NYC: L’Artusi – Modern Italian restaurant in West Village

Tina and I had a lot to celebrate this summer, but both of us were busy, so it was late August until we finally found a night to go out.

We decided to go to L’Artusi, which is a modern Italian restaurant just across the street from the place, where I was spending a big chunk of my summer, and I had been eying up the cozy sidewalk patio for weeks.

We walked up without a reservation and was told to expect a 1 hour wait, which was fine with us, as it was enough time to grab a cocktail at nearby Wilfie & Nell but still manageable in terms of potential development of hangry-ness.

The timing turned out to be perfect, as the text from L’artusi with a notification that our table was ready came just as we had finished our cocktails and our talk with the bartender at Wilfie & Nell, telling him about Tina’s Danish knækbrød and our new shop.

At L’Artusi we were assigned two seats at the bar with a full view of the action in the kitchen. I’m always impressed by how smooth and flawless everything seems to be, and I sometimes wonder whether those open kitchens are just for display, and whether there’s a real kitchen with chaos, dropped stuff, and staff yelling at each other hidden somewhere out of sight:)

The food at L’Artusi was very good. Tina’s favorite was the grilled peach salad while mine was the scallops with corn puree. We also had a pasta dish which was as good as you’d expect it to be at an Italian restaurant, and a cheese platter which was ok. The cheese was good, but the crackers tasted a bit burnt in a way that I didn’t like along with the cheese. Disclaimer: As a loyal supporter of Tina’s Hungry Bird Eats crackers, which are pretty much the only cheese crackers I eat, my opinion might be slightly biased…

Overall a very good place for dinner and a great place to start a night out. Perfect for those who want to dine somewhere trendy, but with delicious food, and who appreciate the authenticity-feel of a neighborhood gem that has been around for a while.

L’Artusi, 228 W 10th St, West Village, New York