otto

Admittedly, I became a bit tired of our hunt for the perfect pizza in NYC because I can only handle so much tomato sauce and cheese. Alex, on the other hand, probably could have eaten pizza every day. I really don't know how he doesn't get sick of it. When we went into Otto, we were determined not to order pizza. We failed.

Pea and Pancetta Bruschetta

It started off well, the pea and pancetta "bruschetta" made us feel like we were making a healthy choice. The fresh peas were tossed in mint and olive oil! Unusual, but very good.

Artichoke Alla Romana

Before we left for our trip, I steamed artichokes for dinner one day. It was the first time we tried them and we said that we should make them more often. Of course, after we left, this just wasn't feasible so we did the next best thing and ordered it at a restaurant.

Fennel & Bottarga Pizza

Although they have the standard pepperoni, there were a bunch of different pizzas to try like "Vongole" (clams, garlic) and "Quattro Stagioni" (swiss chard, mushrooms, cotto). These were definitely not the toppings we were used to (not as strange as that time we  had banana on a pizza though). So, we gave in to the alluring ingredients.

We shared the "Fennel & Bottarga" pizza - tomato, raw fennel, bottarga, pecorino, and mozzarella. Apparently, bottarga is considered the poor man's caviar. In reviews online, people have complained that Otto doesn't put enough of it on the pizza and have said that they sent it back. We didn't, but definitely couldn't taste it because the fennel was overpowering. I'm definitely going to consider fennel when making pizza at home because I loved it!

Compared to other NYC restaurants, Otto was really affordable considering the quality of the meal... but we have yet to find the best slice.