Babbo is one of celebrity chef Mario Batali's signature restaurants. It has been widely discussed, blogged and praised. To that end, what more do I have to offer? Not much, except to echo that it is a great restaurant that is fairly accommodating of vegetarians.
Why do I say fairly accommodating? Because Babbo varies on the availability of vegetarian tasting menus. As such, when we arrived to a sparsely filled Babbo for a Saturday lunch, my husband and I were unable to do the tasting menu because they weren't able to prepare a vegetarian version that day (and the tasting menu requires full table participation, as many restaurants require). However, they were able to make adjustments to other menu items to ensure I could enjoy a good meal.
I started with the baby beets salad, which was actually perfectly dressed and complemented by citrus. I've had a lot of beet salads in my day with citrus and cheese, but this one was definitely the most refined and balanced.
My main course was the silky Garganelli with Swiss Chard and Asiago, which the chef was able to prepare without pancetta, which is included in the menu version. The pasta was great - perfectly cooked and shaped - though the sauce was probably a little too rich for me. That being said, my only real complaint with this dish is that I wish there was more lovely pasta!
Oh well, a lighter main course just means more room for dessert! My husband ordered the Saffron Panna Cotta with Buttermilk Sorbetto. It was the perfect consistency for panna cotta - just held together without being too stiff - and the flavors were very refreshing.
I ordered the popular Olive Oil Cake. The cake itself was great - dense with olive oil flavors, well complemented by additional olive oil drizzles, and the richness was offset by the bright and light gelato. The only downside of this dish was that in contrast to the garganelli, it almost felt like there was too much of it! So I think that this is best described as a dessert for sharing instead of a dessert for one.
That's it for my addition to the oeuvre of Babbo reviews - hope it was helpful for my fellow vegetarians!
110 Waverly Place
Greenwich Village, Manhattan
A very short walk from the A, B, C, D, E, and F trains at West 4th Street.
Very delicious :)
Posted by: Vietnamese food | 05/19/2016 at 04:01 AM