Serious Eats: New York
12 Days of Hot Chocolate: Otto
Editor's note: For the next twelve weekdays until Christmas, we'll have a daily hot chocolate report for you. 'Tis the season. Today, Mario Batali's pizzeria Otto in Greenwich Village.
Price: $8 for a ceramic Italian coffee mug's worth
The deal: When pastry chef Meredith Kurtzman makes the restaurant's hazelnut gelato, she ends up with a bunch of roasted hazelnut grounds leftover. Her mother must have been the "clean your plate" type since she doesn't waste the vestiges. The nut shards are seeped in milk for a couple days, then strained and mixed with two types of melted chocolate, sugar, and water. The result ("gianduja calda") is probably more socially acceptable than eating Nutella straight from the jar, but the satisfaction is just as great. Plus it's served with a little hunk of shortbread.
Otto
1 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10003 (b/n 5th Avenue and University Place; map)
212-995-9559
ottopizzeria.com
Previously
12 Days of Hot Chocolate: MarieBelle Fine Chocolates
12 Days of Hot Chocolate: Grom