Tratoria Dell Arte in Manhattan Restaurant Review

I'd say this place is pretty good. I've eaten here only 2 times and both times were pretty good. The prices are pretty high but typical of this midtown semi Times Square area (900 Seventh Ave btwn 56th & 57th). This last time I went there was lovely. I was there with friends I've know since I was 5 years old and even someone I played little league baseball with (I was really good, by the way). The dinner was hosted by another good friend that is a distributer of italian wines and this place is one of his accounts so we recieved excellent service and treatment.

We started with an antipasti meat and cheese platter accompanied by a chianti classico and a barbaresco (I apologize because i didn't get the names of the wines because I didn't know I was going to have this blog when I went there...boooo). The meats were excellent and the chianti classico was paired perfectly. Next came the vegetable antipasti plate which I only had the artichokes and the broccoli rabe from. Amazing... then we had this incredible pizza course which I didn't think I was going to be able to eat but the crust was so incredibly thin that it was the perfect interlude course.

For the main course, I ordered the Pappardelle de Mare...PERFECT...Fresh crab, fresh shrimp, fresh clams, pasta cooked to perfection. But I was too full to taste my friend's entrees. They did not skimp on their ordering either. Here's what was ordered... the ossobucco, apparently deeeelicious. The Filet Mignon Tuna steak apparently was the best of the entrees as was said by my friend who had the appetite to taste everything. The Veal Milanese my wine host had and he absolutely loved it so much that he barely shared (heehee). The Lamb Chops ordered by the tasting machine was devoured.

The restaurant sent out a dessert platter with a bottle of proseco. There was a chocolate cheesecake, tiramisu, frozen pistachio angel cake and 2 canolis that I didn't even get a chance to taste because they were devoured in a heartbeat. the end of the meal was topped off with a bottle of the houses finest grappa for the table of 8. lovely

All in all, the dinner was pretty damn good. is it worth the price? i don't think so. but if i knew someone had the money to spend on a place and liked to be a little flashy with his money (I say "he" cos men usually care more about that) then I would reccommend this place.