Otto Enoteca Pizzeria

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: I hate revolving doors.

It is easy to pass by Otto that is located in the Village and close to the NYU campus. Besides the maroon awning, you could mistake it for a NYU administration building. Inside Otto is modeled to have a timeless yet suave look of a Euro train station that you can imagine if this was Roman Holiday and combined a traditional enoteca. Maybe add in a weird sewer stench (no doubt given the Euro Zone lately, the sanitation department is most likely on strike) and street urchins making passes at your pockets and it will be just like that!  Above the hostess stand is a faux timetable of “trains” destinations to major European cities, specifically cities in Italy. 
  


Bread and grissini- easy to stash for later



 A fresh freshman out to lunch with the parents, stated loudly that the faux schedule were names of bigger parties that were waiting to get seating and the city names were the last names of the parties. I do hope that private school education is put to good use Mom and Dad, and hope to god she is not going to be a poli sci major. However, if I am wrong, my apologizes to the Napoli family. Sarcasm aside, Otto feels to one of the most accessible restaurant in the Batali Empire and family friendly yet could pull of a respectable casual date here (I mean, if I went on dates this would be fine, right?). 

Bread

The bread comes out in a neatly wrapped parcel and a pack of grissini, I guess it adds to the “in motion” type of theme going on here at Otto. Note, they do not give you any olive oil or butter and if you want to, you must ask for it specifically. The bread crusty and springy and a nice sourness that I actually could have eaten on its own but not everyone is weird like me and since I was not dining solo for once, we got some olive oil which I believe they use at all the Batali restaurants. The olive oil is quite good, grassy and buttery and smooth throughout. The antipasti are a must at Otto especially the vegetables. I generally do not praise vegetables but the vegetables are a must get here at Otto. We opted to go for one of the constants, the cauliflower alla Siciliana and the season-like one the autumn corn with fregola, (bead-like pasta). Covering the USDA Dinner plate slot, we got the octopus, celery and lovage (herb).  Enough Bread! Food After the Jump!

L'Arte del Gelato: Getting a real Ice Cream Sandwich

On Nomz Hero Note to Self: Contrary to popular belief, not everyone screams for ice cream, I think Italians, pleasant announce a desire for gelato 

Memorial Day weekend was a busy one with me making food and stuff like it was nobody’s business but I am back, no vengeance, more like food-ventures.

I love ice cream. My first paycheck from my first real world job, I could have went with the typical purchase of a playstation (already had), car, a stereo, but like a true playboy I bought myself a ice cream maker. It was the coolest kitchen appliance I have bought to date and I remember I spent a whole night trying to figure out how I was going to christen the new maker (peanut butter ice cream). I was that fat kid when summer rolled around, would save pocket change and wait for the Siren call of the ice cream truck. I of course never had money ready or never realized it was around and ended up chasing the ice cream truck down a block or two. In retrospect I think the dude knew I was chasing the truck but did not stop for a while to get a good laugh out of watching a out of shape, pudgy 10 year old huffing and puffing. When I finally caught up with the truck and my breathe I would spend my savings of $1.25 (a lot of money for a 10 year old in the 90s)on the Double Play ice cream bar, which was in the shape of a glove, bubblegum flavor and always had a gumball in the middle (which was always stale). If I was lucky, they would have candy cigarettes because pretend smoking was cool.

Although the days of eating Double Plays are over, (I have not seen a box of those in at the freezer section anywhere) the majority of my body fat can still be attributed to ice cream and gelato. Disclaimer: I am not one of those weird people that are not Italian, and did not grow up in Italy that say “gelato” with an Italian flair. You are from Bucks County, not from North Umbria, chill out. If I see someone like you, I may or may not try and trip you.

Gelato is not just a fancy word for ice cream; there is an actual difference and not another word to call ice cream to show your date that you are worldly. The main differences are gelato contains less fat because it is generally made with whole milk. Ice cream has about 10% and gelato is about half of that so I guess it is healthier? It is something you can tell yourself when you are debating if you should kill that whole pint when you are wearing your fat pants and watching Conan. Gelato is churned at a slower speed, hence incorporating less air making it denser and intensifying the flavors. Now we got the food nerd part out, time for the eating. 

Gelato After the Jump!