehow fresh. You really can’t go wrong at this New York institution.
Total Nom Points: 9 out of 10
