BABs, the second restaurant of the Nina Compton group, is a cute place located adjacent to NOCCA in the Bywater. While the Bywater neighborhood is a favorite of mine for driving through, we don’t spend much time there in the many restaurants. I’m just not that hip. BABs and Brats Ya’ll are the only exceptions to that, and we don’t even go there much.
I was recently drawn back to BABs for their Pasta Party, which is each Thursday night right now. Three or four choices of housemade pasta are offered for $15 each. As much as I try not to eat pasta, I love it, and we had to go.
The first thing I remembered when we pulled up to BABs is something I had forgotten. BABs is not for us in our current state. There are no handicapped parking spaces, and you have to essentially enter through a switchback.
Cars are parked right up to a short wall, and it is necessary to practically go into the street to begin the switchback. You then have to walk one way about 50 ft. on the first switchback and turn to walk the other way about 30 ft. before reaching the front door.
We didn’t make it past the beginning, so I went in to order. I almost aborted the whole idea, but I’m so glad I didn’t. These people are very nice. I remembered that from last time we were there. I felt comfortable asking the hostess to deliver it over the switchback railing when it was time to pick it up. She gladly obliged.
There were four choices that evening. Tom would not have passed on the Goat Bolognese, but I did. We had the Farfalle with Mushroom Crema, basic Spaghetti with sausage and peppers (though there was nothing basic about this), and Pizaeri Carbonara with Yolk Jam and Pork Belly.
Let me just say that the paper boxes did not do these creations justice. The first one we tried was the Farfalle, which underwhelmed me. The pasta was too al dente for my taste, which did not surprise me at all. This whole dish fell flat, and I was sad about having all this pasta.
The next bite was from the box with the spaghetti, and this one absolutely thrilled me. The flavors that jumped from this box of basic sausage and peppers were intoxicating. I couldn’t stop eating this and I didn’t want to share it. (I did, so that you know.) The spaghetti was crinkly but perfect, and the bits of sausage and peppers throughout combined for a spectacular mouthful of flavor. I am still thinking about this pasta dish and will make a point of having it again.
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Words cannot do justice to the richness and lusciousness of the Carbonara. I was highly suspicious of it on sight, and slightly annoyed by the small portion. Then I took a bite and understood why. It was kind of them to save us from ourselves. The intense creaminess and obscene richness of the yolk Carbonara was slightly mitigated by a dusting of buttery breadcrumbs, but this was too divine to stop eating. Too much of this would make the tummy ache, so the small portion works. The pizaeri pasta initially reminded me of gnocchi, and its girth was essential for this sauce. Fabulous in every way.
We will definitely return to have more of these pasta creations. This promotion worked on us exactly as intended. It brought us back to BABs, and we’ll return soon.
