Olio e Più is a trattoria & enoteca restaurant run by the same group that manages Boucherie. It’s close to the West 4th station in the Village, and it usually has a very lively crowd as it gets toward evening hours. Before the pandemic, the restaurant table space was quite small and tight. Since, they’ve expanded structurally a patio that extends out of the main building, as well as little sidewalk area that is enclosed. If you desire to sit in the actual indoor areas (i.e. not the patio area or the sidewalk area), you probably have to make a reservation a few weeks in advance and book the “Standard” area in OpenTable.
Ambiance & Service
At a 4:45 PM reservation, the patio area was quite lively. It was still considered winter, so there is not a lot of leaves, and it’s not that pretty to look at. I can imagine during spring and summer, there’s a lot more color and greens to make the whole area more lively.
Seating is fairly tight but somewhat comfortable in terms of space. They separate tables with physical objects like a small plant, but understandably they are trying to turn tables as quickly as possible. My chair in particular had a big indentation in the cushion, so it felt like I was sitting in a bottomed out chair. For a party of 2, they say they allow 1.5 hours of dining, but they usually will get the foods all served way in advance of that.
The service is very fast, and when the bill comes, you pay through a remote card reader. The tip is calculated pre-tax.
Food
The Farfalla Rossa ($21 - left) came with Absolut vodka, giffard lychee, cranberry, and rose water. This was very smooth and very floral, and my partner mentioned it reminded them of Boucherie. Well not surprisingly, the same restaurant group that owns Boucherie also owns this restaurant.
The Cabernet Sauvignon ($19 - right) came from Campo alle Comete, Bolgher, 2018. This wine was full body, and it was ok. I realized after this drink that I don’t quite prefer cabernets as much.
The complimentary bread came with olive oil and olives. The bread is room temperature and was a great vessel for absorbing the olive oil.
The Tortellini En Brodo ($16) came with veal filled ravioli, nutmeg, crispy artichoke, and parmesan broth. The stuffed tortellini was quite good, and it went well with the parmesan broth. I took some of the bread and just soaked the soup in.
The Paccheri Nere ($44) came with squid ink paccheri, sepia (cuttlefish), shrimps, mussels, tomatoes, white wine, peperoncino, and pancito. This was pretty good, and I recommend it if you’re into seafood pastas. The paccheri was basically a big fat piece of pasta that was flattened. It was cooked perfectly al dente. The sauce was quite good. It was not as acidic as I’d like form the small tomatoes, but I did like all the flavors from the tomatoes and wine. The seafood was fresh and delicious. The shrimp was bouncy and plump, the mussels were tender, and the sepia was good.
The Burrata & Limoncello Ravioli ($33) came with jumbo lump crab meat, escarole, and herbs. I was slightly disappointed by this in that I thought the ravioli would be stuffed with lump crab meat. Instead, the crab meat was a topping. They gave a decent portion of it, but the crab meat was not as sweet and decadent. The ravioli itself was good. It basically tasted like a cheese ravioli with heavy lemon zest flavors.
Final Verdict
In all, the food here was pretty good for what it is. It’s a great place for that social media endeavor, and it has great foods as well. If you’re around the Village and looking for a very lively Italian restaurant, this could be a great option. We avoided the pizza because there are too many good options in the city to waste stomach space for it.
Yelp Jabs
I ordered the famous carbonara pasta, but I didn’t think it was exceptionally memorable. The truffle fettuccine was also a bit unseasoned for my taste, but I loved that they are very generous with their truffle portions.
The truffle fettucini seemed a bit overrated. They gave you very generous portions of black truffle, but you can literally smell the dirt and soil from it in a not so great way. I don’t know why people like black truffles since the flavor of it normally comes across like a damp basement.
There’s HIGH expectations for the food and they didn’t really deliver. The carbonara and bolognese were both underwhelming. I’d recommend slightly increasing the salt in the bolognese and cooking the tagliatelle a bit less.
This Elitist might have a hunger for salt, so take this feedback with a grain of salt! This restaurant’s seasoning is pretty moderate as a whole in all the dishes we ordered. I would imagine if they increased the seasoning, it may become too salty for people that have a similar palette to me.
Revisions
- Feb 18, 2023 - Initial revision.