BOTTINO

 I had kept Bottino in my back pocket as a go-to destination for when I needed somewhere reliably close by and moderate in price.  Given that spontaneity is one of my weakest attributes, I never found myself in such a need of it.  But I'm

 on a rampage to check those place off my list that have been there for far too long, and on a crystal clear but cold winter night, I ventured west to the veteran bistro

And cute as a button is Bottino, quite a large space, which they say is even better in the summer when the garden is open.  But I can't imagine anything much more attractive than it's winter coat, festooned with star-shaped lanterns strung from the rafters, emitting a luminous glow echoed by the smiling waitstaff.  We were seated swiftly, but the place was busy.  At capacity, or at least close.  The dining room is mostly whitewashed, and my only complaint is that the heavy wire-grid chairs kept snagging my tights, even with the seated cushion as a buffer.   Other than that, it's much like I might design a restaurant of this echelon, and it also boasts a private dining space in addition to the expansive dining room.

The menu is approachable: modern, seasonal Italian.  I started off with the fried artichokes, which (caveat emptor) were a bit more fried-y-fried than I might've wanted, but exquisitely crispy (which also made some of the batter easy enough to scrape off and lighten the dish somewhat).  It's a huge portion of them, too, of which I finished only about half, even though that had that addictive Lays-potato-chip intrigue to them with their bite of chili and mint.  I definitely ate more than I originally intended, but it's also big enough to share.  My tablemate opted for roasted beets (my go-to, so I was happy to finish his off).  They're also big enough

to maybe share, although I probably could have finished them on my own, a much lighter presentation than the 'chokes, dusted with a crumble of crunchy pistachios.

Before.... way before we came even close to finishing those, our main courses arrived.  There didn't seem to be any confusion on our server's end, shuffling plates around to try and fit all of the newly arrived dishes to ones still in progress.  The first thing to go was the bread plate, which was notably stale and terrible, left untouched anyway, so was a bit "good riddance."  (Note to Bottino: get better bread.)    But the real problem that remained, with all that unsynchronized distribution, is that I totally forgot to photograph our main dishes. 

 I'll at least go to the effort now of outsourcing a photo from Yelp so you don't have to, which isn't a great one but does look ostensibly like what showed up on my plate when I ordered the branzino.  Much to my dismay (which may have also played into my forgetting to photograph it), my tablemate ordered the same dish I did. I should've switched to the octopus, but the restaurant is pretty loud, and since I had ordered first, it seemed cumbersome to confuse our server, but in retrospect I should've risked it.  Branzino has become rather

Photo credit: Karen L./Yelp

 ubiquitous and isn't really that sensational to begin with, so while their preparation was solid, it wasn't anything to write home about.  I liked the marble potatoes and spinach underneath as much (or more) as the fish, fresh and well-cooked as it was. .  

Dessert went the way of my photography omission: somehow the check was brought before considering it, so we just took it as a sign that dinner way over. I don't know if it was an oversight or they needed the table... or maybe they're just not that strong on dessert. There is no dessert menu listed on the website, but some Yelp photos (sorry for all the Yelp refernces here. It's not a website I ever even acknowledge except in emergencies) actually look pretty appealing. That said, you're on your own. If they follow the quality of the rest of the meal, you won't be disappointed, but you might not beeline to return. .  

246 TENTH AVENUE TEL. +1.212.206.6766