Wed, Dec 24 - Osteria Mozza

Well, I guess Christmas is here! It kind of snuck up on me this year, buried as I have been in work until a few hours ago. I'm still having a hard time unwinding, and Ritesh just rolls his eyes at me whenever I veer off on a work-related tangent. But I guess this is it - Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you're having a lovely time wherever you are!

We already had our family celebration a few days ago, so tonight, for Christmas Eve, we headed over to Mario Batali's Osteria Mozza for a dinner courtesy of my parents (Thanks, Mom & Dad!).

7.38pm - an aptly named Aperol (w/ champagne) as aperitif while waiting for our table

7.49pm - and here we are!

8.16pm - some restaurants may serve olive oil with their bread - Mario Batali serves balsamico

8.23pm - a little appetizer on the house: crackers with a blissfully creamy ricotta and some roasted basil, very nice. Plus the wine Ritesh picked out - all I know is it's from Tuscany

8.27pm - Ritesh's radicchio, fennel and parmeggiano salad, with an anchovie-date vinaigrette. Too much parmeggiano and too little anchovie, he thought, but still very tasty.

8.27pm - my grapefruit, avocado and watercress salad w/ toasted walnuts that I was perfectly happy with.

8.42pm - a specialty from the Mozzarella bar: burrata w/ bacon, caramelized escarole and some more incredibly caramelized onions on top. From what I understand, a burrata is mozzarella mixed w/ricotta and then injected w/ some oil for added flavor. The creaminess is incredible - I really enjoyed this. Just wished the menu was a little clearer on what things were.

9.05pm - my pasta: a heavenly gnocchi w/ oxtail ragout. Fabulous! Really, really loved them. Ritesh is no friend of gnocchi as he thinks they're too soft. Which is precisely why I love them! These were just perfect, melt-in-your mouth little cushions of bliss.

9.06pm - Ritesh's bucatoni all'Amatriciana, nicely spicy and very al dente, with just a touch too much pancetta, he thought. He's hard to please sometimes....

9.33pm - a whole cabbage-wrapped grilled orata w/ some grilled lemon

9.34pm - an orata, I might add, which reveals itself as being stuffed w/ a lemony-salty spinach and parsley mix once you take the top half off!
And the best part is, they'd completely de-boned this fish! This was actually a filet! Very nice and simple and light.

9.58pm - this dessert, to me, was a revelation: this is olive oil gelato! With a sugary rosemary decoration and some little olive oil rosemary cakes. Now, the cakes were nice, very moist and soft and pleasantly flavored. The gelato though was incredible. It's hard to describe the flavor - it really is olive oil gelato, meaning, it tastes of olive oil, but it's milky and creamy and sweet - just out of this world. Loved it.

10.03pm - some basil eau de vie to end the night. Very nice and clean flavor - and made in California, by a German! :)