Becco in NYC

Our Saturday adventure in NYC earlier this month was the Italian restaurant Becco, located in the theater district. We went to this restaurant years ago right after it first opened. That was Fleet Week in May of 200?. The weather was gorgeous and we didn't have a reservation, so we ate at a table on the porch and loved it. It was my first fava bean experience, as well as a cocktail plus wine, which I will never repeat (too loopy). The fava beans, however, made a definite impression and I try to convince Sean to eat them with me often. It doesn't work very often.

This time it was pretty chilly, drizzly rain and 40 degrees. Not quite outdoor dining. Indoors was cozy, not too hot and simply decorated. We went at 1:30, hoping to finish in time to grab some half-priced Broadway tickets immediately after lunch.

Becco maintains a prix fixe lunch and dinner of unlimited servings of three different pastas plus salad. Lunch is around $16 and dinner around $20. We think that is an amazing find in New York City. They also have a huge wine list for under $20. Another amazing find.

We went for lunch and ordered off the menu rather than the prix fixe.

There is also some need deep down in my psyche for each person to order a unique selection. That way KK can taste more than one thing. This time Sean was a bit under the weather and chose something simple: paillard of grilled chicken with arugula and roasted tomatoes. I became sad because it was also what I wanted. I kept trying to cajole him into another selection, and also closely scrutinized the other offerings similar to this but I couldn't change my mind. I ordered the same thing. I have been disappointed with my selections in the past when I try to choose my second string.

This chicken was delicious, with a huge mound of slightly wilted arugula on top. Chicken and a salad! I have high salad needs and this met it. The oven roasted roma tomatoes were almost like candy. Sean is not an oven roasted fan, and even he would have fought me for one. We saved enough room for dessert here, and took the waiter's suggestion of the panna cotta, plus an apple strudel. The apple strudel was marginal, but the panna cotta was delicious. Plenty of vanilla bean seeds and super creamy. I've never had one but have seen it on menus often enough. We were very pleased with the caloric expense. It came with "dried seasonal fruit" and I was wondering what that might be. Pears? Oranges or apricots? Nope. Raisins. The best part about raisins is that they are large enough to be picked out. That panna cotta needed nothing but a spoon.

So we can safely recommend Becco. It will help offset your extremely overpriced hotel.