Minetta Lane

Apparently this street is in the village. I thought I was at least familiar with all the street names in my 'hood. But not Minetta.

Turns out it's off of Sixth Ave, between Bleecker and West 3rd. And it's got a solid italian restaurant on it to boot.

I read that Bella Vitae is cheaper version of Babbo. I've never been to Babbo, but I'm guessing that it's similar to Po, which is right around the corner and also one of my favorite restaurants in the village.

I went over there with Red, no reservations, and we were lucky enough to stumble onto a pair of stools at the "chef's table". The chef's table was really a prep station where prociutto was sliced and appetizers were assembled. The centerpiece of the area was a wood fired brick oven. Inside this oven was everything from bruschetta to plates of gorgonzola to marinated octopus (which was ok not great).

We had a bottle of Chianti paired with tiny fried meatballs, liver pate, prociutto with fried bread, the marinated wood fired octopus and an egg pasta with a bolognese-style ragu. Everything was solid and flavorful and each dish was on the affordable side.

Our server, Giselle, was nice, but not as beautiful as the name would suggest.

We had an interesting conversation about how dipshits in the financial community are the driving force behind great restaurants in the city, which in turn spawn more accessible and affordable places like Bella Vitae, hidden on Mineta Lane.