When it’s a freezing cold day and you are showing your shivering friends around Washington Square Park, you have to make it up to them by taking them to a cute restaurant. I’m not an NYU student so that area of the city is not my forte, but with my trusty yelp app I could pretend that I knew where I was going. From the outside La Lanterna di Vittorio looks like any other bog-standard Italian restaurant, and to be honest even as you walk in the decor reaffirms this image; dark wood, exposed brick and red seating. But there are two USPs for La Lanterna. Firstly, their outside (but still kinda inside) garden. If you go, definitely try to get a table here! It is a covered space but the expansive greenery feels like you’re outdoors. There’s a cute fireplace/waterfall in the corner, but the thing that stands out the most are the large lanterns/lampshades that gives La Lanterna its name. 

The second great thing about La Lanterna is downstairs. Once you get past thinking you’re going to fall flat on your face going down their tight steep stairs you are welcomed into their bar area by live jazz music. They have regular live jazz session and the cover charge is quite reasonable, and with snug seating and lots of candles it is quite the romantic place. 

As for the food, while it was hard to tackle the extensive menu (which I’m undecided about whether this is a sign of a good restaurant or not), my friends and I all settled on the lasagne. I had the Lasgana al Pesto which was actually one of the best lasagnes I have had. As a vegetarian it is hard to find a good lasagne or at least one that isn’t filled with every kind of vegetable under the sun. So, for a lasagne with nothing but pesto I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. 

This place definitely has a calm, summer buzz and that combined with the decor, food and music makes La Lanterna di Vittorio somewhere that I will definitely be visiting again! 

Where: 129 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012