Thursday, January 19, 2006
Otto
It took a gift certificate from her parents to entice The Editor and Austen out of the Upper West Side and to Otto, the Mario Batali enoteca/pizzeria in the Village. Walking down from my office, I arrived early and ordered a glass of Pezzalunga, an Oltrepo Pavese from Lombardy (never heard of the wine or the region, but it was only $10). I was handed a pretty full glass and an accompanying small decanter for the refill (their "glass" is a quarter bottle). The wine was very good, the bar scene very downtown, and I was gentleman enough to save a few sips for The Editor.Most dishes are under $10, and limited to appetizers, pastas, pizzas and desserts. We shared some excellent prosciutto, cauliflower Siciliana and lardo pizza. (Gee, is lardo some kind of tofu)? Otto is bustling, casual and cheap, so after finishing the appetizers, the"take the plate and leave the fork" service was less irritating than amusing (the new bottle of Pezzalunga also helped). My puttanesca was excellent, The Editor's carbonara was a bit salty, and Austen was relieved not to have to venture beyond his daily regimen of pizza and Coke.
# posted by ira @ 10:13 AM 
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Otto has been there longer than its string of predecessors, although I cannot go into "One Fifth" without thinking of Jill Clayberg sitting at the bar.
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# posted by 
: 8:19 AM
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