CookTeen: Otto's NYC

A few weeks ago my sister's college friends came from all over the Country to stay with her in NY. My mom, dad and I met up with them in the city one Saturday afternoon for some lunch at OTTO.

A description of OTTO via their website:
OTTO is a classic Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich partnership. With their signature combination of thoughtful and memorable food, an intelligent wine list, and an emphasis on living life to its absolute fullest, Mario and Joe's distinctive touch is evident in OTTO's every detail.

My family came here once before and it was so delicious we had to come back!

First course: Antipasto!! (Pictures are of what I ate)

Starting with the cucumber salad and moving clockwise: Cucumber salad with radishes, Beets (melt in your mouth heaven), PEPPERS!! (I loooove me roasted peppers, I probably ate all of them), Roasted cauliflower, lettuce (not sure what that was part of) and tomato mozzarella salad.

I ate more of everything, especially the beets and peppers (they're my favorite!!)

And then I ordered the Pizza Marinara! I am not a fan of cheesey foods so this pizza was right up my alley! Crispy crust topped with sauce, sauteed garlic slices,and chiles.

topped with my favorite: crushed red pepper flakes

How fancy?

One of my sister's friends got the White Clam pizza--look how pretty:

And of course, no meal is complete without cupcakes, especially when you are in NYC!

Plan: Baked by Melissa mini cuppycakes in Soho HOWEVER, the traffic was unbelievably bad so instead we tried someplace new, Buttercup!

Buttercup cupcakes are good. I think that they are owned by Magnolia's because they taste so similar and because there was a sign for Magnolia's inside.

My mom, dad and I shared a 6-pack:

[Starting at top left and moving clockwise: Devil Dog (tastes like the Drakes cake only much better), Lady Baltimore (An almond-flavored white cake filled with coconut, candied cherries, cookie crumbs and almonds. Frosted with meringue and topped with coconut, cookie crumble and cherry halves.), Lemon (A very lemony cake made with fresh lemon juice and zest. Tastes best topped with lemon buttercream.), another Devil Dog (My mom was obsessed with this one because it reminded her of her childhood), Hummingbird (A moist, fruity cake filled with bananas, pineapple and pecans (tastes like your favorite banana bread!). Iced with cream cheese frosting.), and Red Velvet (Yellow cake with a hint of cocoa, dyed a deep beautiful red (tastes like a light chocolate cake). Frosted with cream cheese frosting.).

I loved the Lemon and Hummingbird the best!

and the Lady Baltimore was interesting but truthfully, I hated it even though my parents liked it.

Post sample test: