The best pesto I've ever eaten

After 10 days in Southern California, eating delicious Mexican food at least once a day (more on that coming in a future blog post) I am back in New York, enjoying the heat and humidity. While in LA I decided I needed to get to some Top Chef restaurants, so made reservations at all-star Fabio's Firenze Osteria. After so much raving from the judges on both seasons of Top Chef, I was indescribably excited to experience his rustic Italian cooking, especially the gnocchi. I was also a little nervous, because my experience with Top Chef restaurants has been a mixed bag--Harold's Perilla and Kin Shop are some of the best meals I've had, while Dave's Crave on 42nd (now closed) was an overpriced Olive Garden. So off I went to North Hollywood, with Miriam F. and Rachel G.

Well, dear readers, Fabio does not disappoint. We were greeted with a delicious black olive spread and some bread. The spread was essentially a tapenade, but it was mixed with some finely chopped tomatoes, which helped to cut through some of the strident saltiness that sometimes comes along with a tapenade. With that, we were off to the races.

We next shared an appetizer of spinach and ricotta dumplings, over melted butter with sage. The sage butter was really the selling point on this, and it was delicious, although between the extra cheese grated on top and the butter on the bottom, the dish was a skosh too salty to eat a lot of.

Although we tried to avoid being THAT table ordering the same thing, we all ordered gnocchi. In our defense, we all ordered different gnocchi preparations. Miriam went with the marinara and fresh ricotta, which she adored. 

 I was all set to steer clear of the gnocchi and order the sausage and mushroom risotto, but then decided that I had to experience what the judges on Top Chef called perfect gnocchi. I went with the gnocchi dish no one else was going to order--in a truffled 4-cheese sauce with sausage. It was delicious--everything was perfectly balanced, the sausage was very finely crumpled so that it mixed in with the sauce, and the gnocchi were heavenly light pillows. The only negative was that this was a fairly heavy dish to order for lunch on a warm day, but the especially intense food coma I went through was totally worth it.



Rachel's order blew everyone else's out of the water. She ordered the pesto gnocchi, and this pesto was DIVINE. I truly have never tasted anything like it. The toasted pine nuts scattered above the gnocchi were just the tip of the iceberg. The pesto was creamy and perfectly balanced--there's nothing else to say about it except that it was perfect.



  Seriously, people, go here. It's delicious. And thanks to Rachel G. for the pictures, since my camera died as soon as we sat down to eat.