This spring we’ve gotten the chance to try so many cool restaurants around New York, and we’re always excited to share places we like.  That’s what we’re going to do today – we want to highlight two spots in Manhattan that we recently enjoyed.  They both serve up Italian food, and they’re both pretty accessible in the city so you can easily get to them.  And best of all, we were able to eat entirely vegetarian meals at both places, so if you’re intrigued, read on to see some excellent picks.

The first place we went was Isabelle’s Osteria, on 20th Street just north of Union Square.  It’s a fairly new restaurant, and the menu has a lot of creative dishes on the menu.  We started out by sharing a few things, including their cauliflower, served with shishito peppers and lemon and a Calabrian pepper aioli on the side.

And also this grain salad, made with greens, quinoa, farro, squash, feta, and pumpkin seeds.

Plus their crispy rosemary and garlic potatoes.

Then we tried two entrees:  a slice of the mushroom lasagna, with a taleggio and bechamel sauce …

… and one of their specials for the day, which was this cube of eggplant parm.

Now if you head a little farther north, to 57th Street, you’ll see Trattoria Dell’Arte sitting just above Times Square.  It’s an establishment in the area and a pretty cavernous place, since it serves people coming from Broadway shows as well as nearby Carnegie Hall.  We were just looking for a good place in Midtown and decided to stop in for some classic dishes like this margherita pizza, which is made in a thin and crispy bar pie-style topped with both mozzarella and burrata.

Then we shared the rigatoni vodka …

… and the homemade ravioli, stuffed with more burrata and served in a pomodoro sauce.

These were both some good places to sample, and we think we did a good job of scouting out some great Italian food in New York.  Isabelle’s Osteria is a fun new place where we got to try some good appetizers and really creative entrees, and Trattoria Dell’Arte gave us the chance to go to a mainstay of Midtown Manhattan, where we got some classic comfort food.  We’d recommend Trattoria Dell’Arte as a good place if you’re looking for something near Times Square, while Isabelle’s Osteria is a place to go for fun, slightly less traditional Italian food.  That’s what we’re sharing for now, but we’ve still got a lot of recommendations so check back soon!