(This venue is closed.) It's hardly the fanciest thing on the menu, but I wanted to know what a really good pasta fagioli should taste like.
The consistency of pasta fagioli ("pasta and beans") can vary widely from kitchen to kitchen; here, it's a thin white bean soup that takes some young extra virgin olive oil for a spin. Also shown below (all from the $24.08 Restaurant Week prix fixe lunch): sweet Lombardy butter (in back) and housemade lardo, a spread of aged, cured pork fat, to accompany the bread basket; handmade spinach garganelli, quill-shaped pasta dappled with co-owner Mario Batali's "favorite" Bolognese sauce; and a semifreddo di torrone with Sicilian pistachio, blood orange, and moscato di asti meringue.
From door to coat check to reception to table, everyone I dealt with was courteous, almost to a fault. Almost; the scale of Del Posto might otherwise be intimidating. Instead, this was a relaxing meal that I'd gladly reprise, for business or pleasure.
Del Posto
85 Tenth Ave. (at 16th St.)
212-497-8090
www.delposto.com
