Bemused By Batali's Babbo

August 6, 2008 6:08 AM

Finally have a reservation at Babbo after trying now and then for years. Advice for maximizing the experience?
posted by aletheia to food & drink (15 comments total)

If you haven't, read Heat by Bill Buford. It will give you great insight into the restaurant, and Batali, and Italian cuisine. Unfortunately, I've yet to eat there.
posted by kimdog at 6:22 AM on August 6, 2008

I went with my fiancee and another couple, and we had a great time. I definitely wouldn't worry about it, just relax and enjoy! I say this because our waiter was SO helpful, and knew everything about everything on the menu, and also knew an incredible amount about the wine list, and was very accommodating with our budget and helped us pick great (reasonably priced) wines to go with our food. I highly recommend it to my friends, and I hope you enjoy your dinner there!
posted by Grither at 6:33 AM on August 6, 2008

Seconding Heat. Extracts here.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 6:40 AM on August 6, 2008

Get the mint love letters.
posted by rmless at 7:01 AM on August 6, 2008

When I went, I got the tasting menu. It was magical.
posted by spec80 at 7:24 AM on August 6, 2008

Ah, Babbo.

I met my love there, at the bar, six years ago. We went a year later for our anniversary, and had a craptacular experience. We were seated 40 minutes late (no comp'ed drink from the bar, natch), our waiter was in such a hurry to leave that night that he practically abandoned us (thankfully the sommelier noticed and stepped in), and I later learned that a bottle of wine purchased by a friend to be presented to us was never given. It was the one time in my life I was actually moved to write a letter to a restaurant, which went unacknowledged. They're now off the list.

Basically, know you're going for the food. Expect to be treated like crap. Honestly? Next time, skip the rez, go early, and eat at the bar. Unlike the dining room, I've always had great service at the bar as long as it's not packed.

Get the beef cheek ravioli. And yeah, the love letters are really great, too.
posted by mkultra at 7:33 AM on August 6, 2008

Bucatini all'amatricana. The queen of sauces.
posted by charlesv at 7:36 AM on August 6, 2008

Got the standard tasting menu my first time and the pasta tasting menu the second. I got the corresponding wine; my husband sampled some of the beers.

Heavenly. Awesome. It was the best. The service was fine for us both times.

enjoy!
posted by beachhead2 at 8:23 AM on August 6, 2008

Seconding mkultra; though you've already got the reservations, if you ever go again, try to eat at the bar. It's more fun, more intimate, and the service is better.

As far as food recommendations, if they're still serving the pumpkin (or was it sweet potato?) ravioli, by all means, order a plate.
posted by saladin at 8:26 AM on August 6, 2008

I haven't read Heat, but I would highly recommend a tasting menu with a wine pairing. I have been there multiple times, and the most memorable experience was the pasta tasting menu with the wine pairing. The pasta tasting menu was excellent, but the wine pairing was amazing. The table next to us ended up getting the vintage tasting, which was, as the waiter explained, "a higher quality wine, but not as perfect of a pairing as the lower priced pairing."

The second time I went, we ordered multiple things off the menu and it was still great, but if you like a wide variety, and especially if you are only going with one other person, I would definitely recommend the tasting menu. Unfortunately, the whole table has to get the tasting menu, and there are some excellent things that are not on it.
posted by hazyspring at 10:47 AM on August 6, 2008

Seconding reading Heat by Bill Buford. Buford is a great writer, Mario Batali is a great character, and you'll be salivating as you read through life in the Babbo kitchen.

Make double (triple) sure you confirm your reservation the day before via the confirmations-only phone number, with confirmation code.

Request to sit on the upper level, where it's more spacious and less noisy. I like my rock'n'roll music but hearing the Pixies or MGMT blast at a nice restaurant is odd even after dining there a few times.

Arrive on time and with your entire party there. Be prepared for some chaos in the bar area (coat check is the worst-designed coat check ever at Babbo). Smile and be nice to the host. I've heard he can be crabby but he's never been anything but nice to me.

Don't order the tasting menus, none of the greatest hits are on there. I don't know anyone who has been disappointed by the tasting menus, but the most-discussed dishes are not found on there. The one criticism I've seen about the pasting tasting menus is that it's a lot of pasta by the time it's done -- only you can be the judge of whether or not it's a good thing. A friend of mine who is a food critic/writer went to Babbo and had the kitchen send out their best dishes, as a custom tasting menu....and it contained most of the dishes that people rave about (which aren't on the regular tasting menu). That fact, to me, is telling and very counter-intuitive.

Order wine and take advantage of a really interesting wine list and knowledgeable sommeliers.

Service can be hit or miss, but most of the servers there know the menu like the back of their hand if you're having trouble deciding. The worst service I've had was just a waiter who was a bit absent during our meal. Bartenders are nice but the bar is often packed full of people dining or waiting for a walk-in table.

Don't eat the bread, it's kind of boring. Save room. Note that they don't offer olive oil or butter with bread service (supposedly the more traditional Italian way to do it). The amuse is typically chickpea bruschetta.

For two people I've done two antipasti, two primi, and split a secondi between the two of us, sharing plate the whole time. They can also divide portions onto two plates if you wish. Ordering conservatively on the secondi dishes leaves some room for dessert. The secondi are pretty big by the time you get around to that course. Note that the secondi don't come with any sides, you should order sides separately if you want them. IMO, the antipasti and primi menus are stronger than the secondi menu.

Assuming you are adventurous/don't mind offal, I'd do for the appetizers: the lamb's tongue vinaigrette with three minute egg, crispy pig's foot (don't worry, it doesn't really look like a foot), grilled octopus, or tripe (comes with bread, very messy). If you are trying to save space, the salumi plates are also very good but a much smaller portion. You can get the salumi they make in-house (prosciutto, lamb's tongue, lardo, spicy salami, and more) or the salumi that Mario Batali's father makes (slightly smaller selection).

For pastas, they are second to none. Everything is cooked perfectly (al dente). I love the goose liver ravioli the most and so has everyone I've ever taken there. Others like the beef cheek ravioli, chianti stained parpadelle, gnocchi with oxtail, or mint love letters, but I think the goose liver wins over those four (still haven't tried the lamb's brains yet though). Personally, I am not a huge red sauce fan and though the gnocchi and mint love letters were good but not great. YMMV.

For the main, the fennel-dusted sweetbreads are fantastic. The pork chop is excellent: well-cooked and juicy. Easily split between two. The rabbit is also nice, too. The skirt steak is only OK. I've also heard wonderful things about the duck and lamb chop. There are often very good specials too (had some braised pork cheeks once time). For the big chops, you can spot a big rack of meat coming from across the room! It smells divine. If only I had a second stomach....

Save room for dessert. If you are very full, you can get the assortment of gelati and sorbetti. A recent trip yielded: olive oil gelato (perfect as usual), hazelnut gelato, bittersweet chocolate gelato (so intense, and dark, like a punch in the face with chocolate), espresso gelato (so smooth and gone in about two seconds flat), coconut gelato (wonderful even if you don't like coconut), pineapple sorbetto (nice and sweet), green apple sorbetto (sharp and tart but refreshing), rhubarb sorbetto (very tart), mango sorbetto (addictive and reminiscent of Indian mangos), and huckleberry sorbetto (nice and with bits of real huckleberry). I also like the seasonal fruit crostata (right now is strawberry I think). The chocolate hazelnut cake is also nice. Other popular desserts are the maple cheesecake or the semifreddo.

Really, I've never had a bad meal there food-wise and in comparison, the other complaints (space, noise, service, difficulty obtaining a reservation) seem to disappear by the time the petit fours come around. And the check is surprisingly reasonable for a celebrity-chef, three-star restaurant in Manhattan.
posted by kathryn at 11:07 AM on August 6, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

The table next to us ended up getting the vintage tasting, which was, as the waiter explained, "a higher quality wine, but not as perfect of a pairing as the lower priced pairing."

Having done both and being something of a wine snob, I have to disagree with that description. I thought that the wines were both better quality and generally better matched than the standard tasting. In some cases, the sommelier took some less standard directions but they worked brilliantly for us. The other plus of the vintage wines is that they are all personally poured by the sommelier who explains his reasoning for the selection and also describes the course itself. Being wine folks, we had a blast talking wine with the guy and learned a lot of new stuff about Italian wines. If you have an interest in fine wines, the vintage tasting was well worth it to us. With the standard wines and tasting menu, the descriptions of the courses and wines were a bit more haphazard.

I personally find the regular tasting menu more to my liking, but I have nothing bad to say about the pasta tasting menu either. The first time we ate there, I told the waiter that we had heard so much about the mint love letters that we were concerned about ordering the tasting menu because we didn't want to miss the dish and he offered to substitute them for one of the pasta courses that was scheduled for the tasting menu. I don't know if they will always do this, but it was indeed a great pasta.

My one caveat would be that I have heard many people complain about the service when they order the tasting menu and have a late dining slot. Because reservations are so difficult, they offer a lot of late and early slots. The early slots are very much better, because the late ones often run even later because they can't turn the tables and then service can be rushed or worse as the night drags on.
posted by Lame_username at 11:12 AM on August 6, 2008

2nd ing saladin get the pumpkin (or was it sweet potato?) ravioli, also when we went, my friend ordered a Barolo wine for the table, I dk more than that, but I do still dream of it.
posted by cestmoi15 at 11:33 AM on August 6, 2008

Wow, lots of great info. I will go through it carefully with my wife whom I'm dining with. Thanks!
posted by aletheia at 2:20 PM on August 6, 2008

kathryn: Arrive on time and with your entire party there. Be prepared for some chaos in the bar area (coat check is the worst-designed coat check ever at Babbo). Smile and be nice to the host. I've heard he can be crabby but he's never been anything but nice to me.

It's crap like this that makes me completely write off Babbo. Not only do we live in a time where that kind of attitude from restaurant staff is unacceptable (even Le Cirque, which was once the bastion of that "screw you if you don't eat here every week" behavior, has reportedly toned itself down), but Babbo isn't even in the top echelon of NYC restaurants to even think of meriting that stance.

Maybe if Mario Batali spent half as much time taking care of his flagship restaurant that he does making TV appearances and bitching about the Michelin guide, he'd have a leg to stand on.
posted by mkultra at 9:29 AM on August 9, 2008