Tom Douglas

dell’anima, New York/ by Lawrence Iverson, IT and accounting

On our birthday trip to the Big Apple, Darren and I sauntered into a restaurant, dell’anima, that was recommended by the big man (Tom Douglas) himself.  To say the least, the environment was sexy, seductive and delicious.  The softly lit room, friendly staff, and amazing food made an exquisite night out in Chelsea.

Our menu started with a few Goose and Ginger cocktails and bruschette with ricotta/ rapini pesto, walnuts, pecorino/soft scrambled eggs, bottarga.

The bruschette were lightly toasted and seasoned with olive oil and a dash of salt, mmmm….. The ricotta, fluffy light and mouth watering.  The rapini pesto was good but not quite my style, however, Darren loved it! The soft scrambled egg was loved by all.

Our next course was cozze: mussels in a white wine, herb butter, and sausage jus.

Thereafter, we changed it up from Goose to a glass or two of the Barbaresco Masseria Vietti which danced on your palate.  It was like drinking silk.

For our main course, we had risotto alla pilota with house made sausage, salumi, Pecorino Romano. Al dente grain, rich and creamy, completely decadent…. Following that was the fettucini carbonara (photo above)- bacon, garlic, freshly grated Parmesan- the noodles were dripping with butter and a beautiful egg yolk centered atop all this deliciousness.

To end it all, we had nutello gelato and scrumptious berry tart with whip.  All I have to say is that there was not a crumb left on any of those plates.

What a treat to experience this place!  Thank you again, Tom, for the wonderful recommendation!

Editor’s note: the small photo to the right is of Jackie and ET dining at dell’anima right after the James Beard Awards last spring.

September 16th, 2010