In May, my family and I went to see HAMILTON on Broadway. And while I had been a little nervous that the hype was going to be unwarranted - I'm here to tell you that it is as close to musical theater perfection as I will probably ever experience. Lin-Manuel Miranda's talent is mind blowing, truly.

After the matinee performance, we went out for an early dinner at Trattoria Dell'Arte - whose website uses the phrase "VEGETARIAN EXTRAVAGANZA." While I'm not actually a vegetarian, I absolutely love vegetable-focused menus. (Abby, I said vegetable-focused instead of veggie-heavy JUST FOR YOU, you're welcome).

Trattoria Dell'Arte

Pick 6 - Antipasto Bar

Tattoria Dell'Arte has a MASSIVE antipasto bar with 32 VEGETABLES. My sister and I quickly got down to business - fighting it out over which 6 would continue on in the hopes of becoming America's Next Top Vegetable (who writes this shit?)

After much debate, we landed on:

Roasted Heirloom Carrots (against the moans of everyone at the table, I bravely defended my all time favorite vegetable)
Sauteed Broccoli Rabe (our waiter gave us this as an extra bonus)
Roasted Seasonal Mushrooms
Eggplant Caponata
Zucchini Parmigiana
Roasted Cauliflower
Spaghetti Squash

My two favorites were definitely the Zucchini Parmigiana and Eggplant Caponata!

We also chose to add the burrata for an extra $6 and, unpopular opinion over here, I'm not all-in on the burrata craze! I gave my portion away.

Braised Octopus & Calamari

OH WOW. I've been lucky enough to have some damn good octopus dishes in my lifetime, and this was right up there with some of the most tender, flavorful, octopus.

Thin Crust Pizza

Again, this created some debate - with so many amazing sounding options, it was difficult to decide what we wanted. When our waiter informed us we could do half and half, we were overjoyed. OK, maybe that was just me.

Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese & Fried Artichoke, Seasonal greens

This was everyone else's favorite - and I loved it too, don't get me wrong! It's just that the other half was...

Pesto & Broccoli Rabe

I rarely crave pizza, but I was so excited for this thin-crust 'za. And I ate every crumb that the rest of my family was "too full" to finish. The pesto was made with almonds, pine nuts and basil and it was delicious!

Though I'm not usually one to get excited over Italian restaurants, Trattoria Dell'Arte is worth getting excited over. There are tons of options, and not all of them will leave you feeling like you're stuffed silly. Not to mention the location is ideal for those times when you're stuck in Midtown and not sure where to go for decent food!