Tag Archives: otto

Top 10 Noms of 2011

29 Dec

I can’t believe 2011 is over!  I always love going back through the past year of blogs to pick the top 10, and this year proved MUCH harder than years before.  There were just so many great Noms in 2011!

For the past Top Noms of the year, check out 2010 and 2009.

#10 – Alma de Cuba: Philadelphia I dream about the pork entree I had here, and that chocolate cigar for dessert (that was on fire) will always hold a tender spot in my food heart.

# 9 – The Breslin lived up to expectations with an awesome lamb burger and the scrumpets… oooooooohhhh the scrumpets.

#8 – We had wanted to visit Barbuto for a long time, after falling in love with the chef, Jonathan Waxman, on various food shows on television.  It was a meal made of some of the freshest, most lovingly crafted ingredients.


#7 – Our experience at Maialino was just a few days ago, but I am still thinking about that bacon and those desserts.  I can’t wait to go back again and try more… especially their namesake pasta.

#6 – When we decided to try Catch, Top Chef Hung’s new restaurant we didn’t know what we were in for. It was dark. It was Meatpacking. But it was delicious and inspired.  Awesome combinations and executed beautifully.

#5 – Imperial No. 9 was a fantastic journey of food, with many dishes that I would go back to eat all over again.  If you go, order as much as possible and share. Totally worth it.

#4 – Our adventure at Mountain Flying Fish in Breckenridge, CO was something I will never forget.  A well curated Omikase from the chef, who is a personal friend of my aunt proved to be one of the most perfect, original, and exciting meals I have ever had.  Land locked sushi shouldn’t be this good. Food shouldn’t be this good.  It was just… bliss.

#3 – Mike took me to Daniel for my birthday, and it was impressive.  The entire tasting menu was already one of the best meals I ever had, and then the desserts came.  The best series of desserts I have ever had. Hands down. And I LOVE dessert.

#2 – When I think of epic meals, I have to mention Blue Hill at Stone Barns.  A day-trip from NYC in Westchester, NY, it is actually ON the farm (which made for a lovely day as well).  Everything that comes out in the blind tasting menu was from the farm or locally sourced.  You don’t get fresher than that. And it’s hard to get any better.

#1 – Valentine’s Day at Colicchio and Sons for the Tasting Menu was phenomenal.  It took over the #2 all-time spot (under WD-50, which we tried again recently, by the way, to see if it could hold on to that #1 spot… more on that soon).  I have been to Colicchio and Sons a few times for their a la carte menu, and it’s always fantastic, but this tasting menu was other-worldly.  The duck egg, confit gizzard, & parsnip dish was hands down the best thing I have EVER eaten.  Just… wow.

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Honorable Mention:

The Truffle, Gruanciale, and Egg Pizza from Otto

Birreria at Eataly for the fantastic ambiance, beer, and damn good food

The classic New York feel (and food) of The Palm

Thumbs Up Diner: Atlanta for The Heap

Peking Duck House for the Peking Duck Special

Kefi for that amazing octopus

And 2 great Restaurant Week meals that were worth repeating…

Ilili for Restaurant Week

The Modern for Restaurant Week Winter and Summer

And last but not least… It’s hard to write about 2011 without mentioning Albert Hall Tavern, but now that Chef Bill is gone, the spark just isn’t there like it used to be.

Goodbye 2011! Onto even more fantastic adventures and Noms in 2012.

Otto

16 Jun

I have been to Otto 4 times now: Once for a wine tasting (awesome), once when I just ordered a plain pizza (dumb), this time below (f-in awesome), and recently where I repeated the wonderment of my order from the previous time.

I am now completely enamored with Otto, Mario Batali’s NYC “Pizza Place” (and not just because it’s Batali’s).  To call it a pizza place seems too plain… it can only be described as a super-duper-awesome place that happens to serve the best-damn-pizza when it comes to really unique pizzas and, oh yeah, has the most outrageous wine selection and olive oil gelato (more on that later).

Since it’s hard to explain any other way, here are the meny pages from the night we went.

First, the specials.

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Then the food

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Then the wine

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And another page of wine…

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And just in case you still haven’t found some wine…

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The space itself is pretty beautiful, with nicely laid out tables in the back (pictured below) and a great standing wine bar up front.

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And we happened to be sitting next to some of the biggest wine bottles I’ve ever seen.

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So how about the food?  We started with a selection of meats…

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And cheeses

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And a sampling of apps that sounded scrumptious (they were)

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And then the pizzas came out.  One is just a little more than a single person can eat as a solo entree.  If you’re hungry, you can probably polish one off, but I always recommend getting one to split and then getting a few other additions.  (We dined with about 10 people… so prepare for pizza overload)

First up was the prosciutto with arugula

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Then a good ol’ fashion original

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Pepporoni

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Mushroom

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White

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Clams

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(I found the fact that it included the shells very interesting.)

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And then… the pizza de resistance… the truffle, guanciale, and egg.

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This was so flogging good that I live in utter fear that if I return, it will not be on the specials menu, and then… I will cry. Let me put it this way… this is how truffles are meant to be.  The flavor fills your mouth and has such decadence to it that it tastes like you must be eating something that can only be described as other-wordly.  This pizza has turned truffle scoffers into truffle lovers.  I compare all other truffles to this pizza.  I sit here now, on an airplane somewhere between Denver and Los Angeles, hoping that for some reason we need to land in Las Vegas because I happen to know there is an Otto there.  It is just. that. good.  (FML… I’d trade my right arm for a piece of this right now)

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Ok… back to reality… er… dessert.

I believe this was the banana butterscotch coppetta made with butterscotch gelato, peanut brittle, coffee burboun sauce, and caramelized banans.

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Or maybe this was?

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Or this?  Gosh darn it! Someone at the table got that.  And then two other people go… two other things.

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And the rest of us got the trio of gelatos.

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A fantastic way to try the flavors you love

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And test a new flavor that youv’e never tried before… like olive oil.

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Olive oil gelato you say?  YES! Someone said I MUST get this and I’m so glad I did.  I made a few more believers on this evening as well. They put flaked salt on top and it is just mm mm good.

Oh Otto… how I love the.

Now hand over the truffle pizza and nobody gets hurt.

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10 (9.5 for the truffle pizza)