Questions on 3 nights: Alternative Italian to Babbo or Batali restos? wd-50 yay or nay?

[Mouton Noir]

Will be in NYC for 3 nights next week, @ Ink48, 48th & 11.
Already have one night booked at Aldea, based on NY mags recommendation.
For Italian, are there options outside of the Batali group? Have heard about Locanda Verde, Convivio and Sorella. Of those 3, which one? Or is there an "under the radar" place? (I know Orso is nearby our hotel).
Also, wd-50 sounds intriguing but was a little scared by prices (esp. wine). Is it a NY must-do?
Thanks in advance

[rrems]

This depends a lot on your personal tastes. All of your choices are fine. If I could only do one, my pick would be Convivio, though Locanda Verde and Orso are also among my favorites (haven't been to Sorella). LV can be loud and the service is very rushed. Orso and Convivio are more relaxed, except pre-theater at Orso. I was less impressed with WD-50 than many on this board, not because there was anything wrong with the food, though. I just felt it was overpriced and did not care much for the ambience. If you like molecular cooking, it may be worth it for you.

[Mouton Noir]

Thanks RREMS. Now have to juggle stuff after buying discount offbroadway tix. Do you still recommend Aldea, by any chance? My only issue with WD50 was wine cost... Don't mind paying $30 for entree but was hoping for more reasonable wine offerings.

[rrems]

We just had dinner at Aldea last week and I would highly recommend it. I did something different this time and ordered 2 small plates as my appetizer, the sea urchin toast and the pork belly. Each was just a bit smaller than appetizer size, but the two were a lot of food. Though the pork belly was very good, I was blown away by the urchin and plan to order two of those next time. We also had a bottle of Cotes du Ventoux '05 for $34 that was quite good.

[Mouton Noir]

Thanks RRems. We got discounted tix for Monday night on offbroadway so had to to move Aldea reservation from Monday to Tuesday... What you have offered is great stuff.

[Pookipichu]

WD-50 is unlike any other restaurant. The forefather of modern molecular gastronomy soars at times and stumbles at others. The dishes are intelligent, whimsical and at times ironic.

I enjoyed the tasting menu on my last visit. The most successful dish was foie gras with passion fruit. Silky, rich and unctuous liver fat was countered with a liquid center of acidic, floral sweetness.

Cold fried chicken was clever but dated. Everything bagel was beautiful, a work of miniature art, but I dislike everything bagels intensely, do not care for ice cream, let alone bagel ice cream and am lactose intolerant (in spite of this, I did not want substitutions).

Snails were flavorful but I had a touch of grit in mine that shocked me, given the prices. The lentils are undercooked and hard.

The rabbit with slashes of cassis windowpane was sumptuous and another well executed dish.

Hazelnut tarte with coconut foam was by far my favorite dessert as the cocoa packets had no chocolate flavor to speak of and reminded me of ground oreos.

I cannot comment on the wine as I lack dehydrogenase enzyme.

All in all, WD-50 cannot be missed. Not because it is perfect, but because as a food lover, it must be experienced.

[kathryn]

I love Aldea. Great restaurant, nice service, good food, and a nice, modern atmosphere that isn't stuffy.

For Italian, instead of Babbo/etc. did you consider Scarpetta? Note that if you're coming next week, Locanda Verde may only have the less desirable time slots left. Make reservations soon.

I would not consider WD-50 a "must do" because NYC is much weaker in molecular gastronomy than other cities like Chicago. If you let WD-50 be your only exposure to the genre, you might come away with a bad taste in your mouth as the portions are rather small, sometimes the experiments fail (as other hounds mention), and the prices are rather high.

[Mouton Noir]

Thanks Kathryn. Going to Scarpetta on Wed, after trying Aldea.

[benoit48]

If you're into molecular, WD-50 definitely should be on your list. If you could care less about foams, fizz, etc., skip it.

[Simon]

i'm delighted that you're avoiding the Batali places, as i hate them all...

I'd say go to Scarpetta...it's prob my favorite restaurant in NYC.

[Mouton Noir]

Simon: Thanks muchly. I had actually ran into Scarpetta in my research and was curious about chef Conant. Based on your recco, booked Scarpetta on Wed night. Hope its good.

[Simon]

Hope you enjoy...my personal favorite dishes there are the yellowtail crudo to start, followed a soup (all the ones i've had there have been fantastic and they change seasonally...the chestnut soup is particularly good if they have it), followed by Conant's signature black cod w/ tomato...and if you wait at the bar, the bartenders are very nice about letting you try a few tastes of diff wines...have fun...

[kathryn]

Have a great meal! Stop in early at the bar and get some of their house made potato chips with deep fried herbs. But save room for their phenomenal bread basket with citrus-infused olive oil, mascarpone butter, and eggplant capponatta spread. And my favorite pasta so far is the spaghetti pomodoro.