Lunch at Bar Pitti – West Village

On a leafy corner of the West Village sits Bar Pitti, an easy-going curiosity of people-watching and Italian rustic goodness. There is a hand-scribbled chalkboard menu of specials, and cramped, haphazard tables of comfortably worn wood, but also wide, generous plates and service with a wry smile. A salad of chopped puntarelles, in season, with a bit of anchovy paste. Sautéed mushrooms, a hodgepodge of juicy, meaty stems and charred edges, the poignant aroma of garlic and white wine and salt. This plate of pappardelle with rabbit ragu, robust and chewy pasta and a lusciously rich mess of cooked-down rabbit and mirepoix. And a gorgeous bone-in veal Milanese, topped with some salad. A fine way to spend an hour or two in the afternoon.