Have you been to Ai Fiori yet? Michael White and Chef PJ Calapa's Italian jewel on the second floor of the Langham Place hotel (formerly the Setai) on 36th and 5th? I've been before, and went last week for a little revisit. It was a lunch and I ate a lot. And you know what? It was fucking awesome! It is beyond. It's a beautiful, upscale restaurant. Sit at the beautiful marble bar, like I did, and be presented with some of the finest Italian fare in this great city of ours, and in America, I would guess too. Every dish that came out was perfectly executed, sublime perfection. Was I blown away? You bet.

Sgombro, Spanish mackerel crudo, tomato pesto, eggplant escabeche, is wonderful. One of Ai Fiori's signatures is the Crudo di Passera, fluke crudo, American sturgeon caviar, and meyer lemon. And do you know why it's one of their signature dishes? Because it's divine amazingness. Order it!

The pasta at ALL of Michael White's restaurants are amazing and magical. The best I've had. Ai Fiori is no exception. The pasta at Ai Fiori is ingenious, orgasmic, and fabulous.

Spaghetti comes with blue crab, lemon, bottarga, and chilies. Trofie Nero comes with ligurian crustacean ragu, seppia, scallops, spiced mollica.

The pasta that took it to another level was the Marubini. Pork shoulder ravioli, cacio e pepe. Unbefuckinglievable.

Agnolotti comes with braised veal parcels, butternut squash puree, brown butter, sage, and black truffle sugo. It's quite awesome too.

Agnello, rack of lamb en crepinette, bagna cauda potatoes, leeks, and chanterelles is rich and fine. Capesante, pan seared sea scallops, celery root caponata, and black truffle is fabulous.