Del Posto

Del Posto was the final stop of our NY restaurant week streak. I felt like I was in a high class, serious, old school hotel the moment I stepped into the restaurant. A huge door mat with the restaurant's initials welcomed our arrival (all it was missing was a door man). My eyes were overwhelmed by dark brown furniture and geometric printed floor tiles (I felt like I was looking at one of M.C. Escher's Symmetry works) as I took a few seconds to take in the decor of the restaurant. My eyes were so busy that I only had a glimpse of Sandra Lee from the Food Network walking right past me only less than a foot away!

Overall, the food was very good...not hit you over the head with inventive combination of flavors, but executed very well. I believe the restaurant sticks to Mario Batali's philosophy that when you have fresh ingredients, you really don't need to do much to it but to cook it to perfection.

I started with an heirloom tomato salad that was dressed with a simple but delicious vinaigrette. The colors of the tomatoes ranged from yellow, orange, to red...they were fresh and sweet. Fresh parsley further enhanced the dish's freshness. My husband had a salad of thinly sliced speck and cheese, and arugula. I enjoyed the speck's smokiness and how its combination with cheese did not taste overly salty.

Then came my salmon with bean salad. I know, I should've ordered pasta in an Italian restaurant, but my other option was spinach pasta in "Mario's favorite" (bolognese) sauce...I've been dabbing into pork, but not beef. Anyways, the salmon was excellent, aside from it being a tad undercooked. The bean salad was so flavorful with the use of pickled vegetables. My husband had the berkshire pork. He had absolutely no complaints.


And finally, dessert. I had a chocolate pudding with caramel. I'm not a caramel fan, but I did enjoy the dish very much. I loved the contrast in texture between the smooth pudding and crunchiness of the nuts and little chocolate covered beads that tasted like rice crispy (they may have been Goobers). I couldn't say the same for my husband's hazelnut bar though. The combination of the sweet chocolaty hazelnut cake with citrus sauce and spicy salty roasted hazelnut was way too complex for me. Needless to say, I didn't like it.


Overall, it was a very good meal. I just wish the portions were larger so I wouldn't have to chow down three rolls to get full.