Babbo

Mark and I went to dinner at Babbo when he was in town.

Babbo is a Mario Batali restaurant, probably the one he's best known for. (He has nine restaurants in New York—Babbo, Esca, Del Posto, Esca, Lupa, Otto, The Spotted Pig, Casa Mono, and Bar Jamon.) There's no sticking to your diet when going to Babbo because 1) It's hard to get a reservation, and, 2) If you're going to eat pasta, this is the place to do so. Okay, so on to our meals...
I ordered an heirloom tomato and burrata salad for my appetizer, and the sweet potato ravioli, or I should say, the "Sweet Potato 'Lune' with Sage and Amaretti," for my meal. It was AMAZING. It was light and delicate, not too buttery, heavy or overly sweet. It will be definitely be added to my list of my most memorable NYC meals (a list which needs a serious update.)

Mark ordered the "Black Spaghetti with Rock Shrimp, Spicy Salami Calabrese and Green Chiles" and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Liz (a friend of Mark and David's, and now me too!) ordered the "Goat Cheese Tortelloni with Dried Orange and Wild Fennel Pollen"—a dish I almost ordered, but didn't. I did try hers, however, but I liked mine better.

We also ordered the “Brasato al Barolo” (Braised Beef with Porcini Mushrooms) for the table. I had a bite and it was fine. Not amazing, just fine.

(PS - I didn't take pics of our meals; I found the above photos on the internet.)
For dessert I had the blueberry polenta with sweet corn gelato. I think it was a special for August because I can't find it on the menu, and also, the August calendar says, "Try Sweet Corn Gelato at Babbo this month!" It was soooooo delicious... another addition for my most memorable NYC meals list. Think of corn bread and ice cream mixed up. It was perfectly sweet and gritty but well-blended. I think it had cornmeal in it as opposed to ungrounded kernels from the cob. I need to see if the recipe is in The Babbo Cookbook.
Liz ordered the "Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Orange Sauce and Hazelnut Gelato", but I thought mine was better, too.
Since I mentioned sticking to my diet, I'm going to update you on that in a little bit (I've lost 30 pounds!), but a funny thing I've noticed lately is that I've lost my taste for chocolate. Isn't that weird? I've always been a chocolate freak but I find it too rich and overpowering nowadays. I prefer more delicate flavors now... vanilla and/or caramel dishes to things like brownies.
Anyway, go to Babbo, it's totally worth it. Remember to make reservations way ahead of time or you won't get in.

Elisabeth Röhm Elisha Cuthbert Eliza Dushku Emilie de Ravin