Seek comfort in simplicity at Piccoli Trattoria

While I don’t subscribe to the philosophy of “this is the best whatever in New York City” because unfortunately I haven’t tried every restaurant in the city… yet. But I’m going to push forward this time and say this is the best Italian restaurant in New York City.

Piccoli’s dinner menu was so impressive that while they’ve offered brunch for a number of years, I’ve always avoided it because if I was going to Piccoli, I was going for that amazing menu. Until one fateful Saturday when we decided to try their brunch. And guess what? It’s perfect.

They serve a bit of their dinner menu – mostly pasta and salads, as well as your traditional brunch mixings. And while a mix of everything seems like an odd approach to ordering, everything is so satisfying you can’t mess this up. So go ahead, get the waffles and rigatoni with eggplant. Together.

Waffle with Vermont maple syrup, rigatoni with eggplant, tomato sauce and basil, and fior di latte mozzarella.

Rigatoni with eggplant, tomato sauce, basil and fior di latte mozzarella.

Pappardelle with honey-braised short rib ragu.