My new pasta heaven

Dell’Anima

Thursday night found me having dinner with my friend Jewels and Half Hopi at Dell’Anima. This restaurant is known for their bruschetta and their home made pastas. I’ve never been to this restaurant but it’s very cozy and cute inside. There is a chef’s bar in the back where diners can sit and watch their food actually being prepared.

We all started with salads. My two friends had the peppery arugula with shaved parmesan while I had the endive salad with anchovy viniagrette.

The dressing was very tart with a hint of anchovy and shaved parmesan over the top. It was a unique and tasty salad but after several bites, the tartness of the vinaigrette got to me a little.

My friend Jewels had the garganelli pasta with funghi trifolati mushrooms, lemon and parsley.

The mushrooms were earthy and the lemon added a brightness to the dish that was pleasantly surprising.

My other friend Half Hopi had the octopus salad.

The octopus was very tender, not chewy at all. The chorizo that accompanied this dish added a nice spicy aftertaste to each bite. This dish had a delicious meaty flavor to it.

I had what I believe to be the best dish of all: tagliatelle pasta with bolognese sauce.

The pasta was absolutely decadent. If you have never had freshly made pasta, you need to get over to Dell’Anima now. You can really taste the difference with fresh pasta — the texture is really amazing. The pasta was perfectly al dente; wasn’t too crunchy, wasn’t too soft.  It had the perfect bite. The bolognese sauce was not your typical meat in red sauce. It almost tasted like meat in butter sauce. I am not quite sure what the sauce was made of but it had a very cheesy buttery flavor to it. I now have a dish to crave every weekend. Great.

The downside to being so addicted to Dell’Anima’s pastas? The place is quite small and reservations are hard to come by. Simply put, I haven’t been so wowed by a restaurant in a long time.

Run, do not walk, to Dell’Anima.

Dell’Anima, 38 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY