I am always on the hunt for the next big thing in the New York City food scene. This time, I hit the jackpot. One of the city\u2019s absolute best Italian restaurants just opened up a second location in Midtown, and it is a total game-changer. I am at da Toscano, located inside the Iroquois Hotel on 44th Street. If you aren\u2019t already hungry, you are about to be.<\/p>\n
The Ultimate Kickoff<\/p>\n
The experience here starts with a bang. They are constantly slicing up imported Italian meats right at your table. It is an unreal sight. I started my feast with their warm rosemary focaccia. It is soft, salty, and perfect. I topped it with Prosciutto di Parma, whipped ricotta with honey, and a generous scoop of caviar. Look at that bite! It is the perfect way to kick off an elite meal.<\/p>\n
The Pasta Parade<\/p>\n
Then, it was time for the main event. First up was their signature Venetian Duck Ragu Pappardelle. It features a slow-cooked duck ragu, house-made pappardelle, and shaved foie gras. The richness is insane. Do not skip this when you visit. It is easily some of the best pasta I have ever had.<\/p>\n
But the hits didn\u2019t stop there. I also dove into the Garganelli Verde Ragu Bolognese. These green garganelli noodles are loaded with their bolognese ragu and finished with a mountain of shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. Next, I tried the wildly popular Black Tagliatelle al Limone. It comes with creamy jumbo lump crab, lemon, black squid ink tagliatelle, scallions, and garlic breadcrumbs. I squeezed a lemon over the top and went to town. This is hands-down one of my favorite pastas in all of New York City.<\/p>\n
I also couldn\u2019t say no to the Sweet Italian Sausage Orecchiette. It features a broccoli rabe pesto and pickled cherry peppers. The combination of flavors is just unreal.<\/p>\n
More Than Just Pasta<\/p>\n
If you think da Toscano is just about the pasta, think again. I tried their 12-hour slow-roasted prime rib. It is grilled to a perfect medium-rare and served with rosemary drippings and garlic butter. Just look at that pour! It is pure food porn.<\/p>\n
They also have a hidden gem in the back called Lantern\u2019s Keep. It is a speakeasy that is the perfect spot for a cocktail. They are also serving up some insane food back there. I tried the Prime Rib Steak Sandwich. It features dipped beef, fontina cheese, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and a horseradish cream sauce. Look at that cheese! It is absolutely outrageous.<\/p>\n
I finished off with the Bistecca Burger. It has an eight-ounce porcini-rubbed steak patty, fontina cheese, onions, and garlic aioli. It is so juicy, it\u2019s unbelievable. To top it all off, I had their lasagna. It is packed with meatballs, sausage, hot soppressata, cheese, and ditalini pasta.<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s hungry? You need to get to da Toscano as soon as possible. Devour it!<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your favorite Italian dish to order when you\u2019re out?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am always on the hunt for the next big thing in the New York City food scene.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[88420,88416,41440,9,24,56,63,65,64,88419,88417,88421,88418],"class_list":["post-224892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-fontina-cheese","tag-iroquois-hotel","tag-italian-restaurants","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-rosemary-focaccia","tag-sweet-italian-sausage","tag-toscano","tag-venetian-duck-ragu-pappardelle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}