It’s been close to a fortnight since we ate at Babbo and I can’t stop thinking about the grilled octopus with “borlotti marinati” and spicy limoncello vinaigrette (thanks to Solo for recommending this), the mint ‘love letters’ pasta with spicy lamb sausage, the papardelle with butter, parmesan and (generously shaved) white truffles, the guinea hen special…even the complimentary amuse bouche chickpea bruschetta was amazing. We were planning to both do the pasta tasting menu, but since it was close to 11pm when we finally got seated, we went with a mini-tasting recommended by our server instead. Pics and descriptions of the meal after the jump…

Our sommelier recommended a nice under $100 Barbaresco that she said would match perfectly with our tasting items. Babbo, as Jill can attest, is one of the most difficult NYC restaurants to get a reservation at, especially if you’re using a phone. Jill called right at 10am exactly a month ahead of time and patiently waited on hold for more than an hour, and still was only able to get a 10:45pm reservation (past our bedtime). 

(Disclaimer: these are not our pics…we find it disrupting not only to others but to our own dining experience to whip out a camera and start snappin’ photos at a nice restaurant…we just don’t want to be “those people.” I have to say we even feel a bit uncomfortable and slightly annoying taking photos at bars and casual restaurants.) Here’s what Mario Batali had to say when asked by a food blog about Babbo’s photography policy: 

“Do you mean folks like bloggers? Our photo policy is that we do not allow lights or taking photos of other customers but do not stop joyous foodies clicking an occasional photo of the food on the table with a small camera. If it starts to feel like a photo shoot or they flash more than twice, we ask them to stop for the comfort of other guests. I pose with guests for hundreds of photos a year in the resto.”

Let the food porn, albeit courtesy of some other “joyous foodies”, begin:

chickpea bruschetta

The slightly spicy and slightly tangy chickpeas were nicely bathed with balsamic vinegar and spooned over thick toasted bread.

Pappardelle with shaved white truffles

Had we not observed a server shaving copious amounts of truffle over this dish for a couple of people dining at the bar, we may not have know to ask about it. So, when it came our turn we were excited to see the same guy come by with the white truffle and proceed to pour shavings over wide hand-cut noodles dressed with butter and a grating of parmigiano reggiano. It was at this point that our dinner reached epic proportions. The noodles were an ideal choice, as their large size seemed to encourage the truffles to spread out nicely and served as a nice canvas to let the truffles strut their stuff. The heat of the pasta added to the aroma and decadent taste of each and every truffle shaving. They split the dish onto two plates for us and we both agreed that it seemed we each got our own full dish.

Mint Love-Letters with Spicy Lamb Sausage

Finally, we split a special on the menu: a roasted guinea hen, that to our surprise (and joy) was served boneless. By this time, we were in sheer foodie heaven. Very impressive that Babbo has been able to seemingly only get better with time, while so many other restaurants peak early and then steadily decline. We’ll be back, but next time we may opt to sit in the bar area at a more reasonable time of evening.

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