Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria

After discovering the greatness of Eataly, I was curious to try Otto-a Batali and Bastianich restaurant, which is regarded as having some of the best pizza in NYC.  The restaurant itself was as busy and lively as Eataly, and the atmosphere was extremely vibrant.

We started off with the Caprese.  With it being winter and tomatoes being out of season, I forgave the canned tomatoes, mozzarella, and pesto combination.  While it tasted fine, it wasn’t especially exciting. Next up we tried a couple of different pizzas.  The prosciutto arugula was my favorite, but honestly this was far from the best pizza in NYC.  While I have nothing against this pizza and would gladly eat it again, it just didn’t have that same combination of flavors and textures that I would consider to be truly authentic and exceptional.

The pepperoni was also tasty, but nothing too special.  Next time I would definitely want to try the Lardo–which is indeed a pizza topped with lard–and I will return for it when I’m feeling especially gluttonous.

Now onto the best part of the meal–the gelato!!! The olive oil gelato completely blew my mind and it was unforgettable.  For sure the creamiest most luscious gelato I’ve ever tasted and not too sweet so it perfectly suited my taste buds.  We also tried the grapefruit which was refreshing, but nothing compared to the olive oil–which I will definitely be back for!  Overall, this is a restaurant with a very fun feel and it’s huge so a good place to come with a group of people.  While the food didn’t completely blow me away it was solid and as I mentioned there were several items which did stand out.