Wanderlust Wednesday-Dell'Anima

On our fabulous date night on Saturday, Bartek decided that instead of making reservations for dinner, we would just wander around until we found a place that struck our fancy. Not such a great idea when it's raining and there's a tornado warning for the tri-state area. But we braved it out, broke out the umbrellas and I held down my skirt so I wouldn't give the world a show!

After about 10 or 15 minutes of walking, we finally stumbled on Dell'Anima in the West Village. Bartek had seen it mentioned somewhere on the internet so we decided to give it a go. When we asked for a table for two, the lovely hostess squeezed us in before a 7:15 reservation, a really nice gesture since we didn't have a reservation ourselves. 

A terrible picture I took of the outside. It's much prettier inside!

We sat down to the side of the open kitchen. It was nice because we were a little hidden from the hustle and bustle of the chefs. 

For an appetizer we shared Peeky Toe Crab with avocado, pistachio and jalapeño vinaigrette. It was my favorite part of the meal. It was light and refreshing, but incredibly satisfying. 

For the entree, I ordered Garganelli with chanterelle mushrooms, sweet corn and a generous shaving of parmesan on top. The mushrooms were crunchy which was a nice surprise. My only wish is that it had a little more salt. The sweetness of the corn needed to be counterbalanced. Bartek ordered the Hanger Steak with potato confit maiale and lobster mushroom ragu. He asked the waiter the best way to have it prepared and we were surprised when he said medium rare. It turned out amazing. Sorry for the cliche, but it totally melted in our mouths. The ragu and potatoes that accompanied it were equally amazing and really complimented the steak. We also ordered a side of polenta that came so incredibly creamy and with a generous helping of parmesan on top. It was delicious!

Of course we had to indulge in dessert. It was our Date Night after all! I ordered a Peach Sundae. It was cream cheese gelato with graham cracker crumbles and topped with peach compote. It was delicious, and creamy and had just the right amount of sweetness without being overpowering. Bartek ordered Blackberry Upside Down Cake with sweet corn gelato. It was the biggest disappointment of the night. Instead of being a cake, it was more like a corn muffin. Paired with the corn gelato, it was just too corny! There's only so much of one flavor a palate can take!

Image from Dell' Anima's website

Besides the cake mishap, overall Dell'Anima was a great date night restaurant. They played good 90's music, which was very much appreciated by us children of the 90s. It was rustic with an exposed brick wall, but was still very modern. With the open kitchen, you could see the chefs plain and clear. They wore baseball caps. It had a cool vibe that wasn't the least bit pretentious. 

Overall, I definitely recommend it!