$10 Pasta Night at Osteria Morini

On Monday, May 14th, Osteria Morini kicked off "Industry Night."  It's a Monday only affair that runs from 9:30pm til the places closes at 11pm.  For that hour and a half, any pasta on the menu is only $10.  Marea might have better food, or maybe you're in midtown and want to check out Ai Fiori.  Maybe you feel like some pizza.  Whatever suit your fancy is wearing, Michael White can probably be your tailor.  White's Altamarea Group just signed a lease at 1167 Madison, and with Butterfly opening sometime this fall, the options only continue to grow.The deal with "Industry Night" is any of the pastas on Osteria Morini's menu are $10.  The special may only run an hour and a half but, it turns out, a couple of friends and a craving for delicious housemade pasta is all you need to taste through the menu.  The deal runs through November.  Digest NY was there last night.

The options...

The choices...Creste - shrimp and seppia ragu, fava beans | Brilliant.  Suprised to see it come out in tomato sauce.  Deep, fresh fish flavors.  Tasted like a fish stew.  Pasta cooked perfectly.

Black Truffle Pappardelle - coppa, mascarpone, escarole, bread crumbs | Pasta a little bland and a tad over cooked.  Solid pork flavor from the coppa and bread crumbs added great texture.

Tortellini Zingara - traditional meat filled pasta, peas, asparagus, red pepper, cream | Flavors from the red peppers explode in this dish.  Really brightens it up and makes for a light dish despite the cream.

Cappelletti - truffled ricotta ravioli, melted butter, prosciutto | Truffled ricotta filling was light and creamy.  Pasta was soft and elegant, decadent dish.  Ravioli in a tux.

Tagliatelle - wide ribbon pasta, ragu antica, parmigiano | The Italian omlette.  Michael White knows how to make a ragu.

Stracci - pasta rags, braised wild mushrooms, rosemary oil | Only dish that needed salt.  Pasta was a tad over cooked (the kitchen seems to have a hard time with the pappardelle shape) but the mushroom ragu was outstanding.

Strozzapretti - pancetta ragu, corn, basil | Summer pasta.  Fresh corn flavor and good pancetta but the bread crumbs were oily.

Gramigna - macaroni, pork sausage, peas, cream, black pepper | This was the winner.  Perfect dish all around.  Pasta was cooked perfectly.  Black pepper cut through the rich cream and awesome, crumbled homemade sausage.  So good.  Almost ordered another one for dessert.

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