Diners at Del Posto chose either a 5 course menu for $115 or a 7 course for $145. Given that it was the middle of the summer and every menu item sounded substantial, we selected the 5 course menu which proved to be more than enough food. Susan and I decided red wine would go best with most of the items on the menu, and as such, selected a lovely bottle of Barrolo. I will say that the Del Posto wine list is very intimidating and very expensive with only a handful of options in what I would call a reasonable range (ie under $100 a bottle). In fairness to the sommelie, he guided us to a nice bottle of wine without any snobbery once we told him our tastes and our price point.
The service at Del Posto was definitely top notch. The waiters weren’t the best at interacting with us, but the plates arrived with great fanfare and our glasses were filled without notice. However, I personally prefer a restaurant where the waiters are taught to have a bit more of a personality and be more helpful in dish selection, etc. The other thing I found odd was that there was a lack of consistency in who seemed to be our primary waiter throughout the night. Generally, the food was all good, but there were no absolute wows in the meal and the service did nothing to eclipse this. Frankly, I would question how this earned a Michelin Star other than having a celebrity chef backer.
The amuse bouche was a three part series with a consommé, a fried rice ball, and a chickpea puree between two toast points. The consommé was unremarkable. But, I really liked the rice ball and the chickpea puree sandwich. The bread basket arrived with two spread selections, a whipped lardo with rosemary and regular butter. The bread selections included a wonderful airy foccacia, an olive roll, and a French style roll. All were delightful. Honestly, I wanted to love the lardo, but I found it to be a bit bland. I LOVED the foccacia and had to restrain myself from taking more.
For appetizers we had the Lobster Fra Diavolo with garlic bread panna cotta and the charred octopus with chickpeas and celery that was drizzled with 25 year balsamic vinegar. I preferred the octopus to the lobster dish, but was not amazed by either. In fact, the most delightful part of the dish was the balsamic vinegar that they drizzled a bit too frugally for my liking!
For our pasta course, we ordered the Risotto with the 25 year balsamic and the veal agnolotti with sweet pea, espresso, and Grana Padano cheese. The risotto was a very good, plain preparation that was highlighted perfectly by the balsamic. The veal agnolotti was good but nothing extraordinary. I will forever compare all veal agnolotti dishes to the one that I had at Ai Fiori, which was quite possibly the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life. The agnolotti at Del Posto didn’t even come close. At this point in our meal, we were extremely full and 100% realized that Del Posto is far better suited for a nice meal out in the winter, rather than the summer. The menu itself doesn’t even seem to reflect any change in the season, being composed almost entirely of heavier dishes with no apparent use of seasonal ingredients. I always find a restaurant not adapting to the season to be a bit disappointing.
For our main courses we had the burnt beef with potato torta and spicy tongue stew and the roast chicken with porcini and beans. The burnt beef was delicious and the most interesting dish we had all night. I really liked the crispy ends and the rich sauce. The chicken was a nicely prepared roast chicken that was good but again not extraordinary.
For dessert, they brought over a little basket of cookies and biscotti which were all average. I’m of the opinion if you’re going to bring free food it should be good! Don’t just bring extras for the sake of giving extras! We ordered the Tartufo with dark chocolate coffee and candied lemon peel the chocolate ricotta tortino. Both of these were very good but we were so full we could barely have more than a bite of each!
Overall, there was nothing wrong with dinner at Del Posto. But in my view, it did not earn the price charged or the Michelin star.
