Disappointments

My phone broke, so I have been without a camera.  But that won't stop me from complaining on the internet!

So I went to OTTO Enoteca.  There are a lot of things to like about Otto -- like that board that displays whose table will be next in that old-timey flip-card way and (more importantly) the amazing gelato.  But there are also a lot of things to dislike about Otto, like the way they capitalize all the letters in their name and, well, everything else.  Just as Cafe Grumpy's hot chocolate made some top-10 list, Otto's made one or two or maybe most of them.  But listing Otto's is far more outrageous.  First of all, Leila and I share the pet peeve of restaurants' deciding to stop serving their signature (chocolate) dishes.  Otto serves their apparently popular hot chocolate during only a narrow window in the winter.  My recent "successful" procurement of Otto's hot chocolate came on my seventh attempt.  But the problems only begin there.  I tried to get my hot chocolate to go, but they literally did not have any paper cups in the entire restaurant.  They forced me to drink it on the spot.  Then they made me wait about 10 minutes for it.  When it arrived, it was covered in whipped cream, without asking me (ew).  Even after scraping that off, the hot chocolate was sickeningly sweet.  Even the cookies served with it were inedible.  At least it only cost $6 for basically a tiny shot.  Brutal.

Also, I went back to L'Arte del Gelato, this time in Chelsea Market.  Trying to give it yet another shot, I ordered the Italian hot chocolate affogato with the chocolate gelato.  This type of hot chocolate float is basically my favorite type of food.  But it was just as disappointing as their chocolate gelato solo.  It had the misfortune of being less thick than Italian hot chocolate should be but still sufficiently thick as to make me a little sick.  Of course it was too sweet and not sufficiently chocolatey.  None of my friends who tried it would even have a second sip.

Bottom Line: Get your hot chocolate from Fresco or City Bakery (review pending).  Don't play around when it comes to something so serious.