Insieme

I have been here when Canora was the owner and whatever I tried was barely acceptable. The service too pushy on wine consumption.
I don’t know how this restaurant could be considered one of the best places in town… Just publicity!!!

Insieme splits its menu between traditional Italian fare and modern takes on Italian, so you can stick to one side or go back and forth between the two.
We both had the tasting menu. The amuse-​bouche was a shot glass of strawberry-​tomato soup: a perfect, summery, refreshing concoction with a bit of a spicy kick like a gazpacho, but still incorporating great sweetness and tang from the strawberries. For a starter, we had the spring onion soup with caviar: subtle flavor from the spring onion that could have become overpowering. Next up was a delicious, light tuna dish and then onto smoked mackerel and scallop with beetroot jam: my hands-​down favorite of the evening. Yes, I am biased towards beets, but it was a delicious pairing. 4-​cheese stuffed pasta with a vegetable pesto, zucchini and beets was quite good, but the least remarkable dish of the evening. We finished it off with a lovely chocolatey dessert and some delicious dessert wine.
Service was excellent. They were attentive without being invasive. My espresso came up when I had ducked off to the restroom and they were dearly apologetic, offering to make me a fresh one because it had come out perhaps 30 seconds before I returned. :) They were helpful with our wine selections and made and adjustment to the tasting menu for me to accommodate my pescetarian diet.

The décor is clean and simple. Modern but not to the point of overkill. Service is great and the wine selection okay. Mostly Italian wines, which is a bit confining, but the suggestion made by the waiter was a good one.
For my appetizer I had the pear salad, which was very good. But after that, I had the lasagna which came with VERY high recommendations. It was just eh. But fortunately the waiter redeemed himself by also recommending the donuts which were pretty friggin’ awesome.
All in all, I would say that Insieme is a good choice for midtown. Whether you’re hitting the theater or you’re looking for a nice place close by after work.

I’m very happy to have found Insieme. I only stay on Times Square because my favorite NYC hotel, the Crowne Plaza, is there. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be seen near this part of town especially when it comes to mealtimes.
It was a quick lunch with a colleague so I only opted for the Primi course. It was a pea purée ravioli and I only chose it because I just could not see how the flavors would work. My mistake, the flavors were outstanding and the presentation perfect.
At lunchtime the restaurant is bright and airy with an air that hints the food is going to be good yet it manages to remain unpretentious with a warm welcome and excellent attentive service. It was only afterwards, looking at their website that I realized this is a Michelin starred restaurant.
I will undoubtedly be back, this time for a long and leisurely graze through each course.

I will echo what others have said, don’t let the location smack dab in the middle of tourist central aka Times Square fool you. This is a lovely gem of a restaurant and I think from my experience, it has earned it’s Michelin star.
First thing I thought as we entered the restaurant was that it felt like a hotel restaurant. It is tucked within The Michaelangelo Hotel. It was quite dark and dimly lit. Service, definitely on point. Food was great, I ordered the braised veal with a cauliflower sauce and we shared a halibut appetizer. I found the meal to be quite tasty and presentation was really nice.
The only thing that was somewhat annoying was the couple sitting next to us talking loudly about the problems in their relationship. It was distracting, but not the restaurant’s fault. I thought everything was nice and really a hidden gem in the Times Square area. Recommended.

Right off of Times Square lies a small Italian restaurant boasting one Michelin star. Its sign is innocuous, so one could very well miss it with all of the animation nearby. Also, the restaurant is allied with the Michelangelo hotel, so it could be easily dismissed as a hotel restaurant. That would be a shame though since the food is decent here.
Service began with not one but two amuse bouches! The first one was a small sliver of bacalao served over a bite size portion of potato. This was delicious with the fish offering a lovely, intricate flavor. The second amuse bouche was egg drop soup. Seemingly curious for an Italian restaurant, but that is only because Italians do not refer to this as egg drop soup. They call it stracciatella alla romana, and they love it. I liked it too, but it was indistinguishable from typical egg drop soup.
For the appetizer, we opted to share the grilled mackerel. The chef was very thoughtful as he really did split the plate for us. He carved out two individual servings and dressed them on separate plates. I thought that was a nice touch. The mackerel was fairly good and fresh. It was served with roasted red peppers, Cerignola olives, artichokes, fennel, and parsley. The dish was presented in a shallow dish, in brodo. I thought the balance of flavors was nice, and found the dish to be decent though not striking in any way.
For the main course, my choice was easy. I opted for the lasagna verde alla bolognese. Easy I say, since this particular dish received much acclaim recently from former New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl in Gourmet magazine. It was also declared the best lasagna in the city according to Best of New York in 2008. I, personally, can’t say it is the best lasagna in the city, but I did enjoy it thoroughly. The portion size is generous. I loved the authenticity of the dish. The noodles were flat, and the sauce was bechamel — a good one at that. I was impressed by the several layers of the dish. Rather than being dense, this came off as light. The flavors were wonderful, and I made my way through this dish much more quickly than is probably seemly for a Michelin rated restaurant. Oh, whatever. If the food is good, I intend to enjoy it. A lovely dish that at first appearances did not seem like it would be a hit.
Service was decent, though I did have difficulty understanding the waitstaff on each and every occasion they passed by our table. Accent aside, part of the blame may rest with background noise I was detecting from my side of the table.
The décor was very nice, and I thought they made great use of such a small space. I loved the descending lanterns, and the booths were comfortable and nicely appointed. My girlfriend thought the place looked like a hotel restaurant though, so opinions may vary on this.
Overall, a very nice meal can be had here at prices that are not especially inflated which is remarkable given its location. I definitely recommend their lasagna. A good restaurant and one I wouldn’t mind returning to. In my very austere grading system I have in place for rating Michelin starred restaurants, this one comes in at a surprising 4 stars. I really do enjoy the food here, and the quality-​pricepoint ratio was a bit higher than I was expecting or have encountered with some of the other Michelin starred Italian restaurants.

Chosen because the boss wanted Italian and we had to fun a place walking distance from the Hudson Hotel. Oh, and the previous Unilocal reviews also made it enticing.
The coworkers were a bit intimidated because we weren’t expecting anything «fancy»…and honestly, maybe fancy isn’t the word. Definitely true to a New York restaurant… and I also think it was «attached» to the hotel around the corner.
Trendy, intimate, and an epitome of customer service. We already knew the bill would be a pretty penny. The meal started and ended with 2 surprising additions to what we actually order — some Italian egg drop soup to start the meal (and maybe even cleanse our pallets) to some dried fruit dipped in dark chocolate as an after dessert treat.
In between all of that, we had a plethora of food with starters including the plate of cheeses (which was pretty tasty), the octopus dish (forgot the real name but this was my dish and it was REAL good), and your basic salad.
Our entrees ranged from the Mushroom Risotto, Lamb Ragu, and my personal choice based on the reviews — the Lasagna. Everyone at the table enjoyed their entrée, and I must admit… despite all the rave lasagna reviews… I definitely had better. MUCH better. I will give thumbs up to the tenderness of the pasta though.
For dessert we shared the panna cotta and the gelato. The panna cotta was nice and light… considering…and the gelato… OMG. Really deeeeelish. From the espresso, to the caramel, to the coconut. Yum, yum, and yum.
Despite my unsatisfying lasagna, all other aspects of the meal including the attentive service made this experience quite enjoyable. I wouldn’t necessarily make it one of my NYC Italian Restaurant staples… but for a nice evening out the other half, important clients/​customers, and/​or that special family occassion… I’ll come back.
And I’ll order that gelato.

High expectations that did not deliver at all. When a restaurant is awarded a Michelin Star (not to mention a high rating on Zagat), you come to assume a certain standard of experience — my dinner at Insieme did not live up.
Most disappointing was the service — after being taken to our table and given menus, we were promptly ignored for some 20 – 25 minutes. The waitstaff seemed few and far between and we had some difficulty getting the attention of anyone. Even after telling one of the staff that we were in a hurry, it took an incremental 7 minutes or so to have our order taken. After telling our actual waiter that we were in a bit of a rush (and receiving his assurances that we’d have our pastas «within a few minutes»), we received them close to an hour later. All the while, it seemed as though we weren’t being followed up on at all.
The food itself was passable, albeit not resoundingly — I had an octopus carpaccio with white beans and red-​wine vinegrette that was good but uninteresting (I’ve had better at a variety of neighborhood-​type Italian spots). My main was the Saffron Chittara with Lobster: big portion, but the spaghetti was overcooked and bordered on too soft and mushy. Given the pasta price point ($ 26), I would have expected both more lobster and more attention to preparation.
Ambience was good — Insieme is a sleek restaurant, with appropriately dim mood-​lighting and a moderate sound level. Note that the bar at the front of the restaurant only has 5 seats (and isn’t really geared towards meeting people for drinks). Might be a better idea to have a cocktail in the adjoining Michaelangelo hotel prior to your meal.

This is a couple of blocks away from my office and we recently went for lunch. The lasagna was good. Definitely the highlight of the meal. I ordered the small plate as an appetizer, and because it was going to take longer than the other appetizers to come out, they gave me soup as well. The soup was good, but I would have preferred to just wait. It made me fuller than I wanted to be before my main course.
The food was solid. I ordered lamb, which was cooked well but I didn’t care much for the greens that accompanied it. All in all, I think it’s a decent place, but not to die for amazing. It’s good, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come again (though this is a good backup Italian restaurant in the area, especially if you want to avoid more of the «traditional» type of Italian restaurants). If you go here, definitely stick to the pastas. The pastas are definitely the way to go.

I’m a big fan — just too rarely in the area to visit more often. Every time we see something on Broadway though, we make sure to drop by for a late dinner. The food is INCREDIBLE. The wine list is impressive, the service spot on but the food… I could have one of everything on the menu each time we come in. One thing, the place is expensive…
The pasta dishes are perfect: spaghetti carbonara, lasagna, ravioli — all delicious. I could do with half a pear in my pear and gorgonzola salad — not enough gorgonzola for me personally. The bass entrée is light and filling — just perfect for a late meal.
Desserts are WONDERFUL — bombolone, cheesecake, pana cota — can’t wait to come back!

My meal at 777 7^th Avenue was 7 courses in 7^th heaven. Our reservation was at 6, but it was during the 7^th month, so there. 7 7’s. Not including those last two.
As it turns out, Insieme sits pretty between my train station and my job, so I pass by it nearly every day. When I learned that it was in the Hearth/​Terroir family, I put it on my must list. I advise you to do the same.
My friend and I decided to splurge on the pasta tasting menu, five courses and dessert for $ 68. There was no wine pairing marked on the menu, but our server set us up with an informal one that ended up working quite well and cost less than anticipated. The meal was outstanding.
We started with a handful of little canapes — bing cherrry stuffed with goat cheese, pork pâté and olive on crostini, anchovie-​stuffed radish, and a «straciatella» Italian egg-​drop soup. Overall, these weren’t very special. The bite of pork was quite good, and the cherry and radish were okay. The soup was bland bland bland (though my friend liked it alright and reminded me that I am the proud owner of charred Korean taste buds). The bread and butter were decent, though the best part of the bread was not the taste but the satisfying sound of the flaky crust broken in my hands. The texture was great, but as for flavor, a little salt would’ve gone a long way.
The first pasta was a chitarra with lobster, saffron, fennel, and perilla. Every bite inspired marvel. The pasta was cooked to a perfect sproingy al dente and the saffron flavor was subtle but entrenched. Firm little chunks of lobster added a lovely line of harmony in both flavor and texture.
Next up was the ravioli gnudi, a dish, despite the name («naked ravioli»), completely devoid of pasta. Rapturous pillows of swiss chard, parmesan, and nutmeg floated instead in a thin, flavorful moat of broth with pink softened swiss chard stems crowning the shallow bowl. Goodness gracious, you just haven’t lived until you’ve tried these cheesy herby morsels.
The pretty pea-​green risotto with zucchini, squash blossoms, and basil was probably the weakest course, but like the worst player on a professional team, it was still a big-​league dish. The risotto, like the pasta, was cooked al dente, a welcome change from the mushy versions one usually comes across.
Pappardelle with smoked lamb neck, lambs quarters and lemon ricotta presented forward flavors and great textures. The succulent smoked meat took a front seat but the tangy cheese and once again perfect noodles were impossible to miss.
The last pasta was a maccheroni with artichokes and pork ragu. Did I mention that all the pasta was perfect? These curving ridged beauties were no exception. The ragu was hearty, with comforting flavors enhanced by rosemary. This was a great final savory course.
After this came a palate cleanser of crisp, refreshing lime sorbet. It hit the spot and readied us for the final plate.
The dessert, described on the menu as «fruit & cheese,» a goat cheese crema with local strawberries, was a pleasant surprise. We were expecting a fancy cheese plate, and instead we got what looked and felt like a lightly cheesy pot de crème. The little strawberries and lacy sugar-​dusted almond tuilles played along for a simple, sophisticated, and wildly scrumptious dessert.
Service was alternatively excellent and totally uninterested. Our waitress was great, very helpful and cheery, but the servers who brought our plates along would drop off each course without so much as a three-​word explanation of what we were about to eat. Our waitress was even apologetic for their evident detachment. This is a minor point, though, as I was generally pleased with the service.
The restaurant occupies an attractive and elegant space, with minimal light-​colored décor and an interesting location just a few feet below street level. A trip to the bathroom downstairs revealed a gorgeous candle-​lit banquet room that would be ideal for a fun fancy party.
Overall, my meal at Insieme was one of my best in New York. The experience was lovely and every plate was splendidly envisioned and precisely executed. A stroll by the restaurant a few days later revealed a different menu with no pasta tasting option, but I’m sure it will be back — and in any case, I trust that anything from that kitchen would be stellar.

I went here after seeing the Rockette’s. It was a cold day! We ordered a bottle of Reisling and boy was it good.
The food was amazing. The Lasagna was my favorite!

In among the screaming lights and bussle of Times Square and only a few blocks from the tourist-​ridden Olive Garden, Insieme achieves the unimaginable: a quiet atmosphere with New York quality service.
The pasta sampling menu keeps things interesting and the wine menu is robust.
Definitely try this one if you’re trapped in that area and looking for a temporary escape.

I would’ve given it four and a half if I could have. The food was incredible and as far as food goes it’s one of the best in the city. However, the service was really bad. The waiter was straight mean. When you pay that much, the last thing that should happen is the waiter should make you feel bad. He was also very slow.
Back to the food, so good! Apps: I had a half order of the tortellini which was incredible, my sis had a yellow tail sushi like tar tare deal. I had the beef cheek ravioli as a main and it’s as good as it’s cracked up to be. My mom had a prosciutto wrapped branzino that was perfect. My sister had skirt steak with a green salsa sauce.
Gelato was rich and tasty.
This place, Beppe and Tailor are probably my favorite places to eat that are around this price range. I recommend it.

Last year I had two meals here in the same week with the same group of friends (five people total) — I see that there are a lot of very positive reviews here, so I am still slightly questioning myself, but all of us insisted on experiencing this place once more after the first awful adventure to see where we had gone wrong in our opinions since we’d all separately heard so many wonderful things about Insiemme but somehow all of us shared the same negative impression, anyway the consensus was: the food seems derivative of many high-​end places yet on a budget but at the same price, it seems like they’re trying to duplicate concepts from other restaurants but without any actual meticulous considerations put into preparation and with inferior ingredients poorly-​prepared (yet served in slightly bigger portions to please the masses) — and on top of that everything was just bland and the service was rusty and inattentive and conceited as could be…
I went with four «high-​end» food-​worshipping friends, we all got multiple courses and each of us were disappointed with each of them, there really were no real winners but many courses were competing for last place…
A lot of dish components seem like an afterthought and/​or contrived or irrelevant– everything had to have a bit of berry and a bit of cheese and a bit of something pickled and a bit of something poacked in olive oil and a bit of crème and the bloom had gone off all the vegetables… My opinion is that they put themselves in an area where tourists wanted «classy» «Italian» food which you could find «only in New York» but didn’t want to pay «hoity toity prices» yet in the end actually get taken advantage of without even knowing it.

We went to dinner here a couple of weeks ago and I really loved it. Looking at the online menu before I went made me excited, but I tried to not get my hopes too high. Often the menu is much more enticing than the food, but Insieme proved that wrong.
The menu is actually seasonal, so what you see online might not be there when you show up although they seem to keep it pretty up to date. I was delighted with the options given to me! There are 3 or 4 courses, but you can order anything from any menu to be whichever course you want. I loved the availability to make the meal your own. I was also glad that you could mix things from the «traditional Italian» menu with items from the «modern» menu.
I had pumpkin tortelli which was amazing. I’m not huge on pumpkin in everything, but this was too intriguing to pass up. It turned out delicious. I also ordered pork loin and some fabulous risotto. Everything that everyone ordered was great.
To top of the amazing food, the service and décor were fantastic! I’d highly recommend it!

My friend and I had a truly special lunch experience at this chic inspiring example of what a modern Italian restaurant can be.
The décor is thoroughly modernist with careful use of subtle lighting and beautiful materials throughout. The mercifully short menu is organized into a «traditional» half on the left and «modern» half on the right. You can choose starters or entrees from either half. We did a bit of each. Having read elsewhere that the lasagna was a winner, we got the particular version offered on the day we went (I don’t recall which) and found it absolutely delightful — even light in flavor and texture if you say that about lasagna. We also got a much less light pork ribeye, which was just well enough cooked (not even slightly tough) and absolutely bursting with flavor. Had it had one more pinch of salt, it would have been too much.
The less strong points were that they took much much longer to serve us than the other people (after we ordered, several other diners came, ate, and left by the time they served us our dessert) which was perhaps because we were a little underdressed for a $ 50 per person restaurant.
Or because our server, despite being very polite and pleasant, seemed to be more than a bit discombobulated, checking her notepad a good dozen times while standing away from clients. Or maybe my lack of a nice shirt is why they gave us the new girl.
Whatever. The food was amazing and I’d go back and wear a tie.

Through a fine twist of fate, the family and I were able to dine at Insieme instead of at a lesser-​known Italian place in the Theatre District. We were staying at the Michaelangelo and a torrential downpour made it impossible to catch a cab to dinner, so we tried our luck at Insieme in the building. Luckily, they were able to seat a party of nine without any trouble and I got to eat where I originally wanted to. :)
The madai crudo appetizer was delicious with its bream carpaccio, coriander dressing and zucchini blossom chiffonade, but Justin’s caprese salad done three ways was a tremendous use of peak season tomatoes. Delicious.
I couldn’t pass up what’s been named the best lasagna in NYC and the first bite was stunning, not only because it tasted wonderful, but more because it was EXACTLY like my Nonna makes it. Not the pasta, but the sauce – it was exactly the same! I shared it with Justin just to confirm my taste buds weren’t playing tricks on me and we agree – Insieme must have a little old Italian grandmother slaving away in that kitchen, making meat sauce day and night. Tastes of lamb, duck and pillowy-​light gnocchi were also all quite good.
For some reason, I was on a zucchini blossom kick and had the dessert stuffed with sheep’s milk ricotta and blackberry emulsion. The tang of the blackberry lent a sweet-​tart complexity to the dish and my only wish was for more than one berry in the dessert to balance the cheese.
The service was fine – not bad, not especially good – which actually surprised me for a restaurant of this caliber. But we were quite a large (and loud, to be honest) party and we did sort of spring ourselves on them unexpectedly – maybe it was just an off-​night.
I’m glad I had the opportunity to try the best lasagna in New York, but I’m even happier I get to tell Nonna she’s as good as any award-​winning chef (which, by the way, is a huge compliment to the actual chef). ;)

Ambiance: Comfortable carefully designed, slightly contrived, modern setting interrupted by views of the busy 7Th ave traffic through the open drapes.
Service: Friendly, but generally ineffective, because of a lack of training
Cuisine: Reads well on the menu, but in reality executes as interesting, but not overwhelming «finger food»; zuppe de pesce had 3 cockles that weren’t worth the effort, one good shrimp and some other seafood in a bland saffron broth that didn’t seem to bring the dish together. lasagna verde, one of their signature dishes was OK, but not memorable… hamachi appetizer was fresh and tasty, but can be easily matched in your Japanese neighborhood sushi joint. desserts were sweet and forgettable. not really a bad restaurant, but there are too many better places in NYC… will not return because of a cost /​quality mismatch

sfoglia, you have competition.
whilst sfoglia is rustic and hearty, insieme is modern and minimalist.
but both delivers amazing italian food.
i like the décor.
very modern and clean.
the crowd, for lunch on a monday, was mainly business people with the occasional tourist.
service was attentive.
the menu was simple (not).
on the left was old school italian and the right side was new school versions.
to my surprise, i chose 2 dishes from old school and 1 from new school.
to start, i had Vitello Tonnato, top round of veal topped with sicilian tuna sauce, capers, celery and grated orange zest and herb.
it didnt look that appealing but once it reaches your mouth, your taste buds will be dancing!
there is a reason why this is one of THE classic summer dishes.
very nice indeed.
for primi, i had Lasagna Verde Bolognese (must try according to some sources).
i am not a huge lasagne fan but this was good.
the spinach pasta layers were perfectly cooked, with the spinach subtlely enhancing the flavours.
the amount of ground beef was also in the right portion.
i would however prefer more cheese in my lasagne.
the finale…
also my only new school choice.
it was lamb tenderloin cooked medium rare, caramelised short rib, morels stuffed with lamb sausage meat and accompanying greens that added nice colour to the dish.
the flavours were awesome!
everything was perfect.
but special mention must be given to the morels.
it was bursting with flavours as soon as you take that bite.
please do yourself a favour by ordering this dish, if you choose to go to insieme.
i am not a great dessert fan and nothing caught my eye, new school nor old school.
so i asked for an affogato.
the waiter took my order as if he knew what i wanted.
but when a bowl of 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso came, i knew he didnt.
he also asked me if that was what i wanted then.
then he proceeded to tell me that he had actually asked the kitchen what it was that i wanted.
well, all i wanted was a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with a shot of espresso.:)
nonetheless, it did not spoil my lunch.
btw, there isnt a waiting list to get into insieme yet, so do go check them out before that happens.