Del Drunko

DEL POSTO


GREG:
Okay, here goes.

Given that I live upstairs from Otto Enoteca, I’ve become something of a Mario Batali groupie. So when Liz chose Del Posto as our January supper club offering, my heart leapt. Then I recalled our paycheck-for-an-appetizer experience the month before at Le Bernadin, and my heart sunk...here we go again with an overpriced restaurant none of us could really afford.
Fear not, said Liz! We’re eating in the Enoteca section of Del Posto. It’s cheaper! Basically, it was a pared down version of the menu, but you wouldn’t have noticed and/or minded. Plenty of options, plenty of wines (we’ll get to that...), and plenty of good eats ahead. And one thing always guaranteed at a Batali joint...There Will Be Pork.

SARA:
There will also be drunkenness. Since we started off the evening with a pre-dinner beverage at my apartment (its freakin' sweet that I live down the street from the place), I was already buzzing with anticipation...and inebriation.
The restaurant was enormous! The first thing I thought, being the socialite that I am, was that once I win big in scratch-off lottery tickets I was going to have a massive party in the ginormous wine cellar/basement. And just like you Greg...I was a little wary of the bill. It was a fancy-smancy, "PBS-host" looking place. However, when the waiter sat us down and started telling us stories of drunken ski parties, I knew we weren't in Michelin land anymore.

GREG:
Well, we were in the day care corner of Michelin land. And about that drunkenness...that’s twice now that I could barely see my plate by the end of the meal. No more wine pairings for a while!
On to the tastiness. Liz and I couldn’t decide between the Octopus and the Squid (isn’t that the name of some terrible art-house flick?) so we got both. Calamari: amazing. I was nervous it was a wasted pick, since every damn restaurant serves it, but there’s a big difference between gourmet Calamari, where it’s cooked to the perfect tenderness and the crust is crispy throughout, and diner calamari which is soggy and bland. The octopus was superb as well, except the jalapenos they prepared it with overwhelmed the flavor and forced me to drink even MORE to calm the burning.

SARA:
I loved my octopus antipasti, but I was hugely jealous of the calamari after tasting it. Libby's cabbage salad was also very tasty, though I thought the speck was mildly over salted. I agree with your jalapeno comment. The tentacles were a little too spicy. In fact, I kept quenching the burn with wine throughout the primi . The two pasta dishes we had, were for me, a hit and a miss. The pappardelle was drowned in red pepper, and some bites were almost unbearably spicy. (More wine!). However, the garganelli with bolognese sauce was incredible. The sauce brought back fond memories of the sweet, savory, and succulent gnocchi bolognese I had at Lupa. The garganelli was perfectly thin and tender. I could have made an entire meal out of this dish.

GREG:
I have to second that emotion. The bolognese was AWESOME. Hit of the meal.
So where were we? More wine? More snow-boarding stories from the waiter? Oh, wait, it’s obvious. PORK. No trip to Mario’s would be complete without the other white meat, and to solidify that point, Libby and I both order the pork wrapped in pork. Okay, actually, it was pork wrapped in proscuitto (aka Pork Saltimbocca). Even though I was having trouble digesting at this point, I didn’t want that savory goodness to end. And the leftovers tasted great the next night. Seriously, what was God thinking in outlawing pork for Jews? Would they amend the Torah if 2/3 of all Jews voted for pork? Do I make too many Jew references?

SARA:
You make FAR more Jewish references than I make Slovakian references. But then again, we "hunkies" will eat anything we can get our hands on and boil or pickle. Plus, only the rich folk had pigs, my ancestors ate cabbage (boiled or pickled). Maybe my humble heritage lead me to order the Beef Brasato. It is technically the rump roast (not the leanest piece of meat on the block), braised in hearty Italian wine. Ironically, (and misplaced geographically) it tasted like the salty, tenderized beef stew my grandma used to make. It was very tasty and appealed to me for its homestyle attitude. However, at the same time, I was a little unsettled that I paid a good deal of cash, for the butt (but VERY well braised and therefore tenderized) side of the cow dipped in tannins. It was good, but it didn't compare to Grandma Hritz's Sunday special over egg noodles.

GREG:
Hritz? Is that a Pittsburgh thing?
Honestly, Sara, you'll have to write about dessert. All I remember at this point is trying desperately to not kick over the candles lining the staircase to the restrooms. I think the snowboard waiter dude ruffied my 4th pairing.

SARA:
Its Eastern Europeon...I think there are some Hritz's based around other US coal-mining towns.
As for dessert....Potrebujem pomoc!! (I need help) We ALWAYS get to this point and tend to trail off. We ate some yummy gelato..I think..and some sorbet. There was some chocolate thing thrown in there too. And there was wine...more wine. You would think we had learned our lesson! I plan on remembering all the courses at our next restaurant (Peasant).

As for Del Posto, I loved some things, and disliked others. I didn't find any of my wine pairings to be given with much consideration (though there isn't a sommelier, so the stoned snowboarder did the best he could). The ambiance is decorative and fun, but not warm or homey. The pastas are hits or misses (as are the entrees). Overall, Del Posto is a place to try if you're in the neighborhood, or planning a big event (get the gargenelli!). However, I'd rather wait the two hours to eat at Lupa. Ucet, prosim! (The bill please!)

GREG:
Gesundheit.

I definitely liked D.P. more than you did. I liked the relaxed vibe, I liked the western location, I liked the cavernous interior, I liked the reasonable menu. And the flavors were nothing but memorable. I'd be curious to try some of the things we missed--SOBER next time--and I'm sure there are some pastas that would blow our collective minds. The waiters were your typical up and coming food scholars who love to make their budding expertise known, but I enjoy that.
But no fair comparing it to Lupa.


FINAL GRADES:

GREG:
Ambiance: B+
Service: B
Appetizer: B+
Pasta: A-
Main Course: B
Wine: B quality, A+ quantity (not that that's a good thing)
Desserts: C+
Value: B+

SARA:
Ambiance: B
Service: B
Appetizer: A-
Pasta: C- for Spicy one, A+ for the bolognese
Main Course: B
Wine: B-
Desserts: Ummmm. B?
Value: B-

LIBBY:
Ambiance: A
Service: A
Appetizer: A
Pasta: A
Main Course: A
Wine: B
Desserts: B
Value: A

LIZ:
Ambiance: B
Service: B+ the guys were nice but they seemed to hate each other
Appetizer: A- my calamari was pretty tasty and not too oily or fishy
Pasta: C- for that freakishly jalapeno one - A for the bolognese (I
wish there was more) A- for the one bite of the gnocci
Main Course: I honestly don't remember what I had - B? (only because it
was forgettable)
Wine: uhm? B+/A- - again I don't really remember. I did like though
how they poured different types for each person. Oh yeah I think my
main course was a fish because I had a nice white wine.
Desserts: A- - that cinnamon gelato was awesome!
Value: B - The pasta courses were a bit small and even though it was a
decent cost for a prix-fix it did add up



UP NEXT: Peasant!