Food

I got the chance to have lunch at Misi on my most recent trip to NYC. The reservations get booked pretty quickly but I put myself on the Resy waitlist and spots opened up fairly frequently (especially for lunch).

We started with the whipped ricotta crostini and the grilled broccoli. I absolutely loved the crostini. Nice crispy bread, soft, airy ricotta, a nice umami contrast from the mushrooms and a little extra richness from the olive oil. The broccoli was also quite good, with a little hint of spice, but the crostini was definitely the highlight.

For mains, I had the spinach and mascarpone tortelli, while my girlfriend had the chitarra with braised lamb. Both were delicious.

The tortelli was served in a rich browned butter sauce with ricotta salata. This is a simple classic that reminded me of dishes I’ve had elsewhere, but here the simplicity really accentuated the quality of the daily freshly hand-made pasta and the other ingredients. I would definitely order this dish again.

The chitarra with braised lamb took things to a completely different level. I was initially expecting a fairly straightforward tomato-based pasta with lamb, but one bite proved me wrong. In this dish again, the quality of the fresh pasta really shines. The sauce was rich (it tasted like a sauce that’s been cooked down for hours and hours), and the lamb definitely added some flavor to the sauce, without being overpowering. The lamb itself was extremely tender and served throughout the pasta pulled-apart style. The only caviat food-wise was that the chitarra was a bit too salty for my girlfriend’s taste, but that did not detract from the overall quality of the food.

For desert, the only options were gelato, although there were several different flavours to choose from. We elected to share the pistachio one, and it was good, but compared to all the food we had just eaten, it was pretty unremarkable. This is one area where I would’ve liked to see a few non-gelato options.

Service

The service was great. I’m not talking Michelin star level, but all of the service staff was super friendly and attentive. Our waitress was able to recommend a non-alcoholic drink that was off-menu for my girlfriend.

Ambiance

The ambiance was quite nice, although I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite. On the pros side, it is an open-kitchen concept, which I always appreciate in restaurants. We were not seated at the bar but I think it would be a very fun place to sit and watch the kitchen in action. Opposite the kitchen is where they make the pasta (in a room with glass walls), so it’s also very interesting to watch the pasta making team in action.

Almost every surface is painted white, with lots of stainless-steel surfaces. Even the bathrooms were spotless and had a real candle burning inside (a nice touch). The space overall is extremely nice, but the fact there is so much white (minus a few plants and books sprinkled here and there) feels a bit dry rather than cosy, welcoming or romantic. (I guess that fits with what lots of people think of NYC.) 5/5