Monday night I went to dell'anima, a small Italian spot in the West Village. I've had various foodie friends rave about the place so I wanted to see what they were talking about.

The place is on the medium to small size, with only 45 seats, a few seats at the bar, and six seats in the back at the chefs counter, overlooking the open kitchen. I was immediately drawn to those seats, which I love for solo dining, but unfortunately they were all taken, so I took a seat at the bar.

I started with an order of three bruschette ($10). They give you a basket of the bruschette and you choose what you want to put on it. I went with the soft-scrambled egg with bottarga, the tonnato with fennel and lemon, and the ricotta with sea salt. I really enjoyed this starter. It all tasted great and I think it is a really fun way to start a meal!

For my entree I went with the Pizzoccheri ($17), one of their pastas made in-house. It came with speck, savoy cabbage, potatoes, and smoked ricotta. The pasta was really well cooked and I enjoyed the saltiness the speck and smoked ricotta lent to the dish. I never had savoy cabbage in a pasta dish, and I actually was not a fan of it in the dish, for it was soggy, and could have done without it. Everything else worked well and it was a soothing dish.

think dell'anima is a great place for good wine and good Italian fare. The prices are pretty good too. I will say that the place is extremely loud, so if you are looking for intimate conversation I would not go here. But for fun Italian eats in the West Village, it is a great spot!

dell'anima
38 8th Avenue (at Jane st.)
New York, NY 10014
212-366-6633