basta pasta

new york, ny

website

the highlight here is the "spaghetti con prosciutto e parmigiano." they have a giant hollowed-out half-block of cheese that they wheel to your table on a cart. inside the cheese is your spaghetti. on a plate are paper-thin slices of prosciutto and shredded basil. the waiter than swirls your pasta around inside the cheese, collecting small gooey gobs of cheese in the process. then out onto a plate, with one more scoop from the cheese wheel collecting the cheesy liquid and gooey gobs. it's then topped with the prosciutto and basil and served to you. despite all the cheese, it's actually a rather subtly flavored dish - more infused with cheese flavor than covered in actual cheese.

derek managed to catch a nice action shot of the noodle-swirling. his homemade fettucine with bolognese sauce was just as tasty. if it wasn't so darn hard to get a reservation, derek and i would eat here all the time. this is definitely a call-at-least-the-day-before-if-not-a-week-in-advance kind of place. an interesting tidbit - it's an italian restaurant run by japanese people so there's some interesting japanese-italian fusion pastas on the menu which i have not yet tried...