Grotta Azzurra Ristorante

Dear 8 pound, 6 ounce, new born baby Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, I want to thank you for this wonderful meal of fine pastas and carbonated soft drinks from our unwilling sponsor Coca-Cola, that you have given us on this fine New York evening…

A game time decision for dinner on our last night in New York led Jen and I down to Little Italy. It’s interesting seeing the stark difference in environment when you come out of Chinatown and into the Italian District. Is it even called the Italian District? The Meatball District? What do I know. But the dark, unlit streets of Chinatown at night didn’t seem to invite late night diners as much as Little Italy. We wandered from restaurant to restaurant, trying to decide on a place to eat based on the patronage sitting outside as much as we were from the menus proudly displayed at each establishment.

When we finally wandered to the corner of Mulberry and Broome, we settled on the restaurant on the corner, Grotta Azzurra Ristorante. The host boasted their long history (established in 1908), their exquisitite service, and fantastic dishes, which really is hard to differentiate from the 32904849380 other Italian restaurants pushing the same agenda…bring in the customers. With a reasonably large menu and perfect people watching from the corner, we accepted a table outside almost right on the corner.

I started off with the Carpaccio di Manzo, delicately sliced raw beef, topped with argula, thick shavings of parmesan, and topped with a lemon vinaigrette. The ingredients were fresh, but for my next visit I’d opt for one of their other antipasta dishes.

Carpaccio di Manzo, photo courtesy of Grotta Azzurra Ristorante

The real stunnahs of this meal were their pastas. I ordered the 4 Cheese Ravioli, and Jen ordered the Gnocchi Al Telefono. Holy crap on a stick, this pasta is good. I really can’t think of any place in the U.S. where I’ve had such fresh pasta. I can’t recall the exact combination of cheese in my ravioli, but I do remember it at least having ricotta and marscapone cheese in it. The raviolis were absolutely enormous. The liferafts from the Titanic weren’t as big as these things. I’d guess they were somewhere around 5″x5″ big, and not completely overwhelmed by the accompanying sauce. Jen’s Gnocchi was ridiculously good, with large chunks of fresh mozzarella infilitrating the gnocchi ranks. The texture was soft, slightly chewy, and not at all gritty like you experience with many mass produced versions you’d get from even the highest quality of grocers. The pasta is made fresh daily, on site, and well worth the visit.

Four Cheese Ravioli, photo courtesy of Grotta Azzurra Ristorante

Be aware that the restaurant policy is to automatically include a 20% service charge to all checks, so if you feel that your service was exceptional, you can always add more to the coffers of your server, but you should’t be obliged. Thin of it as an bonus for those of you who did horribly at middle school math. Just leave room for cannolis and gelato across the street!

On a side note, make sure to check out the street vendors, and pick up a baby Jebus magnet for your refrigerator back home.

Amen.