Pasta, Oh Pasta

Cipriani

In Italy, pasta was the great equalizer. Flour, water, maybe an egg if Momma Mia was feeling generous. It was food for everyone. Somewhere along the line, however, pasta took a hard left turn into luxury cosplay, emerging from the kitchen wearing truffle oil, a designer price tag, and an unearned sense of self-importance. Frankly, Its boiled over. Today, it’s not uncommon to see a bowl of pasta cresting $40, $50, even $60, all while fundamentally remaining… flour, water and that occasional egg.

Take Carbone, the undisputed patron saint of expensive red sauce. The place you can’t get into no matter the cost of a noodle. The Spicy Rigatoni Vodka (delicious, yes) rings in around $34 before tax and tip. Is it good? Absolutely. Is it $34 good? That depends on whether nostalgia, celebrity sightings, and a heavy hand with Calabrian chili count as billable ingredients.

Carbone

Then there’s Cipriani, where pasta arrives dressed like it just stepped off a yacht in Portofino. The famed Tagliolini al Prosciutto e Parmigiano hovers near $42. The sauce is butter. The cheese is Parmesan. The experience? Last time I overindulged, the waiter literally dropped the plate on the table and walked away.

Lilia

Brooklyn’s Lilia offers handmade pasta so revered it requires a reservation strategy usually associated with Taylor Swift tickets. Prices flirt with the high $30s. To be fair, the pasta is excellent, certainly artesian, but at that price point, one expects a personal backstory from the wheat.

And let’s not forget Nobu. Well, let’s do forget Nobu. Those aren’t pasta noodles. They’re Asian ribbons used to coat your Saki filled stomach

What are we really paying for? It’s not the cost of ingredients since semolina remains stubbornly affordable. It’s ambiance, exclusivity, narrative. It’s the illusion that this pasta is different from the one you could make at home with a YouTube video and a glass of wine. Try it.

And while there’s nothing wrong with indulgence, sometimes you want the room, the scene and Gino the waiter to say “Buon appetito” like it’s a blessing. But let’s be honest: when pasta costs as much as a decent steak, you’re not eating dinner, you’re buying the story they want you to taste. Next time, order the chicken.