UPDATE (12-26-10)

I revisited Del Posto a few days ago this time for dinner. After seeing the 4 star review given to Del Posto by Sam Sifton of the New York Times I was very anxious to check it out. The restaurant had a much more charming feel to it since it was the night time and my reservation was during the holiday season. Del Posto still wowed me with their attentiveness to my food allergy and took excellent care of us throughout the dinner. Del Posto has a pre-fixe only menu in which you can order either the $95 5 course menu (antipasto, two pasta dishes for the table, entree and dessert) or the $125 7 course tasting menu. This visit I had the 7 course tasting menu with Del Posto’s signature 100 Layer Lasagna. First we were brought out an amuse bouche of rice balls (one was a traditional rice ball and the other was sort of an inside out rice ball with crisped rice on the outside instead of inside) and osso bucco broth cleverly disguised as soup. The first course was the Antipasto dal Carello. The dish consisted of 5 different appetizers all on one plate. There was a aged prosciutto wrapped around buffalo mozzarella, an artichoke salad, a chicken salad on a sharp lettuce leaf, a seafood salad and a green salad. This dish was good with its highlight being the prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella. The next dish was an Insalata Caprese & Tuna Ventresca. This dish was a strip or tuna belly (toro) accompanied with buffalo mozzarella and dehydrated cherry tomatoes (a fancy way of saying homemade sun dried tomatoes). This dish was very good as the tuna belly was incredibly fresh and went well with the mozzarella. The house-made sun-dried tomatoes also had a very sweet flavor which went well with the buffalo mozzarella. The next dish was very unexpected and very rare to find in a 4 star restaurant like Del Posto. This dish was called Fonduta Anellini with White Truffles & Parmigiano. The dish had five ring shaped Anellini atop a white truffle sauce with sprinkled Parmigan cheese on the side of the plate. The dish was excellent though I wish there were a bit more Anellini in the plate (perhaps 10 for all of my fingers instead of 5). The pasta was cooked well and the white truffle sauce was excellent (not too heavy but definitely rich in flavor). The next dish was Del Posto’s signature 100 Layer Lasagna. But don’t let the title deceive you, while this lasagna may be 100 layers the layers are perhaps even thinner than paper and is the length of a bar of staples. This lasagna tasted fine but this most certainly should not be Del Posto’s signature dish. The Anellini was a lot better than this despite is small portion size. Veal Tenderloin with Polenta and Osso Buco Vinaigrette was the next item on the tasting menu. This is the dish that I realized that the same “Osso Buco Vinaigrette” was used as an amouse bouche at the beginning of the meal (way to be resourceful Del Posto). The veal Del Posto used in the dish was tender and moist though I found the polenta to be a bit chunky. Also the “salad” (which in reality was a mixture of mint, basil and parcelery) was quite a disappointment but when paired with the veal I realized why it was served as both flavors complemented each other nicely. As a palate cleanser I was served a Pineapple Sorbet which was very refreshing. The final dish was the same dessert that I had for my lunch on my first visit to Del Posto which was the Tartufo al Caffe. This dessert was very good and an excellent way to finish off the meal. The dark chocolate was rich and the coffee ice cream went well with the dark chocolate outer layer of the Tartufo.

I must say I was less impressed with Del Posto on my second visit. The restaurant itself is very charming and the service is fantastic (Del Posto is one of the most attentive and careful restaurants when it comes to food allergies) but the food was mediocre. With the exception of the Anellini with White Truffles there was nothing in the 7 course tasting menu that justified its $125 price tag. For that price I would have preferred the tasting menu and Daniel. After this visit Del Posto does not live up to its 4 star review by the New York Times (which I now believe was given to Del Posto to give hype and to help publicize Batali’s food hall Eataly. I’d return to Del Posto for its $29 lunch menu but for dinner there are a lot of better Italian restaurants in Manhattan and better options for a dinner $100+ a person!

Ambiance: 8

Food: 2

Service: 8

Overall: 6

Verdict: Mirage

First Visit: After hearing so many good things about Del Posto I had to try it. The New York Times gave Del Posto 3 our of 4 stars and its earned itself 1star in the Michelin Guide. Del Posto is Mario Batali’s ode to fine dining. Babbo is less formal and his other ventures such as Otto are much more “family style” so to speak. Del Posto brings all the elements of fine dining. The entrance makes you feel like you’ve entered a top hotel and once you’re in you’re further impressed by the dark woods, marble staircase and grand piano. The service is like what you would find at other restaurants like Del Posto such as Cafe Boulud and Alto. The service is great, but doesn’t have that something extra it needs to take it to the next level. For example, when I ordered coffee with my dessert it didn’t come till 5 minutes after I began eating my dessert. If I were at Daniel, both would have arrived on time (I say that because drinks with dessert did arrive together at Daniel during my visit). But what impressed me most about the service at Del Posto was when I told my waitress about my allergy, she actually informed me that they would be removing the apricot kernels in my duck entree. When I asked why, since I didn’t know nor think I was allergic to apricot kernels, she told me that apricot kernels are in the same family as almonds (kind of like peanuts and lentils) and that if I were allergic to almonds I would be allergic to apricot kernels. Needless to say I was impressed that Del Posto was telling me that I was allergic to things that I didn’t even know I was allergic to.

My first dish was the Carne Cruda with truffled salsa and king oyster mushrooms. The dish was like a beef carpaccio except the beef was in small chunks as opposed to thin slices. The truffled salsa was very light and rich, which was nice especially since I was a but apprehensive that the sauce would’ve been a bit heavy, and the meat had a nice flavor to it which matched the salsa perfectly. As my entree I had the Seared Duck Breast with apricots. The duck was prepared as a breast and also had a small duck confit on the side. The breast was cooked well and the confit was moist and flavorful. The apricots on the side were excellent and were a nice change from the usual plum or berry sauce I see over and over again. For dessert I had the Tartufo al Caffe with dark chocolate, Sant Eustachio coffee and candied lemon. Though I wasn’t too fond of the candied lemon, the tartufo itself was excellent and it was nice that Del Posto could accommodate my allergy so I could have this dish (tartufo is traditionally prepared with nuts).

Overall I enjoyed my experience at Del Posto. The ambiance is perfect for a special occasion, the food is great and the service is excellent. I feel that Del Posto is on the same level as restaurants like Marea and Aureole. Its fine dining, but a notch down from restaurants such as Daniel and Jean-Georges. But don’t let that get in the way of visiting Del Posto as its still a fantastic restaurant!

[Photo via]