celeste v. bianca

elie and i have our favorite italian place in the city, celeste, conveniently located two blocks from my apartment. now, granted, new york has a glut of italian restaurants, as well as entire district devoted to the cuisine, but i stand by celeste. the owner apparently makes his own cheeses and compotes, which are absolutely delicious (and i never thought to combine cheese and honey). my favorite is the paccheri vesuviana, a homemade ribbon pasta which is always perfectly al dente, and the ricotta sauce is rich and flavorful without being greasy. during finals, i ordered take out from there almost every night. and i never tired of it; it's that good.

so, understandably, i was a wee bit of a skeptic when adil invited us to one of his favorite italian places in the city, bianca on bleeker at bowery. i was impressed, though; bianca definitely gives celeste a run for her money. the ambiance is similar: unassuming on the outside, cozy and romantic on the inside. and since i'm plagued by the tyranny of choice, i liked that the menu was short, simple, and to the point (only i would make a comment about the overabundance of items on a menu). i ordered the raviolo di ricotta con burro e salvia, which, though a little buttery, was pretty darn tasty. the star of the evening was adil's gnocchi con formaggio, hands down the best gnocchi i've had in my life, cheesy and pungent and garlicky, oh my! where bianca definitely edges out celeste is in desserts; we ordered the tiramisu and the flan. the flan was especially good, we couldn't stop raving about its perfect texture (firm, almost to the point of being chewy, which i like). again, on my best of my life list. i'm definitely making another visit down there soon. superb.