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The food at Del Posto is top notch and cooked and served with obvious care. The pastas are masterfully crafted and taste divine and the unique desserts (chocolate-riccota tart with olive oil gelatto) are suble and delicious. The extras that come with the prix fixe menu (cookies; soup with ricotta foam; house made puffed pastrywith cured salami) put an extra delight into a wonderul meal. The service is exemplary as well, explaining each dish in a manner that makes the food come alive. A true gem, worth the trip and the price.

After going there for dinner, I read the other reviews with interest, and I have to say, I think there's some truth to all of them. All I can say is that on the night I went, the food was fantastic. Yes, it's stuffy, but what do you expect in a place like this? It's far too expensive to be an everyday place; in this instance, my husband surprised me with dinner there for my birthday. Tables are nicely spaced, especially for New York, and the piano music was not overly annoying. Food: We both got the 5 course tasting menu, and it was spectacular. I got the foie gras with wild strawberries special appetizer and he got the lobster salad, a regular feature. Both were excellent. But the pasta comment was dead on - the portions are very small (3 tiny pieces each) and arrived very slowly. I do enough cooking myself to realize how extraordinary the pasta was, but I think for what you shell out, you should get a bit more. We split the chicken entree special, and it was incredible. No big deal, you say, it's just chicken? Well, it was the best chicken I've ever had - perfectly cooked and perfectly flavored. It sounds simple, but it's not - you wouldn't believe how many "high-end" places can't cook a really good chicken. No complaints on the food. WARNING: we had a really bad experience with the reservation people. After a snafu with the confirmation during which his initial reservation was unceremoniously cancelled, and the agent was incredibly rude to him, my husband was thisclose to telling them to shove it. After cooling down, he decided not to let some snotty little pissant in a office ruin an evening he'd been planning for weeks. But we came in, ready to walk out the minute we got any attitude from anybody - no food is that good. But the staff at the restaurant was lovely and professional, especially the sommelier. Service IS slow, but I don't think it's the staff - they were very attentive. I think food simply comes out of the kitchen when it's ready, and if it's slow, too bad. I didn't see anyone getting served any faster than we were, no matter how much Armani they were wearing. I would recommend this place for a special occasion (bring a healthy credit card); don't be in a hurry and bring a sense of humor, and you'll have a good time. But look out for the reservation people - nasty.

I have certain basic expectations when I enter a major restaurant: 1) that a prix fixe menu will be less expensive than the total of the items priced separately, 2) that portion sizes will be adequate, and 3) that the bill will reflect the least expensive charge applicable to what was ordered. In the case of our meal at the Enoteca at Del Posto, all of these ground rules failed to apply. 1) The difference between the $35 and $52 prix fixe is one full order of pasta shared by two people, for a total difference of $34 for two people. However, a full order of pasta ordered a la carte, shared by two people, is $20. 2) The portion size of the halibut with mixed salad entrée was scandalously tiny: less than two ounces of fish with 6 one inch pieces of a leafy green, and the duck was a very lonely leg on a large plate with a tiny container of sauce and no vegetables or garnishes. 3) The bill was calculated on an a la carte basis, even though it would have been cheaper as prix fixe. I will mention another potential trap: Each of the wines by the glass has two prices, which I had assumed to be a glass versus a carafe; however, I missed the notice stating that the first price was a “taste” of wine, and the second a glass of wine, so I ended up paying $22 for a very mediocre glass of wine. The staff, on the other hand, went out of their way, within the very strict confines of company policy, to accommodate us when we complained about these various issues. As to the food: Of the 7 dishes that we had, the gnocchi with pesto sauce was superb, worthy of a one-star Michelin restaurant in France or Italy. The other 6 dishes were just OK, not at all special.

The good: Beautiful restaurant; professional, but unbelievably slow service. The bad: contrived menu (is there ever a need for parsnip ice cream?), and unbelievably slow - 3 1/2 hours and ridiculous amount of time between courses. Most of the food was oversalted to the point of almost being inedible; rib-eye steak tough as leather, but tasty after you cut away the overly salted exterior. The selection of two pastas for the table is served one choice at a time. Two minutes (if that much) to eat the few pieces of pasta, and then a half hour until the next 2 minute tasting. Better pasta bolognese can be had at any Ottomanelli's or Cheesecake Factory. Bottom line: more time should be spent on how the food tastes rather than how pretty it looks on the plate. If I want art, I'll go to a museum.

Loved everything about this restaurant from the delicious food, the great wine, and the excellent service! Will be back!

Del Posto offers discounted parking a block away on 15th street of $17. But if you swing by the front of the restaurant, the doorman usually has some spaces "saved" much closer. I always leave a nice tip of $25 and he takes good care of my car.

Fear not fellow New Yorkers, the investment bankers are alive and well and dining at Del Posto! My friends & I were surrounded by the lamest crowd of diners, in a dining room that is so over the top it hurt! The room was so stuffy, and it was dreadfully painful (but somewhat entertaining) watching all these 20 somethings trying to act like sophisticated high end diners. And what would a 8:00pm dinner in NYC be without the token table next to you with a 5 and 3 year old! (tho admittedly well behaved). Ok, now the good news - I go to Babbo and Lupa often so I am very familiar with the wine lists (which overlap quite a bit) I picked a couple of killer reds for under $40 (hint, go to Puglia section of list). The real bright spot was the food. All the pastas were amazing as were the Proteins. So Del Posto is lame but the food is really good. I would say go for a special occasion, if not steer clear and hit a more casual Batali place where the food is mostly just as good.