Del Posto

I have this stereotype of big name celebrity restaurants. They are usually small portions, stuffy staff members, and food that isn’t worth what you paid. Now some people may like that, it pumps up their ego be sitting at an over priced over hyped restaurant with the possibility of over-hyped celebrities sitting next to them. Not me! Most likely I will walk out of the restaurant wanting to hit Papaya Dog or Ruts Hut in Jersey! But for some reason I really wanted to give Mario Batali’s restaurant Del Posto a try. Probably because I have read his cookbooks and my Grandmother claims he is legit.

So after two years of trying I finally scored a restaurant week reservation. I had no idea I was in for the first true first class dining experience of my little 23 year old life! From the moment our cab pulled up to the door, Del Posto was full of pleasant surprises for me. Getting out of our cab the doorman rushed to cover us with an umbrella. Nice, but I wasn’t sold yet. I was thinking wait until the hostess looks me up and down, finds out my boots are from Banana Republic, and rejects my reservation. I walk through the doors after checking my coat and take in the two levels of wood, high ceilings and black white tiling. Three people look up from the island in the middle smile and ask my group how we are along with our reservation name. I didn’t feel like I didn’t belong or that they were disappointed that I wasn’t Linsday Lohan. We were ushered right to our seats!

I could go on and on about the wonderful service but I will just give an overview. Our waitress was very knowledgable. She gave out so much information at first that it was overwhelming, but she explained everything so well. Even when ordering different cheeses for the cheese platter she could explain everyone in detail. After every course our silverware was changed, and every person on the wait staff had knowledge about the food. We were even assigned our own sommelier. A younger guy, he was pretty hot, I am sure my boyfriend doesn’t appreciate that so moving on…

I sound like I am kid who was at Disneyworld for the first time, or someone who has never eaten outside of Applebees. That’s not the case; I guess I was just really surprised how great everyone was. Coming from the hospitality business myself I recognize how hard it is to come across good service.

So we decided to do the $95 dollar tasting menu. I know this wasn’t restaurant week pricing but it was worth it. They said the restaurant week menu was only for lunch which was wrong according to the Web site but I let it slide this time! And honestly I was floored it was worth every penny! I think this post is too long so I am going to break it up and say stay tuned for the food analysis!