tea time no. 38 : Babbo

Drinking: Just Coffee- Fondo Paez

Listening to: New Sensation – INXS

Back in the days of cable, I saw this episode of Iconoclasts on Sundance Channel with Michael Stipe and Mario Batali. They are both kind of interesting on their own, but together in conversation as good friends, they are really fascinating. They talked about food and music, of course, but also about friendship, photography and their careers. It was an episode that really endeared me to the Iconoclast series.

In the interview, Michael Stipe talked about the first time he ate at one of Mario’s restaurants Babbo in New York. He said he was surprised that they were playing PJ Harvey – loud PJ Harvey – as a backdrop for a very elegant restaurant. So, while we were in New York, for the first night away for the two of us together since 2007, it was the perfect time to check it out. Who knows when the next date night will be, so I post this here to revisit.

Stipe was right. Music is as important to the Babbo experience as the wine list. I loved it. We heard INXS’s album Kick and Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On both in their entirety while we ate. It was great that they played entire albums from start to finish, not just a disk changer on random. Albums used to be played this way – like a mix tape prepared by the artist to be heard in a certain order – and it really did give the meal a chronology. So good. It’s not too loud and you can still have a great conversation.

When you get there, they bring you marinated chickpeas. We tried this wine and liked it a good bit and it was pretty affordable, so I took this with my phone to remember the name.

I had the prosciutto San Daniele “Riserva” with Black Pepper “Fett’unta” to start which comes with little pomegranate seeds on the prosciutto. It’s one of those perfect flavor combinations that would never occur to me.  For dinner, I had the Pumpkin “Lune” ravioli with Sage and Amaretti. { I’m copying these names from the menu.} I can’t remember everything my husband ate because I was practically passing out from the butter sauce incredibleness that was on my plate, but I know he started with the Grilled Octopus with “Borlotti Marinati” and Spicy Limoncello Vinaigrette and said it was the best thing he’s ever eaten. Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Orange Sauce and Hazelnut Gelato for dessert and it’s pretty much perfection.

Man, I gotta go get something to eat.