Some spaces just have bad restaurant mojo. A truth every restraunteur either knows or learns the hard way. Why? Several factors are involved. A big one being location. “Of course”, everyone mutters as they roll their eyes. Well, my idea of location is a bit more specific. Not every neighborhood is created equal. Not every storefront in the Village is created equal. Or any other neighborhood for that matter. What spaces are adjacent to the space in question? Who are it’s business neighbors? What kind of traffic goes by here on a daily basis? Or is it meant to become a ‘destination’ restaurant, throwing caution to the wind and venturing into uncharted dining geography? What does (or will) the storefront look like? What does it face? Does the Sun play a role? Are there signage restrictions? The location must also be regarded in terms of the restaurant concept. Will that type of food and atmosphere be appropriate in that spot?

And then there’s the question of the space. How does the restaurant’s concept shape the space… or be shaped by it? If you want to open a diner with a long bar, you can’t do it in a short room. A grand white-tablecloth-and-chandelier joint can’t feel quite so grand in a space with low ceilings. You get the idea. But on top of all this there are just some addresses that can’t seem to ever hold a successful restaurant. For whatever reason, nothing works. The space at the corner of 5th Ave. and 8th street , was just such a spot. Bad mojo that had seen the wilting of several restaurant attempts over the years. But Mario Batali has some badass mojo himself. He brought his big name and his big game and opened Otto Pizzeria there in 2002, and it worked. Of course it did.

I was there (again) with a few friends just last week and was reminded of its many charms. The front bar room is one of the better feeling restaurant bar rooms in the city. It’s casual but sophisticated (you’re drinking wine after all). Everyone is standing (except at the bar) so there is a bit more of a sense of a mingling cocktail party atmosphere about it. You could just drift over and talk to that skinny over there…no problem. Of course Italy has understood this for generations. Hence the generations. The marble and wood is nice. The lighting is pretty good. A great room. Unfortunately there is a hint of ‘camp’ there also with the train arrivals board over the host stand. The tiles clack and everyone looks at the ticket they’re holding to see if their Italian destination city has been called. Ah, the Disney-fication of Italy. But, oddly, it works! People watch the board as they drink, have fun mispronouncing the names as they appear, and then get excited when their town’s name spins into view. All of this serves to put people in the mood for food. And hopefully they then won’t notice how big, bland and drab the dining room is.

The host leads you into the first section of dining room which is essentially a wide hall with tables. I would not want to sit here as it is heavily trafficked. You then come to the main dining room marked by one of Batali’s big tables right at the entrance. Used in other Batali restaurants, these tables are usually bubbling over with ingredients, wine, cheese and cured meats that the restaurant uses. Nature’s bounty, deftly handled for you. It is a nice device and it works. What falls a little short is the room. The paint color! What was in the visual background in the front bar room now is very much in your face in the back room. With only a few little bad light fixtures to distract you, the burnt sienna color of the walls feels very heavy, in a bad way. This room is markedly devoid of ornament or the visual liveliness that is present in the front. For one thing, everyone is sitting -which is fine- but now the walls are more visible, and they are bare. I understand that it’s a big room and building a restaurant can be expensive but please… put some art on the walls or something!

But the food is great. Odd, but great. The bread sticks at the start are a hit. We had races to see who could eat them with out using their hands. The verdure ramekins are killer. And I could eat pizza till I exploded so I’m a little biased in that department. But menu items all use the best ingredients, are simple, straightforward and clever, and really good. Also the price is decent enough that you feel like you could make it a regular spot. One pricing misstep, though, occurred a month or so ago when I wanted to have eight people in for some pizza after an apres work cocktail. The host said that for large groups such as this that Otto does only a prix fixe menu at $40/person…. Prix fixe? I said thanks, knowing that the crew I was bringing would not want to ‘deal’, and went somewhere else. It’s obvious that the Batali Machine knows how to run a restaurant and that they’re probably not hurting for money, but… eight people. Anyway, a great pizza place and congratulations to Mario for shaking that address’s bad restaurant mojo.