Italian food in NYC is better than Italy!? ft. Babish

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Today we were joined by @babishculinaryuniverse who took us to one of his favourite Italian spots in New York!

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Hi, I’m Josh. I’m Ollie. I’m bandrew. I mean, Andrew Babish. Andrew Babish. Andrew Babish Rea. And we are here to try some of the best Italian food in New York. Let’s do this. Hey guys, welcome to Marini. Wow. Thank you. So we’ll start you off with… This is my kind of welcome.

It’s very traditional start this way, where we have some sliced meats, mortodella, prosciutto, and we also have some parmesan, a little bit of a blue. This place looks incredibly legit. And this is how you know that it’s perfect Italian-American food. One location is here in Manhattan.

One’s in New Jersey and one’s in Long Island. This is where the Italians live. One of my favourite things about Italian meals is that it’s several meals in one. This is lunch right here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re just getting started. It’s the beginning. Yeah, that’s so true. We’re just getting started.

That’s so true. In England, you come to an Italian restaurant. You order a pasta and that’s your meal. You and I just dove in before there were even plates. Yeah, what do we need plates for? What are these for? I was so desperate.

Little bit of lardo on here, this is just whipped pork fat. Wow. Mixed with pesto. And pancetta. Wow, look at that. While you’re munching on that, you have to have some mio cofrito too when you come here. So just kind of again, similar in context a little bit.

You get these nice little hot breads and then you put that prosciutto on there. The fat kind of starts to melt a little bit with the heat. Thank you so much for making these. This is what I used to order every time I came here.

You seemed very excited when he brought these out. So it’s just a really, really light fluffy fritter. It’s all in the center. You got a nice little steam action coming out there. Your going straight in. You can see, like you said, the fat around the edge of the prosciutto.

It’s like almost, it’s melting into the bread. Nice and warm, light and crispy. Incredible. As far as starters go, how do you top this? Like that is already some of the best food we’ve had in New York. That is incredible. This is like a really traditional food from Emilio Romana.

I don’t really know any other place in the city that makes Nyoko Frito. Luke, mate, you’ve got to try this. It’s like an Italian sausage roll. It’s actually crispy on the outside. It’s like pastry and bread. But yeah, it’s kind of pastry like. Yeah. It’s almost a little bit flaky.

Maybe it being featured on this episode will encourage them to bring it back. When we arrived, Andrew asked whether they had it on the menu and they said, “Oh no, it’s actually been taken off the menu.” I don’t know what you said to them.

I begged them and I cried a little bit. Okay. A grown man crying makes pretty much anything happen. Yeah, yeah. Oh, wow. All right, so now we’ve got a little friti. We always eat a little friti, right? So this is a little, there’s some zucchini in there, most, you know, calamari.

This is a little spicy, little pepperoncini. And then these are our classic kind of our Emilio Romana meatballs. What? I feel like I haven’t even had Italian food before. This is incredible. It’s friti. Free tea in the UK is something you give your plumber on a cold day. Free tea. You’re an idiot.

Oh, I get it now. Sorry. I get it. Sorry. I had to say it phonetically in my head because I was like, “What in the good goddamn do you give a plumber?” What are you talking about? Friti just means fried. So this is calamari friti really. Okay. Oh, gosh.

All right, a little share here. This is our brodo, our zoopa. Fantastic. Thank you so much. One of my favourite things about Italian food at restaurants that is virtually impossible to recreate at home is the handmade pasta. They find this texture that is distinctly al dente, almost chewy, but not dense and not,

Too hard or crunchy or anything like that. Just satisfying in the kind of chewiness. It’s really, truly difficult to make that at home. Oh my gosh. Okay, wow you’re getting stuck in. This is what turned totally an in-bretto into my favourite dishes, Especially on a cold day like today.

That is so good. The broth, they just put everything in it and it just has so many flavours. The broth is super rich. It’s really buttery. Well, they throw some butter in there just for… It’s definitely very different from Sainsbury’s Basics tortellini, which is my go-to. Okay.

I don’t even know what that is. It’s cheap. That’s what it is. In blissful ignorance, I’d say. We actually, we are lucky enough to do a little food tour in Amelia Romagna with our friend, Who”s an Italian chef, who took us around trying some incredible food.

This is as good as anything we had out there. That’s fantastic. Which is absolutely mad. I mean, you have to be good in New York City. You know how many Italian restaurants there are in New York City? I have no idea. Including pizza places, it’s like 3,800 Italian restaurants.

Like 1,600 of them are pizza restaurants, so call it like 20, it’s about 2,000 sit down Italian restaurants. You could eat in a different one every day for more than 10 years. That’s basic maths. Good job. I’m proud of you.

And by the time that 10 years elapsed, 500 would close, a new 500 would open. You couldn’t even do it. You keep doing it exactly. You’d have to do 10 a day. And then you could do it in a year. You’re an idiot. Yes.

You have this kind of encyclopedic knowledge and infectious enthusiasm for food. I love it. Well, thank you. I don’t know about encyclopedic. But yeah, there’s so many subtleties within the spectrum, and this one I really feel like, Ticks a lot of boxes because it’s very old school Italian red sauce.

It is traditional Emilia Romana. There’s kind of new spins on things. A few more pastas here. Wow. So this is capelletti, or kind of our little hats. Little hats. I love it. And then this is a pork shoulder ragu. This is my favourite because whenever I go to most restaurants,

I like to order something that’s supposedly boring. So pasta and tomato sauce. Right. And see how they work within that medium. Try this out here. Oh, yeah, buddy. That’s nuts. That’s as good as I remember it. And this too, just like so rich, so meaty.

And then the little bit of the Robiolina cheese. Oh my goodness. Exactly what it needs. Just a little bit of tang. It’s almost like cream cheese. Like Italian cream cheese. And these guys are super tender and creamy and just like… That is disgustingly good. I was worried the first part of that sentence.

No, no. He took it home. He said it was whipped ricotta or something with whipped prosciutto in there. They whip everything. I just want to whip all my food from now on if that’s what it’s going to taste like. I’ve already eaten way more than I told myself I was going to.

That’s the problem. Good sign. I want to take this opportunity to ask you about my favourite episode that you’ve made, One of my favourite episodes of any show on YouTube. Oh, wow. That’s high praise. It is the tortilla sombrero. Ah, yeah. That one. That’s a great video. That is a great video. Magnificent.

What I love about it is when you start, I know that you’re going to do it. I’ve seen the thumbnail, But I also don’t believe that you’re going to do it. It’s such an impossible dream. That makes two of us. It’s an impossible dream.

People were asking for that for a long, long time before I actually took a crack at it. Luckily, I have this amazing kitchen producer, Kendall Beach, who is like, we’re perfect partners in the kitchen. She tested a whole bunch of different ways to fry something.

We knew we couldn’t deep fry something that big because it’s insane. And also how to make it keep its shape. Yeah, it ended up working. It ended up being something that broke that you could actually eat. It wasn’t too thick or hard. It worked out. That’s very, very rare in my kitchen.

It must have been so much experimenting. I appreciate that’s your favourite. This is a paid partnership with BetterHelp. Now I know what you’re thinking. That guy looks like he needs therapy. And you’d be right because I firmly believe that everyone would benefit from therapy.

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If for any reason you want to switch to a new therapist, there’s no additional charge. I’ve come to realize that just like I look after my physical health, it’s important for, Me to take time for my mental health.

And online therapy through BetterHelp is an easy and convenient way for you to do that. So do yourself a favour, click the link in the description or go to betterhelp.com/jolly, To get 10% off your first month. He’s got a little meat plate here. Oh my gosh. Just a little snack.

This is our tomahawk. Oh, we’re in America. We’re not in Italy. I thought we were in Italy for a second, but no, you brought us back. Land of the free. Look at that. I mean, it looks like a mammoth tusk. Guys, guys, guys. Wow. Look at that meat. Oh, it’s so tender.

It’s so tender. Oh my gosh. I love this. This is fantastic. This is insane. This is definitely one of those videos where you have to stop with a mouthful of food, pinch yourself and be like, “This is our job. How the hell do we get to do this?

This is the best thing ever.” You guys have earned it. Wow. I’ve seen your videos and your repertoire. And these potatoes are illegally crispy. Oh my gosh. That is incredible. I don’t even know what this is. I’m dipping in, but… A little bit of roughage just to…

Just to keep things on the level. Oh, dear Lord. Wow. You saved all the juice. That’s all that matters. I think I… Did you not hit your pants? I somehow managed to… That was a magic trick. Here, we got… Avoid all splash damage. Oh my gosh.

I honestly think we just witnessed a miracle. We’re hanging on to that. I think we just witnessed a miracle. Yeah, that was like in Pulp Fiction when the guy shot six times and didn’t quite hit. Yeah, yeah. What just happened. I’ll drain it back in. I don’t care. Okay. Oh wow. That’s risky.

You just have to decant it that’s all. Wow, that’s a move of a guy who spilled a lot of s*** in his day. That meat is ridiculous. What the heck? I must say it’s strange sitting next to you, Andrew, And hearing your kind of beautiful baritone voice in my ear.

I must say it’s strange to sit next to you and hear you say that. Well, I mean, you’ve got one of the most iconic voices on YouTube, I would say. As someone with a reasonably high-pitched, somewhat effeminate voice… You have a British accent?

You have a British accent which kind of classes you up above any voice in the states. It covers a multitude of sins. But I was thinking beforehand, you’re not taking full advantage of your voice. I want to pitch a new channel to you. Okay, okay. Bedtime with Babish.

I actually have a podcast called Bedtime with Babish. I haven’t… Sorry. Wait. What? Wait, is it coming out? No, no, no. I just haven’t done it in years. I just haven’t done it in so long. But look, it’s still live. Are you serious? We did not… Like, we didn’t notice. That’s insane.

I want to bring it back. Oh, you got to bring it back. You literally have a bedtime with Babish podcast. And I would read stuff like Leaves of Grass and Velveteen Rabbit. That’s my favourite children’s book. Dude, thank you. Because I wanted you to read it to me. Well, I’m happily. Can you?

You ready for a little afternoon nap here? What is happening right now? Okay, here we go. This was not planned. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Oh, it is a good voice. It is a good voice. By Eric Carle. In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf.

One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up and pop out of the egg, Came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar. Wow. You should bring that back. It’s like watching Michelangelo paint. I mean, it’s unbelievable. Unbelievable. There’s more. Okay. We’re almost done with the appetizers. So this is our chocolate tort.

Basically chocolate on chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. There’s a little hazelnut praline in there. Oh dear lord. There’s a butter milk gelato. Oh my gosh. There’s chocolate ganache. This is our version of our tiramisu. Wow. With our M for marine eat. And then this is our bambaloni. Our doughnuts. Doughnuts as well.

Cute little squeeze bottles in there too with the salted caramel. Oh my gosh. You can either go on top, you can inject inside and just kind of have some fun. Thank you for that idea. That is incredible. That’s a really good idea. I didn’t know you could improve on a happy meal.

But they’ve done it. They’ve done it. I’m happy, we have a meal, makes sense to me. This is the happiest of meals. Okay. Andrew, this is amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you guys for having me. I wouldn’t have come… I don’t live here anymore so I rarely come to this area.

This is ridiculous. I appreciate you guys for inviting me out. Here, I’m going to stuff one of these. Okay. Sorry. I’m going to stuff one of these things. These buddies. Wow. That actually works. Something naughty. Something very naughty. Here, do your worst. That is insane. Oh. Oh, that freshly baked dough. Hell yeah.

Balls of the gods. I’m a chocolate fiend so this is really up my alley. I absolutely love chocolate. And with the hazelnut, the whipped hazelnut stuff. This is basically a Nutella. I mean, look, can you see inside that tart? Look at that. Ridiculous. If that makes you more comfortable, yes. Oh my gosh.

Oh my goodness. There’s like a layer of salted caramel on the bottom as well. There’s something, yeah. Tastes like it. There’s a lot of mmm’s in this episode, guys. I think people are going to believe us. This is, yeah. This is. Wowzers, trousers. Again.

Is that a common saying or did you just make that up? Not that common. Andrew, I was also, as well as Bedtime with Babish, I was thinking what other areas could you explore? I’ve got some spin off channel suggestions. Whoa, okay.

Can you let me know if you think any of these have potential? Can I take them if they do? 100%. These are all yours. On camera. Can’t be sued. This is my gift to you to say thank you for this meal. Wow, that’s lovely. Okay. First up, beekeeping with Babish.

I understand that they’re gentle creatures if you don’t piss them off. So I’m down with that. Just a warning. I’ve got a lot. Oh, I thought you meant bees. I was like, are you an? No, no, no. I got a lot of suggestions. Bare Knuckle backyard fighting with Babish. Bronzing with Babish.

Tanning channel. Hot air ballooning with Babish. Beetroot farming with Babish. Or maybe the alternative name would be radish with Babish. Yeah. I don’t have any rhymers. That’s not bad. Birthing with Babish. Breakdancing with Babish. Gotten weirder. Barometric pressure readings with Babish. Bowel movements with Babish. Wow. Bagpipes with Babish. Bikinis with Babish. Okay.

Beard trimming with Babish. Hey. Hey, now you speaking my language. The last one is scraping the bottom of the barrel with Babish. Okay. What do you think? I think you just ran through my whole career. Just feels like that’s just exactly my… Flash before your eyes. Yeah. Wow.

You usually have to wait till death for that. But today. This has been absolutely incredible. Thank you so much. I had a lot of fun. It was such a great pleasure to meet you guys and share this meal with you. It’s so much fun eating with people who really love food.

And you guys really love food. Absolutely love it. And that’s my favourite experience. Now, I think I saw in a video somewhere you mentioned, That you’re not the biggest fan of cheddar. And it may have been in the context of on pizza. Yes. Specifically, yes. I love cheddar on its own. Okay, good.

Because I’ve brought you my favourite cheddar from the UK. Oh my gosh. Theirs an award-winning… Literally the day before our flight. All the way from the UK. Their was a cheese market that they hold once a month in London. Oh my gosh. And I think the best cheddar.

Big character on my channel is the Tiny Whisk. Okay. I thought I’d bring some for you boys. Mini Whisk set. Thank you so much. Oh, amazing. I love it. For now… We’ll see you jolly soon. See you later, guys.