Cheap Prix Fix: Del Posto

There is a distinct upside to a tanked economy'deals at restaurants.  I love to take advantage of our fiscal misfortune by testing out many of the city’s best prix fix offers. While experiencing a serious deal the other day, I got a taste of how the other half live (or at least lived before the economic meltdown) at Del Posto Restaurant.  Del Posto is a three-starred Michelin restaurant that joins forces of New York culinary giants Lidia Bastianich, Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali.

I had the pleasure of experiencing Del Posto’s 29-dollar prix fix lunch special while celebrating a special birthday.  On Weekday afternoons between the hours of 11:30 am and 2:00 pm, 29 dollars gets you three courses of utter decadence.   Add 15 dollars to your tab and you can experience the stellar wine pairing as well during your meal.  There is no other prix fix that can match this.

Del Posto Ristorante is located in the super chic meatpacking district.  The restaurant itself is huge and stylish.  During lunch they even have a live piano player to add ambiance. The number of courses the prix fix provides is misleading, though, because they give you so much more on top of the menu.

To begin, there is homemade focaccia bread. If you eat as much of it as I do, you can count the bread as its own course.  In addition, it comes with butter as well as a substance called lardo. Lardo is essentially fat that you spread on your bread (much like the aformentioned butter). I question why this spread has not been in my life before this point. I ate a lot of lardo. I am considering naming my first child Lardo.

I am getting carried away…

Anyway, the restaurant gives you a tasting of many kinds of small appetizers at the start of your meal.  I particularly liked the shooter of Stracciatella soup. I followed that with a delicious salad, which was the least experimental thing on the menu.  For my main course I had a generous portion of delicious salmon.  For dessert, I rounded out my meal with an amazing chocolate ricotta tortino.  My dessert included with it a special new obsession: olive oil ice cream.  I found it to be the most amazing mix of savory, sweet and salty.  It titillated and intrigued my palate the entire time I ate it.  I fact, I am salivating just thinking about it.

Just when I thought the meal was complete and I couldn’t possibly fit anymore into my stomach, they came out with a small additional dessert tasting as well.  My favorite part of the bonus dessert is that it came in a little wooden box with a drawer'how fun.  The homemade ice cream lollipops were good too.

As the delicious and generous wine pours began to take effect, I also began to enjoy the fact that Gordon Elliot was sitting next to us and provided us with endless B quality star entertainment.  Bonus.

To round out Del Posto’s amazing attention to detail they gave me a small box of handmade truffles while I walked out. Nice touch.  I always appreciate a way to slip more chocolate into my life.  I found the best way to enjoy my take-home truffles was wandering on the high line.

So, if you have someone to impress or just like a cheap, amazing lunch, Del Posto is simply the best deal in pix fix luxury.

Del Posto Ristorante
85 10th Ave. btw 15th & 16th Sts.
New York, NY 10011
[Meatpacking]