Hundred-year-old Roman cooking meets New York indulgence in midtown.
Alfredo 100 (7 E. 54th St.) claims to serve the oldest, most authentic fettucine alfredo in New York City — if not the world.
With a recipe passed down from the patron saint and founder of the dish, Alfredo Di Lelio, this midtown restaurant serves up a centenarian fettucine alfredo made tableside.
Part performance, part pasta indulgence, any gluten- and lactose-intolerant invididual should not pass up this dish.
Developed in Rome in 1914, the original fettuccine all’Alfredo uses no cream at all (that doesn’t mean it’s not hugely rich!), unlike future renditions of Di Lelio’s creation.
Instead, homemade fettuccine pasta is tossed into a butter and cheese sauce and then twirled to order just before serving. More reminiscent of a certain elbow pasta dish with elastic strings of cheese in each bite, it’s no wonder the recipe has been popularized with the American palate.
To add some glitz to the cheesy dish, Alfredo 100 serves a table’s guest of honor, perhaps the prettiest person in the party, with a golden fork and spoon, inspired by gifts to Di Lelio by 1920s Hollywood stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.
Alfredo 100, formerly known as Alfredo of Rome, brought the classic recipe to New York City in 1977.
Following a move to Rockefeller Center in 2014, the restaurant adapted its name to celebrate the centenarian heritage of its famous dish.
Le fettuccine originali is served in a variety of menu renditions. The $24 Classiche features your basic but oh-so-cheesey butter and parmesan emulsion. Up the anty to include Porcini mushrooms and fried artichokes, organic free-range chicken breast, large Atlantic shrimps or a grilled two-pound New England blue lobster with herb butter.
When it comes to fettucine, Alfredo 100 is not messing around.
