Otto Pizzeria
A Mario Batali restaurant
Went to dinner at Otto last night. It’s a go to place for me and a certain friend of mine. We love their diverse range of wines, their house cured prosciutto and I really love the margherita pizza that I request with chiles and garlic.
So we sat down at the bar and ordered our quartinos of wine, a dopio (double order) of prosciutto and some apps. The dopio prosciutto comes served at room temperature, as it should be, sliced paper thin and on a large wooden cutting board. It’s by far the best prosciutto I’ve had in the city yet. (and trust me I’ve sampled plenty)
Next came the two appetizers we shared. The peppery arugula salad dressed in a simple oil and vinegar with small roasted cherry tomatoes (we get fresh Parmesan shaved on ours)
and a beautifully tender artichoke heart salad with a sliced red onion and a mild crumbly cheese.
While my friend opted for a goat cheese and caramelized onion pizza, I decided to stray from my usual special ordered pizza and chose a pasta dish: rigatoni with sweet Italian sausage and braised escarole.
I’m definitely a girl that usually likes her pastas in some kind of sauce but this dish was very good. The pasta was al dente and tossed in extra virgin olive oil, the sausage added just the right amount of salt and sweetness and the mildly bitter escarole still had a nice crunch to it. It was the perfect amount of everything in each bite.
I walked out a very satisfied customer.
Otto Pizzeria, One Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
