Otto, 1 Fifth Ave (at 8th St.)

Forkers, due to the recent economic syndromes, the oncoming trip to Chile and the ridiculous amount of exercise I've been doing, I've been laying low and trying to cook in as much as possible to save some extra cash and cut calories. Myself and my two managers ended up at Otto when one of our vendors decided to take us out last minute, and the rest of the team punked out.

Otto is a pizza restaurant and enoteca that was opened by famous chef Mario Batali. We walked in to Otto on a seemingly regular Wednesday night, yet the place was packed and our vendor was only able to score us a standing table only. Unfortunately, we were unable to order Otto's famous pizzas at one of these tables, but that didn't damper our moods and keep us from ordering three bottles of wine, a smoked meats plate, a cheese plate and some small fishes.

The smoked meats plate was outstanding. But how could an assortment of prosciutto, pancetta, coppa, testa & salumi while drinking fine red wine in great company at an amazing not be outstanding? The cheese plate on the other hand was rather underwhelming, with an assortment including a brie, parmesean, and gouda. However there was one soft cheese that was absolutely incredible, the goat coach triple cream from upstate NY. I was dually unimpressed by the small fishes as well, as most were composed of some sort of octopus or squid, of which I'm allergic. In lieu of this, I tried the rock shrimp and it was very nice.

The wines we had were also very nice- mostly dry reds, the way it should be! By the time we walked out of Otto and finished everything, to be honest I'm lucky I remember the dishes we had, let alone the wines. The one thing I would have improved upon with the wines would be a slight chill to ~50 degrees F. Wines are fine at room temperature, but when room temperature is about 80 degrees (it was very warm and crowded that night), the wine should be slightly chilled.

Probably one of the coolest novelties about Otto that I noticed is an old-school train timetable (you know, the one that has the letters that flips around every time a train departs or arrives) that occasionally flipped on the wall opposite the entrance. Very very nice European touch.

I'm looking forward to returning with my father and my sister when they're in town, and trying the pizza!

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