What It’s Like To Spend Christmas Eve In A New York Restaurant (Instead Of At Home)
Second Course: Tagliolini in Brodo, Lobster Ravioli
Brodo was the only dish on the menu that really disappointed us, neither my brother or I enjoyed it much at all. The bartender compared it to ramen when she was describing the thinness of the noodles and the saltiness of the broth, but honestly, it tasted exactly like Top Ramen. Since Top Ramen reminds me of the most poor and miserable moments of my childhood, that’s not a good comparison. It needed spice or herbs or something else to cut through the broth’s insistent, boring saltiness. Even a scallion topping would’ve helped. Also, the servers seemed to be getting antsy at this point, because one tried to take my brother’s bowl before he was even close to finished. I was briefly annoyed, then remembered, these people are spending their Christmas Eve waiting on strangers. This is also a great time to talk about the bottle of wine we ordered, which was a Muller-Thurgau by Radoar Etza from 2013. Typically, I always prefer to drink white wine, and with seafood it seemed to clearly be the best option. MTs are great because they hint at effervescence and tuck in the sweetness of a Reisling with the crispness of a Chardonnay. The wine made something like this plain salt broth bearable.
For all the complaints I had about the Brodo, this lobster ravioli wiped the slate clean. The pasta itself was firm yet soft, drizzled in olive oil. It held up if you cut it apart, and the lobster was succulent, tender, and flavorful. This is another dish I would’ve loved to have in a larger portion all on its own. Although, it would’ve been nice to have some of the restaurant’s signature She Wolf sliced bread to accompany the pasta. We did not receive any, until I specifically requested it after our final dessert course. The bread is good enough for me to verge on bad manners, but, our lack of it during this course was surely another side effect of coming on a busy holiday.