I Sodi in New York, New York

If you live in New York in your twenties or thirties, you will be subject to much conversation surrounding about a half dozen Italian restaurants around the West Village.

These institutions are: Via Carota, Don Angie, L'Artusi, Carbone, sometimes Morandi, often Bar Pitti, and always I Sodi.

What do these institutions have in common? High-profile clientele and reservations that are impossible to secure. Those go hand in hand, of course. As soon as Sarah Jessica Parker tells the public that the cosmos at Morandi are the only ones that Carrie Bradshaw would drink, of course the Sex and the City fans come flocking. If you follow the celebrity account DeuxMoi, you know the dark back booths at these restaurants are quietly reserved for the Bradley Coopers, the Jake Gyllenhaals, the Zendayas, etc.

Which brings me to I Sodi. While Don Angie is known for its "corner pieces only" lasagna, I Sodi is known for a tall, towering lasagna with endless layers. There's something metaphorical that I can't quite parlay into a joke that's around a towering structure of pasta in a city of skyscrapers.

In dissecting I Sodi, there are a few elements to discuss: the ambiance, the service, the food, and the struggle. Let's proceed in order.

The Ambiance: Say what you will about the West Village Girls, but the neighborhood's charming brownstones, cobblestone streets, and ivy-covered homes feel quaint in a city that is anything but. I Sodi is nestled into a brownstone that feels homey with soft yellow lighting, multiple rooms to explore, and a shaded back patio. I was lucky enough to eat on the back patio, which was lush with plants and burning candles. It felt like a table you'd eat at at your grandmother's house - that is, if she descended from the Vanderbilts. Emily Gilmore would love this patio.

The Service: Simply put: service at I Sodi is excellent. Much like a restaurant in Paris, I Sodi's staff feel properly trained in not just the menu, but in course timing, etiquette, and all things fine dining. The folks working at I Sodi seem like true professionals and not just some college kids looking to pick up some shifts to pay for an upcoming Spring Break trip. It's a staff of adults and the service shows.

The Food: When you secure a reservation at I Sodi, you come hungry and you order everything, because who knows when Taylor Swift will drop in next and create a Resy-storm for the next year?

For appetizers, the star of the show was the fried mushrooms. In other months, this adapts into a fried artichoke. While fried mushrooms are not something I would normally order, the way this was prepared was different and delicious. The mushrooms were very lightly breaded with a very fine dusting of what I assume is a breadcrumb mixture and then crisped up in what appears to be an oven or air fryer. It scratches the itch of a french fry but in a slightly lighter, more elevated way.

We also ordered the asparagus salad and a fried potato dish for starters. The asparagus salad felt fresh and seasonal and the fried potatoes were excellent, albeit a bit heavy before a total of three pastas to come.

Let's talk about the pastas. Of course you have to try the lasagna, because it's all anyone talks about. I'm not sure how much this thing weighs, but it's a hulking brick of a dish. It's constructed in so many layers that it's almost like an art project. It's soft noodles and meat sauce err on the sweet side, which I enjoy in a red sauce pasta. It is a decadent indulgence even for a hungry pasta lover and that's what makes it fun. Just split it between a few people or you'll have to roll home.

The other two pasta dishes we tried, the cacio e pepe and spinach ravioli, tasted good but a bit ordinary. Perhaps my palette did not appreciate the simplicity, but to me, these dishes felt a bit bland.

Without any room to spare, we still continued on into the dessert course. I Sodi's best work here also comes in a block. The tiramisu is fit for the whole table to split. The liqueur inside the cake is chilled and strong and there is just enough coffee and cocoa powder. If tiramisu is not your jam, the flourless chocolate cake was also incredibly rich and sweet, just like I like it. The stracciatella gelato was also a solid choice, with icy strands of of chocolate and cream, but the panna cotta felt a little bland and forgotten.

To conclude the food section, it must be mentioned that there were a few moments during the meal where I determined I Sodi may take itself a bit too seriously as a culinary arbiter of style and taste. For example:

1. The olive appetizer came with a grand total of four olives.

2. When we asked for ketchup to go with our side of fries, the waiter very politely informed us that "we do not keep ketchup in house." We were about to ask for honey mustard and immediately determined there would be a better chance of meeting god twice.

The Struggle: This now leads me to The Struggle, an important part of I Sodi's review. Getting a table or reservation at I Sodi requires a level of struggle that will heighten your cortisol levels. Reservations come out on Resy 14 days in advance at 10AM on the dot, which probably requires you to cancel a meeting, hover over your Resy browser, and say several prayers that you can click fast enough to secure a reservation before the bots win.

When indubitably this fails, your next best bet is to try to walk in on a weeknight when the restaurant opens at 4:30pm for dinner. However, even if you're skipping out of work early so that you can walk up before 5pm, you better hope that your full party is perfectly synchronized on timing. There is no waitlist until the room fills up, which takes an hour or so.

That means that until around 5:30pm, you're basically just tapping your foot, begging god that your friend's subway doesn't suddenly turn from express to local. You also can't send your most flexible friend to go put your name on the list, affording everyone the delightful ritual of getting a nice drink across the street before heading to dinner, because there is no list until later on in the night. And once that list starts, it quickly jams up with a four to five hour wait.

When waiting for my aforementioned straggling group, I witnessed a teen boy beg, bargain, and plea with the firm but polite host. His grandparents were circling the block trying to find parking and there was only one table remaining in the restaurant. If someone else (like my friend) had arrived while Grandma and Grandpa parked the car, their table would be snatched and lives inevitably ruined!

This air of desperation is thick by the host stand. And while it exists because everyone wants to go to I Sodi, I actually think it detracts from the coolness of the experience. It sets your expectations incredibly high and intoxicates you into thinking that this restaurant is comparable to an Eleven Madison or Daniel.

All to say, how should we feel about I Sodi? The lasagna and tiramisu are delicious spectacles. The space is cozy and feels quintessentially West Village and the service is high-touch. But is the hefty price tag and grueling journey to secure a table worth it? In short: not for the food alone. Personally, I think the food at Bar Pitti handedly surpasses I Sodi.

But you go to I Sodi for a chance to feel like a main character in an early 2000's rom com. You go to I Sodi because sharing space with the rich and famous can be fun. While I Sodi is never going to be your casual, local, once a week spot (unless you're Kate Hudson), it's kind of like following celebrities: equal parts vapid and fun.