I have been following Chef Michael White for a while. Between his nomination of best chef in new york city from the James Beard Foundation and his listing of 101 best pasta's from New York Magazine, I had to checkout things for myself. After two weeks, I finally snagged a 10pm reservation at Osteria Morini. Yes, two weeks, and yes, 10pm. A few weeks into my 30’s and 10pm on a Saturday night is late for me; fuck me.
Osteria Morini is located in Soho, on Lafayette Street. The space looked like an Italian farmhouse, with exposed wood beams, brick walls decorated with copper pans, pictures of random old Italian ladies and paintings of what I’m guessing is the Italian country side. The seating was quick. Within five minutes I had my ass planted at a wooden table.
Osteria Morini is located in Soho, on Lafayette Street. The space looked like an Italian farmhouse, with exposed wood beams, brick walls decorated with copper pans, pictures of random old Italian ladies and paintings of what I’m guessing is the Italian country side. The seating was quick. Within five minutes I had my ass planted at a wooden table.
The first thing I noticed was the bottle of olive oil on the table. If there is one thing I remember my Italian friends’ grandmothers always telling me that a true Italian meal starts with olive oil on the table. I knew I was in the right place.
We started with a few appetizers. First, a meats platter ($15) Prosciutto di Parma, Sopressata and Salame Romagnolo, served with grilled bread and what my stupid ass thought was butter but was actually mashed up lardo. All the meats were perfectly cured and fresh, but the lardo was the winner of the 3. I've never had Lardo before, It was creamy, salty with a hint of meaty flavor, I couldn't believe I've been missing out all this time. Two weeks later and I’m still thinking about lathering myself with the lardo, but then I realize I would probably eat myself.
Bufala Mozzarella with figs, rosemary oil and saba ($11). The mozzarella was fresh and creamy, but a little too salty. As I went for my second bite I got a taste from the fig marmalade, which cut through the saltiness nicely and tied the whole dish together.
Lastly, the Mortadella Skewers: deep fried mortadella and some sort of cheese that I couldn’t figure out, deep fried and served on a stick with a side of lemon ($8). Need I say more?
My friend was dying for some meat. Yes, that’s what she said. But I told her you don’t go to Peter Luger’s and order the fish, so we’re going straight to the pasta. We ordered three pasta dishes and shared them, which was a great idea.
Gramigna: macaroni, pork sausage, tomato and black pepper ($17). The dual-colored pasta was curly and perfectly tender in a creamy sauce, the sausage was sweet and spicy, with hints of black pepper every so often. It was Viagra in a bowl.
Gramigna: macaroni, pork sausage, tomato and black pepper ($17). The dual-colored pasta was curly and perfectly tender in a creamy sauce, the sausage was sweet and spicy, with hints of black pepper every so often. It was Viagra in a bowl.
Tortelli Della Nonna: braised beef ravioli, sugo di arrosto and fossa cheese ($18). This dish would have a hardcore vegan wanting to eat it morning, noon and night. The flavors were outstanding. I kept wishing my friend would go to the bathroom so I could eat the whole thing myself. My friend later confessed she kept wishing I would do the same.
Cappelletti: truffled mascarpone ravioli with butter and prosciutto ($19). I love the simplicity of this dish; perfect little pillows filled with creamy mascarpone, the pasta shell was perfect and a hint of saltiness from the prosciutto.There were a lot of different textures in this dish which I fell in love with.
My friend and I polished off all this food off with a bottle of Bission Cinque Terre Bianco Marea 2008, a light white wine which was perfect with all our creamy pasta dishes.
Our bill came to $138. I must also make mention of the service. Our dude bro server was on point with everything. The emphasis and detail he used to describe the dishes deserved an academy award. If he told me they were serving skewered subway rat on a stick and it cost $1000 each, I’d probably order three for the table and two to go. Our wine and water glasses were never empty and I felt like I was home, the only thing was missing was the old school rap blasting in the back ground and porn streaming on a laptop. I never really leave Brooklyn for Italian food, last time I did I end up at that shit show Fiamma , but I can truely say I’d walk on my hands over broken glass just to get my hands on the pasta at Osteria Morini.
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