Brunch at L'Artusi

TL;DR: Why was everything so salty?? 

Large basket of the assorted breakfast pastries

After a long and grueling telethon, I finally landed a brunch spot in Manhattan for Sunday morning. L'Artusi had a promising menu and positive reviews to back it up. I booked a table and was informed that something special would be arranged for my father's birthday. 

What we ordered at brunch:
- Breakfast bruschetta: the presentation could have used a lot of work and a lot less pancetta. It was bascially a slice of baguette topped with chilis, a fat slice of pancetta, and a sunny side up egg on top. What's bruschetta about that? Where the tomatoes at?
- L'artusi breakfast: this bacon/ sausage/ eggs ordeal was quite standard. The sausage was quite delicious and made with an Italian flair, but the crispy potatoes were almost inedible with the amount of salt seasoning they were tossed in. What a waste. 
- Large basket of assorted fresh pastries: everything tasted fine, but why were my fingers so oily/buttery after sorting through the basket? 
- Ricotta crespelle with scrambled eggs: this was a ricotta stuffed crepe served with scrambled eggs and a mixed salad with what tasted like the juice from an entire lemon. Too much sour from the ricotta and the salad dressing on one plate.
- Broccoli rabe (side order): couldn't finish it between 5 people. It was that salty. 
- Scone with cream and jam: the scone was delicious, but I don't even want to think about how much butter was used to make it so crumbly. 
- Coffee: horrible over-brewed coffee. Just order something else to drink at breakfast.

Our service:
I was quite dissatisfied with the service I received at L'Artusi. My brother and I both checked into Foursquare and wanted to redeem our free breakfast pastry, but the waitress gave such an unamused/annoyed expression that I wasn't even sure if I was going to get my free scone. She was quite MIA throughout the entire meal and therefore we relied on the bus boys for whatever we needed. And there was no birthday surprise. What a fail birthday brunch. I was so disappointed with my experience that I went up to her after and told her that her service was lacking. Unfortunately I forgot to mention how unprofessional it was. 

Overall, I highly doubt I would go back to L'Artusi again. Having worked under Mario Batali or not, nothing should ever be this butter and salt laden. My family even considered that perhaps the chef was a bit tired and had his or her spices all mixed up. 

Ricotta crespelle with scrambled eggs

Free scone!

Breakfast bruschetta

Side order of broccoli rabe



This was first seen on Yelp

L'artusi
228 W 10th Street

New York, NY

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