birthday dinner at del posto

last weekend a friend took me to del posto for a one-day-belated birthday celebration. for those who haven’t heard of it, it’s mario batali’s italian restaurant in chelsea, and it’s an opulent one at that. when i pulled open the huge double doors at the front, i wasn’t sure if i was walking into a palace/caricature of ritzy fine dining, or an actual operating restaurant.

for starters, there’s the grand staircase, reminiscent of that titanic scene where kate and leo meet on the steps and ohmygosh i love that movie too much. then there’s the live piano player, and the candles set in tiny little lamps (cute!) on each of the tables (see below), and the dress code. there’s the amuse-bouches and wine list far exceeding the length of the food menu, and the french-accented sommelier, and waiters who know each dish inside-out. oh, and how can i forget the michelin star?

we passed on what is now a notorious prix fixe menu, and opted instead to order a la carte like the control freaks we are.

to start, the waiter brought us some nibbles: some tomato-tasting soup, a sandwich with caviar and lots of what i’m sure is very expensive mayo, and i think ham with sauerkraut wrapped inside? i’m not good at listening.

this is the traditional prix fixe that we passed on… i dont like lemon desserts, so that was that. :P

we shared two appetizers, one of which was lobster risotto with young radicchio and valpolicella, which was just meh… i mean, there was nothing wrong with it—it was done exactly right, perhaps the lobster a tad too salty, but it was nothing of note.

we also got the ricotta pansoti with green and white asparagus and black truffle butter. this was divine! i love anything ravioli-like. but my gosh… i want this again, like, now.

titanic-like, no??

for the main i got this cacciucco with diver scallop carpaccio and garlic bread soup. it’s basically a bunch of seafood that the waiter pours a tomato broth over (haha i’m so good at descriptions). strangely, some of the pieces (shrimp) were wayyy too salty for my taste and i had to keep reaching for the focaccia out of bread basket in order to get it down. the scallops were very nice though!

and chardonnay. i think i drank a lot last weekend.

sliced duck breast, beer-braised endives, almond and laurelled melons. this was quite good. that’s foie gras in the foreground, which i promptly scooped up (loooveee foie gras). that melon ball, encrusted with chopped nuts, was also delicious and paired perfectly with the meat.

dessert! my favourite part! we didn’t really understand most of the terms on the dessert menu, so we just picked semi-randomly, trying to comprehend our waiter’s french accent and lengthy sermons. like, wtf is a melanze, or sfera, or spezzata? still not sure, except that this is a spezzata di piselli, macerated strawberries & strawberry gelato right here:

and a tartufo al caffe, dark chocolate, sant’eustachio coffee, & candied lemon. i would describe this the grown-up, sophisticated french sister of a klondike bar. super intense coffee ice cream coated with a chocolate crust and chocolate powder.

but what’s this??
aww, special birthday bombolini! they’re little fried doughnuts, filled with orange cream, and dusted with sugar. a lovely, yummy, and unpretentious surprise :) my favourite of the desserts!

as we were walking out a waiter chased after me with a complimentary box of truffles. i still haven’t had them yet, but that was nice! i love after-dinner surprises.

and then we went to highline park to walk off our meals and camwhore. a lovely sunday :)