Otto Enoteca Pizzeria

[adrman]

I had the sweet corn coppetta last night and it was fantastic.

[Nathan]

the gelato chef, Meredith, hasn't changed.

I haven't noticed any change in the flavors.

[Nathan]

there's current an excellent pasta special:

bucatini with ramps, pesto and flecks of guanciale.

[Lreda]

Tried to go with my 17 & 14 yr old boys on Saturday but they were closed for a private party. I love Otto, go at least twice a month. Had to go to Casa Mono instead, to be honest it was average at best. I'll have to go on Sunday for alittle pizza, pasta, wine and Sunday newspaper reading at the bar.

[BryanZ]

I'd never been to Otto before as the lack of "real" food on the menu made it such that a visit was never super high on my list of things to do. By real food of course I mean hunks of cooked animal protein. Pizzas, pastas, cold apps are cool and all, but if I'm eating Italian food I want something to sink my teeth into.

Anywho, I had to get a table for a decent sized group of friends with relatively unadventurous palates on somewhat short notice. Otto came through big and was not that bad. I'm certainly rushing back to eat there on my own but for a group it works well.

Bread service is severely disappointing, but I guess that's not what you go there for. The menu is concise, the wine list diverse, so it has the makings for a good group spot. We ordered the combo plate of salumi, the combo plate of pesci, two veg, one salad, three pastas, three pizzas, and three desserts for six people. It was a nice amount of food and with a couple drinks got out of there for just shy of $50/person after tip.

I really liked the meat plate and fish. Not the best quality in the whole world--though the proscuitto was awesome--but I appreciated the diversity. The pastas were kind of presented sloppily, but I've encountered this at Babbo and Del Posto so this problem seems to be organization-wide. Liked the bucatini with guacinale and onion the most. Pizzas were good, not great; my favorite was the simple one with just the egg on top.

Really liked the desserts though. At $9.50 I thought they were a bit pricey, but, all in all, they were top notch. Had the olive oil thing, the Guinness thing, and the Black and White thing. My favorite was probably the olive oil, then the Guinness, then the B&W, though my friends with more pedestrian tastes felt the opposite. Some meat, and a dessert here with a glass of wine would be the way to go if one is alone or with one other companion. For a full meal, however, I'd, again, probably save this place for a group.

Edited June 1, 2008 by BryanZ (log)

[BryanZ]

Since my first visit early this summer I've been popping into Otto for the occasional snack or light meal. Usually just a pizza or pasta and a quartino. Nothing to report on of note.

Last night, however, a friend turned me on to the winter Caprese salad. I'd never think to order a Caprese in January, but this is a pretty awesome version. Otto uses their own canned tomatoes along with some pesto and a ball of mozzarella. A seriously tasty salad, probably my favorite thing I've had there. In general, I find this restaurant "dependable," but you do occasionally luck out with something special.

Edited January 15, 2009 by BryanZ (log)

[weinoo]

For the first time in a long time, I ate at Otto last night. I guess one of the reasons (or THE reason) I haven't been back in a long time is the general level of crowd-ed-ness of the place. Last night was no exception. But 2 friends and I popped in around 9, and were seated at the bar in 20 minutes or less...and I do want to say that the bartenders pretty much keep everything in check as to who is waiting for seats... a nice touch.

It's a bit amazing, but 7 or 8 years on and this place is still putting out very good food, and certainly excellent for its price point. At $4 a pop, the vegetable antipasti are good. But double that price, and order a seafood starter - that's when you're convinced that the kitchen knows what it's doing. Perfectly cooked shrimp with chilies and garbanzos is a fine example.

We moved on to a pizza. Now, I've never had great things to say about the pies, and others have had similar reactions - the style is not to everyone's liking. But our pie, with arugula pesto, ricotta and chilies, topped with a handful of fresh arugula, was as good as any pizza I've had in a long time - including a recent trip to Totonno's to taste Coney Island's best once more.

For our entrees, we each had our own pasta dish. I reluctantly shared my buccatini al' amatriciana, and my dining companions shared theirs as well: one was a penne with spicy cauliflower and the other spaghetti alla carbonara. All 3 were, imo, textbook examples of proper pasta cooking and proper saucing. Oh, they were delicious, too - and is there any other place in Manhattan doing pastas this good for $9?

Dessert - 3 gelati. Do I need to say more? Okay, the olive oil gelato is still capable of stopping conversation - not ours of course, but you get the picture.

There's no way this place needs to get any more popular than it is. But I think if I remember to pick and choose my days and times correctly, it's worth adding it back to a semi-regular rotation.