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Despite the oppulent French dining room appearance, the menu is clearly Italian and very extensive. I was so distracted reading the menu and wine list I forgot to note the amuse we were given to start . We were given a selection of breads with butter and lardo, which is essentially salted whipped up pork fat. Interesting but a taste was enough. The wine list, which was all Italian, was huge with some reasonable prices for some of the very good selections. I started with panzanella, a rustic Tuscan bread and tomato salad. It tasted fine but I found but the bread rather dry, which it should not be since the point of the dish is to moisten stale bread, and the tomatoes were crushed rather than chopped so it had less tomato than I prefer. My husband enjoyed a scallop carpaccio which was so tender, it melted in your mouth. We split a plate of tagliarini with an entire white truffle grated over top. This was undoubtedly the best pasta either of us have ever had. And at $80, certainly, the most expensive. But the smell and earthy flavour of the white truffles was incredible and the texture of the pasta was perfect. For secondi, DH had turkey, the slices of breast meat unexceptional and too much of it. Accompanying it was a dish called cebreo, braised bits of dark and organ meats topped with butter crumbs. That was very flavourful and very rich which made the breast meat seem even plainer. I had lamb loin which was tender and delicately flavoured. It came with black pepper and oil, fried basil leaves and what was described as tomato salsa, which was a tangy cooked tomato and olive compote-like side. It was delicious but too strong flavoured to be eaten with the lamb. For dessert, DH had the apricot cassata, which was a variation on a baked Alaska which he did not care for. I forgot the name of the dessert I had but it was three types of solid chocolate which get chipped off a block and put on your plate.

It's a step up from special, less trendy and more on the orignal side . The food and staff was first rate as well as the feel of the whole atmosphere . I will return and tell others to give it a try .

I was disappointed not so much by food, atmosphere, but the appearance of the waitresses....Give them a crisp & well tailored outfit, afterall you are Italian, &" the bella figura counts". Surely there is a simple & not messy outfit you can give these girls. The service @ the table was much more elegant & the waitress very presentable. Didn't believe red wattle was a swine, but after tasting & researching, you're correct. It tasted like a spicy "salsicia" with the oriecchieti.... The lighting is what makes Del Posto, then again I was a mere patron..Ciao e Buona Fortuna

Del Posto has a great space, good vibes and exceptional service. The bread was wonderful and the prosciutto exceptional. There was not much else that prompted positive response from our group of four. We all tried the tasting menu, so experienced a good variety of offerings. It is a restaurant geared I believe to the grand old expense account, but money may buy great surroundings but where the cooking is concerned it is no arbiter of taste. The wine list is interesting and extensive, but again geared very much to expense account spending, at these prices an extra charge for a few words from the Sommelier seems churlish. I would like to experience Babbo since Mr Batali seems a likeable personality and perhaps this "thinning" of his resources in the kitchen may not be doing him justice.

Being a Batali proponent I had my birthday dinner here last night. I can honestly say I walked out of Otto several weeks ago, fuller, with 1/8 the amount of cash spent and food of the same quality. The menu is just not as good as Babbo and the menu is not even comprehensible to a native Italian. I agree with the majority of the reviewers, just not worth it. Go to Babbo and get the pumpkin luna.

We had a good meal here. But not a great one. And going into our 4 night trip, we had assumed this would be the one that ended up being our favorite. Instead it finished 4th out of 4. Unlike many of the other reviewers, we were immediately seated for our 7:45 Thursday night reservation. The menu is intimidating no matter how much time you've spent reading up on it here and elsewhere. We had to ask about at least half of the items. The waitress was nice about it, but I would imagine that it gets old for them. I had the Carrot sfumato and the perch. Both were servicable. Neither was spectacular. My wife had the spaghetti for her entree. It is billed as being very spicy. In fact, when the sommelier was helping us choose a wine, he was most worried about the spice level in that dish. Maybe since we're from Texas, spicy has a different meaning. But we didn't find her dish spicy at all. Luckily we hadn't gone too overboard on the wine choice--sticking with a more familiar pinot grigio than the gerwitztraminer that he tried to steer us to. The bread basket is both ample and outstanding. We weren't up for dessert though did order cappucinos so that the dessert goody table might pass our way. It eventually did. Though we were only parceled out 4 small things none of which were the little cookies or biscotti we saw getting doled out to other nearby tables. We've not been to Babbo so can't compare the two Batali experiences. But you should think long and hard before committing a night to this outpost.

Last night a few of us life guards were on a quest for marble, mahogany and great dining. I must say 2 out of 3 aint bad. The experience started with a walk up the beautiful stairway to Scampi past the piano player. The upstairs is lovely and service is fine. First comes the pasta and the expecations were running high for the spaghetti with spicy crab. Big disappointment. The entrees at are table consisted of Veal, Char, Lobster and Tuna. The reaction was mediocre at best from the team. The Wines were very good and lets just say some of the life guards will need to be off duty today. Overall this a nice place but by no means a must go.