Del Posto

Del Posto is supposed to be the crown jewel of Mario Batali and Joe and Lidia Bastianich's group of restaurants (Babo, Lupa, etc). Unfortunately, I was completely unimpressed and left the restaurant with a bad taste in my mouth. The food was not bad, but there were so many little mistakes that kept building up through out the night that made this dining experience an utter disappointment.

First off, we had a reservation for 8:15. After checking in the hostess told us they would get our table ready right away. 5 minutes or so passed and nothing happened. Y and I decided to grab a drink at the bar and wait. 15 more minutes passed and still not a single check in on what is going on with our table. 10 more minutes... Y decided to wave someone down and finally someone appears and tells us that they are setting it up and it will be ready in minutes. No apologies whatsoever.

We are FINALLY seated. We have waited over 30 minutes for our table with zero explanation or apology. I was unusually chirpy and was not annoyed but Y was already pretty peeved and was trying to flag someone down. I usually go into hangry hulk mode so I probably was so hungry that I just skipped that phase all together and went straight to savasana. Someone comes to fill our glasses with water then disappears again.

Where the eff is our menu?

Freaking 10 minutes or more passed by again and no one comes with our menus or a welcome. We were basically put in a corner and neglected. Y was finally able to get the attention of SOMEONE and we got our menus. Once again no apology even though it was very obvious that Y was upset. I almost feel like the restaurant should play me Justin Bieber's song "Sorry" at this point. It is really almost too late.

It has been an hour since our original reservation time to us just obtaining a menu.

Anyways back to the food, we opted for the 5 course Prix-Fixe menu

Oh thank god we finally got the bread basket. Along with these cute little turds of butter and lard. The butter was nice and creamy, could use a little salt. 

Amuse bouche
The little croquettes were nice with a crispy exterior and creamy center. The lentil soup was ok, but I thought the crunchy cubes of veggies were strange and much too hard. The weirdest one was this little lump of daikon. It was so sour and pungent... I almost felt like they had an excess of daikon and had to find some way to get rid of it or something. 

Truffled Beef Carne Cruda - Crunchy Fried Chips of Salsify
A solid dish. The crudo was very well flavored and I loved the chunkiness of the meat. The crunchy salsify on the top was also a nice textural contrast. 

Zucchini and Calamari - Flat Herbs and Spicy Caper Butter 
The flavors were nice for this dish but the batter was much too stiff. I don't think I've ever had calamari with such a hard coating. 

Ok so first course done. When we ordered our food, Y ordered a glass of wine and told them she would have it when she was done with the first course. I was drinking a martini and when they took away my glass, they only asked if I also ordered wine and when I said no, took away my glass. Two issues: first of all, they should know if I did or did not order wine. Secondly, they should ask whether I wanted another one of the martini. This is not to sound bratty, I just expect the service of a restaurant of this caliber to be stellar and these are small details that matter.

Y decided to remind them of her wine when they came over again just in case. A server came over and asked whether she remembered which wine she ordered. Another small detail.

Y went to the restroom and our pastas came. Right after they set it down. A server came over with two lids and laid them upon our dishes. Then another one came and gave the first server a look then looked at me and asked if I wanted them covered. Once again, I feel like service at such an established location should be seamless. Everyone is polite there and has the menu items memorized to a T, but it's the little details and nuances that really make service pop.

Pork and Veal Agnolotti - Sugo Finto and Cauliflower Cacio e Pepe
The pasta was a little pass al dente.... meh pretty unacceptable for such an established Italian restaurant. The filling was pretty tasty but nothing mind blowing. The agnolotti at Scarpetta is much better. And while I get that this was a pasta shared between me and Y... this serving size is just TINY. 

Orecchiette - Lamb Neck Sausage, Broccoli Rabe, Ricotta Salata, and Crispy Porcini
I really enjoyed the texture of the pasta, it was very chewy and cooked perfectly. The sausage was also very flavorful. However, the broccoli rabe sauce had these little chunks of raw onion that were completely out of place. Everything would taste really great then sudden you get these crunches of raw onion that were so harsh to the palate. WHY. 

Warm Lobster - Squashes, Hazelnuts, Brussels Sprouts, Balsami and Brown Butter
Pretty nice presentation. The lobster was sliiightly over cooked but overall a pretty enjoyable dish. However, the lobster at Marea is much better (so buttery and sweet). This dish is fine, but not amazing enough to warrant such a higher price tag,

Burnt Beef Rib Eye - Charred Onion Salad and Eggplant alla Pizzaiola 
The steak was juicy and had a nice char. However, I believe this as an ala carte item would be around $70 and I would much rather get a regular ribeye at any of New York's famous steakhouses. The onion "salad" at the top also looked very confused. Why is there this strange little onion hat holding butchered cubes of beef? I did not appreciate this presentation at all. The eggplant side dish was also extremely salty.

Butterscotch Semifreddo - Melon Agrumata and Crumbled Sbrisolona 
Decent ice cream. Nothing to rave about. 

Grappa Panna Cotta - Market Grapes, Walnuts, and Fennel 
This might be the saddest panna cotta I've ever seen. The taste itself was ok, but I think it should definitely be thicker and it would be nice if it was a little less soggy and mushy. It kind of looked like some jelly fish flopped on the dish and died. 

Then we had some chocolates and it was served on a grater box... while I'm sure the grater was not sharp, I admit I have an irrational fear of graters but honestly why did anyone think this would be a good idea? Serving chocolates for guests on an tool that is usually used to make small and horrible little cuts on veggies, cheeses, and sometimes fingers... nope.

I got an espresso and then a server took it away when I wasn't even finished with it. Final nail in the coffin.

So clearly I did not have the greatest experience at Del Posto. I usually don't write scathing reviews, but I felt like there were so many things that cumulated as the night progressed that while I did not turn into the hulk, I certainly felt like I was morphing into that mean critic from Ratatouille before he became all nice and stuff. Once again, everyone was really polite, but the small details mentioned, the mediocrity of the food, along with a $250+ price tag, just did not cut it for me. There are so many amazing Italian places in the city with equally, if not better food for a fraction of the price!

For $250+ I could have gotten 5 SPORTS BRAS, or 12 bowls of udon, or 7 SoulCycle classes... ok I'll get over it.

Del Posto is such a well known restaurant and I was severely disappointed. Give this one a miss for sure.

Del Posto

85 Tenth Avenue 

New York

NY 10011