Friday night I grabbed a bite at the West Village hot spot L'Artusi. L'Artusi comes to us from the team behind dell'Anima (Chef Gabe Thompson and partner Joe Campanale). I had a nice meal at dell'Anima and have been wanting to check out their new spot.

I walked in at 10pm to a packed house. If there is a recession, there was no sign of it here. I was able to grab a seat at the bar overlooking an open kitchen where two chefs were making the crudo. I love dining at open kitchens because it's like dinner and a show!

I started with a dish from the "Crudo" section of the menu of Turbot with peas and yuzu ($14). The dish was light, simple, refreshing, and I loved it! It was basically "Spring in a bowl". There were some fried peas thrown in, which added a great little crunch too.

I also had a pasta dish of cavatelli with sausage, onion, radicchio, and pecorino. I thought the dish was very bland at first, so I asked for some Parmesan cheese. After adding the fresh Parmesan, the dish got better in flavor, but I still felt it was a boring, underseasoned dish.

I would still recommend L'Artusi as a good place to go in the West Village for a glass of wine, a bite, and to forget about the economy for a while. I definitely plan on going back to try some of their other dishes.

L'Artusi
228 W. 10th St. (bet. Hudson and Bleeker)
New York, NY 10014
212-255-5757