Lupa

Lupa Osteria Romana is a Mario Batali restaurant in Greenwich Village. We really wanted to go to Babbo, which is Mario's flagship restaurant, but it was impossible to get reservations on short notice. At Lupa, I think Mario is more of the money guy instead of the chef but we were ok with that because we really wanted pasta that night.

When we got to the restaurant, we were surprised at how small it was, even by New York standards. We were quickly seated but the tables were EXTREMELY close together. As in, our two top was basically a four top with the table beside us. A person could not have fit in between the two tables. I wasn't even able to put my purse on the back of my chair because the person behind me was so close. Jeff was pretty uncomfortable until the table behind him left. The person he was back to back with apparently was tap dancing at the table until they left! So the atmosphere was not something we were used to.

Once we finally settled in, we got a bottle of wine recommended by our waiter because the entire wine menu was in Italian. But it did turn out to be a wine we enjoyed. For our antipasti course, we selected broccoli rabe with ricotta, beets with pistachio and Prosciutto de Parma. We figured we would go with one thing we knew, the prosciutto and try two other new things. It turned out to be a good choice. All three were good and the preparation was was very different than anything we have had before.

For our pasta, we chose Spaghetti alla Carbonara and Bucatini All'Amatriciana. We chose the Bucatini based on a recommendation from our neighbors two inches to our right who overheard our quiet debate on which two pastas to get! The Carbonara was delicious and I have since made it at home a few times. It is extremely easy and quick and a nice luxury after a hard day at work.

All it has in it is cheese, egg yolks, diced pork, and black pepper. When I make it I use Parmesan Reggiano and pancetta. Guanciale is the more traditional pork so that is probably what Lupa uses but I can't find it in Greenville.

Bucatini All'Amatriciana is a spicy tomato pasta. I had heard of the pasta bucatini before but this is the first time I actually tried it. It is spaghetti shaped but with a small hole running through the center. It was good too but I preferred the Carbonara which worked out perfectly since Jeff preferred the Bucatini.

Like a lot of traditional Italian restaurants, pasta is only considered the first course but we were too full to try any of their entrees, even though they looked delicious. One other really cool thing to note about this restaurant is a certified Green Restaurant. They recycle, don't use Styrofoam or bottled water, and they practice water and energy conservation. The hand soap in restrooms is recycled from used vegetable oil from restaurants. All in all, Lupa was good but not somewhere we will try again.