Misi

I have been wanting to go to Misi since 2020 (as evidenced by my attempted recreation of their famed ricotta toast in February 2021). The problem is that, for years, it was tough to score a reservation, but when Jourdan snagged one, I booked it to Brooklyn.

Over near the water, Misi is in a new, industrial space that’s all windows and metal. It just felt right that we were sitting at the bar in front of the kitchen for our meal. I enjoy an open kitchen in general, but I’d go so far as to say this is the seating area you should go for. After seeing some perfect-looking artichokes on the counter (something I only clocked because of my vantage point), I perused the menu to find exactly which dish they were for because I had to have them. (I was right – they were amazing.)

For apps, we got the ricotta toast, which came with a large side of trumpet mushrooms. I’m not anti trumpets, and love how meaty they are, but they can have a slight metallic tang to me. Even if you’re not a fan, worth it to get the whipped ricotta and assuming someone’s your table will want the mushrooms. Then we got those artichokes – grilled baby artichokes with mint salsa verde, to be exact. They were fantastic. Also fantastic were the slow cooked butter beans with lacinto kale, Calabrian chili, and Parmesan. Now, I’m not a big bean gal, and I kinda think kale is stupid, but let me tell you this dish knocked my socks off. I can’t even fully explain it. I had the same reaction as I did after Via Carota, a place that I can only describe as “they just have a way with vegetables – it looks boring on the menu but is a standout once it hits your palate.” For the pastas, we did the bucatini with nduja and tomato sauce and the ricotta-filled occhi with bottarga and lemon. Everyone recognizes the pasta at Misi is great and I’m not going to tell you otherwise. I would have liked to be hit a bit stronger with the bottarga, but maybe I’m just greedy.