We'll give it a shot Michelle, and thanks!
If you stop at Michaelangelos, be sure to post a note about it. I'd love to hear what you think.

Wow - looks amazing! And I love veal. I think we might check it out this weekend, even if it's just to have a glass of wine at the bar.

Definitely check out Lolita and BC. We have been to Lolita several times since Symon won and got right in, granted this was during the week. They also have a great happy hour.

Have not been to Lolita or Bar Cento, although Bar Cento is on my list. I hear it's near impossible to get into Lola or Lolita since Chef Symon hit the big time!
And yes, I'm Italian, so I'm crazy for wine. Been making my own for 35 years and have won some local amateur wine making contests.
Actually, been thinking about making wine a second career at some point.

I'd highly recommend Michaelangelos
the next time you guys step out. We just love the place. If you're not one of those people who absolutely has to sit at a table, you should eat at the bar. A big fireplace with a roaring fire going, big overstuffed plush leather furniture around it. The bar itself is black marble and gorgeous. Very romantic, and reasonably priced for what you get, I think. You can see some pics of the the place and the menu here.
http://www.mangelos.com/
Everything is good, but the Osso Bucco is to die for if you like veal, and the homeade gelato for dessert....darn, I just ate and now
I'm getting hungry again;-)
(and no, I don't work there;-)
Later!

I should just give you my phone number :)

The Jaffers is a syrah and it wasn't more than $50, maybe even a little less. I'd have a hard time justifying spending anymore than that on a bottle knowing that the actually cost is a fraction of that. Maybe it's not on there anymore and was part of a summer/fall list?

When I was there I also had the 1/2order of bucatini - which I really enjoyed, although not as much at the one at the old Batutto. Not sure, maybe the portion size changed, but I remeber thinking the size was perfect. In fact, anymore would have been too much for me. My husband had a full order of pasta and his version wasn't much bigger than mine.

I have yet to go to Michangelo's or Il Bacio but look forward to checking out both - especially Michaelangelo's.

Have you been to Lolita or Bar Cento yet? These are two places with really great, reasonably priced wine lists and menus in general. And the food - and atmosphere - are both fantastic. You sound like me, have to have good wine with dinner (and sometimes a lot of it!). So you might like these places.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words on the blog, appreciate it.

I did forget to mention I also had a half order of the Bucatini. I had heard so much about it, I had to try it. If what I got was a half order, twice as much of it wouldn't have made a meal. There was only about three mouthfuls of it. I'd call it a tasting, not a half order. I don't know if the wine you mention is a white wine or not, but looking through the list of reds, there was no wine at 40 or 50 bucks. Otherwise I'd have gotten it;-)

I've never been to Parallax or Flying Fig so I can't compare. We did go to Lola, but we were with another couple, but I don't recall thinking the price was out of line when we left like I did when we left Baricellis.

We go Michaelangelos a lot, and we generally split an app, two entrees, two desserts, and a couple of bottles of wine and I don't think the check ever came to over 225. And the food is always fantastic.

We stopped across the street at Leos for a drink and the bartender there was telling us about how good Il Bacio (sp?) is, so we might try there next.

BTW, I've been checking in on your blog for a few months now, I really enjoy it. Thanks for the effort!

Wow - that is some bill! They do have a bottle on there for $40 or $50 - it's the Jaffurs. We had it a few months ago. But I agree, plenty of nice wines in the $30 - $40 range and it would be smart to include a few more of those.

Baricelli is considered a special occasion place by most, which can really hurt a restaurant. Paul did lower the prices on his menu and even offers 1/2 price pasta, but I don't think people realize that.

If you subtracted the couple bottles of wine from your bill, would the total be comparable to other restaurants? To me, I thought his prices we're in line with others, including Lola, Flying Fig and Parallax.

For me personally, I like Baricelli in the summer for the patio and usually pass on it for the winter. Although, I have been craving his cheese menu lately.

At any rate, glad to hear the rest of Little Italy was busy.

Well, when we left after dinner, we took a ride through the neighborhood.There were mostly full parking lots at Guarino's, Michaelangelos, Trattoria, and there was even a lot of foot traffic on Mayfield. I think his problem is he's still extremely expensive. We split an app, two main courses, two desserts and a couple of bottles of wine and the tab came to over 300 bucks, plus tip it was close to 400. When I first bought my house, my mortgage payment wasn't that much.
People just don't have that kind of money to spend on a dinner out anymore. It wouldn't hurt for him to have some less expensive wine in there. I think his least expensive bottle was 80 bucks, that adds up.
There's plenty of nice wines for 30 to 40 dollars a bottle. Oh well, I hope he does well, I like the place.

Jan/Feb are typically slow months for restaurants - even on a weekend. I'm sure this is a big part of the reasonably priced fish special, to help lure people in. I'm not an expert, but I'm sure they have whethered similiar situations in the past and come out alright.

Went there for dinner last Friday. Food was great. We were the only two people in the place all night.The waiter said only 10 folks all night long. One waiter, one chef, no valet parking, no host or hostess. Had to get my own coat when we left. Wanted to check out the affinage for some cheese before we left but didn't want to go in there unattended. I posted basically the same comments on the dining review forums and got a similar response from someone else. I hope this isn't future for them. I'd hate to see them close up, but 10 people on a Friday night!!!???