One evening after the gym, my friend and I set off to meet another friend of ours to enjoy a well-earned dinner. We decided to treat ourselves to Italian and opted for a place on the Upper West Side in close proximity to the gym and for low-key after dinner drinks.
Our friend, Howie R., was waiting for us in the back of the restaurant by the bar. An interesting place to be since bars are typically near the entrance but this suggested that people who choose to sit at the bar could feel like a part of the crowd sitting down for dinner. I originally made a reservation via Open Table and once we were checked in, we were instructed to wait as a table was set-up. When it was ready, Howie R. checked his coat and bag since there was hardly room between the tables that were set-up towards the middle of the restaurant. Sitting next to him, I was lucky there was no one directly next to me as that would have presented an awkward problem getting out from the table should I have needed to do that.
The service was great overall and our waitress was very attentive and observant meaning, she did not come up to us too much in the beginning since she saw how we were deep in conversation. We ordered some water along with one Manhattan and two Chardonnay's in preparation for what would inevitably be a heavy dinner. My friend Chris G. and I split the Calamari from the Insalata ~ Antipasto section of the menu comprising of sautéed calamari, tomato jam, swiss chard, raisin, and pine nuts. For the entrée, we split an incredible pasta dish named Pappardelle Buttera: sweet and spicy sausage, sweet green peas, sage and perfectly creamy vodka sauce. They split the dish very nicely evening out the sauce, peas and sausage. In fact, it was a good portion to have since even though the sauce appeared to be heavy (it was) the rest of the dish looked like it wouldn't be enough. Howie R. ordered the Pappardelle Funghi e Tartufo: wild mushroom ragu, white wine, truffle cream, roasted garlic and basil because he's a "Funghi!" (Funghi = Fun Guy...get it? Ha, ha!). The waitress laughed as we all did, gotta love a good pun!
As our pasta disappeared, we not only enjoyed the food, drinks and décor but we appreciated the crowd that dined there as well. There were a lot of mature couples or people in their 30's - 40's. The restaurant was buzzing and people were friendly, as one woman wished us all goodnight and an older couple opposite us engaged us in a pretty interesting conversation as well. Typically I'm not a huge fan of this kind of situation, but it was welcomed. It set the tone for the restaurant since a lot of people there were locals and whoever was in the city, felt it was well worth the trip to come in and saw Pappadelle as a must for dinner. Although it is not one of the best Italian restaurants in the city, it is certainly one of the better restaurants in the area to enjoy Italian food. read more