Wife and I went to Barsotti's Fine Food & Liqueurs on Friday night. I always liked Carbone's but we hadn't been since the lawsuit with Carbone and re-brand/re-model. I used to enjoy Carbone's quite a bit, especially on half-price wine night on Mondays. It was standard American Italian fare and one of the few places in town that did toasted ravs.
Well, I come away less-than-impressed by the Barsotti's. I liked the re-model -- it looks great. Our server wasn't spectacular in that she let us order way to much fucking food. Started with toasted ravs. Wife ordered a salad and the bruschetta app for her main(s). I haven't had veal picatta in a long time and ordered that. I asked if that came with any veggies or anything. I was advised it came with a side of pasta but no veggies. She suggested the broccolini as a side to go with it. Great, sounds good.
The bruschetta is three slices of bread with a mountain of tomatoes and other shit on top. It could easily feed a table of six. The veal was OK but swimming in the sauce. Never seen so much sauce on veal piccata. The veal was overly-breaded and a tad greasy-tasting. I like the flour and pan-fry you normally see on veal. Wife wanted dessert so we went with the "light" choice and got the cannoli. It was fine. I had one aperol spritz and wife no longer drinks. Tab was $150+.
I really like Barsotti's places for the most part. We adored Sprezza and Fachini is damn good too if you're wanting to blow it out.
I'm sure we'll try it again at some point but I'm not in a rush. The fast-casual place I mentioned above (Miss Pasta) runs circles around Barsotti's at a fraction of the cost.