Babbo

This week, Katherine, Elizabeth, Stephanos and I, went to Babbo near Washington Square in New York. What an outstanding restaurant! We had two wines. The first was a refreshing, mineraly, Tuscan white: Batar 2000, from Agricola Querciabella. This was perhaps the best Italian white I can recall drinking. It must be rare, because the word Batar does not appear in Hugh Johnson's wine book. The red wine was a Gattinara 2001, Antoniolo SF. It was predictably enjoyable.

For antipasti we shared Warm Lamb's Tongue Salad, Pig's Foot Milanese, and Grilled Octopus. For primi, we shared Gooseliver Ravioli with Balsamico, Beefcheek Ravioli, and Garganelli with Porchini. For segundi, Stephanos had cod, I had sweetbreads, and Liz and Katherine shared Pork Cheeks Friuli Style.

We shared two contorni: Carciofi Romana and Babbo Greens. The Carciofi Romana tasted the same as those we had in Rome but was much more elegantly presented.

My impression was that this was better than any restaurant we had ever been to in Italy. There were restaurants in Italy that served an outstanding dish that matched Babbo, but none hit every single dish on the mark. In particular, Babbo was a notch above Enoteca Pinchiori in Florence- a Michelin 3 star when we ate there.

Reflecting on that, I remembered that a few months ago I wrote that Frasca in Boulder, Colorado was better than any Italian restaurant we had gone to in the United States. Now, Babbo is a notch above Frasca. I wondered whether, if we went to Piperno in Rome, would we think it was better than Babbo. Then, if we went to Oliveto here in Oakland would we think it was better than Piperno? Maybe all Italian Restaurants are better than all other Italian restaurants.