Review: Luca Osteria is the best birthday spot

What I ordered: My wife and I came here for my birthday last month and split three appetizers and one main.

• The star of the show was the patate fritte ($25): fried mashed potato scoops bathed in a cheese sauce and swirled with an egg yolk.
• These potato balls are surprisingly not too heavy. The trick is in the emulsified Parmesan fondue.
• The mortadella toast ($18) was a beautifully giant piece of bread from Sullivan Street Bakery with fig balsamic and pistachio.
• We finished it off with Pasta Alla Julia ($35), a gorgonzola, pear, honey and toasted walnut pasta.

With drinks and no dessert, it came out to under $150.