La Devozione

If the thought of sitting through another predictable mid-range sushi omakase makes you feel bored, a visit to The Oval at La Devozione might be in order. This Chelsea Market pasta bar serves a pasta tasting menu that’s prepared inches away from where you sit. The experience, which runs $160 for a 7-course dinner tasting and $95 for a four-course lunch, is just as much entertainment as it is an exercise in consuming carbohydrates. Noodles are pulled steaming from vats of constantly-boiling water, sauced, and deposited on your plate moments later. All of the pasta is cooked perfectly, from the deceptively simple spaghetti with rich tomato basil sauce to a vermicelli prepared cacio e pepe-style. (This makes sense, given that the owners also run Pastifico di Martino, which has been making pasta since 1912.) If you don’t want to go all-in on a tasting, you can order à la carte in the more casual “A Tavola” section, or grab an order of spaghetti to go. After your meal, you can score a bag of one of the brand’s 126 unique shapes at The Pasta Shop and try to recreate your favorite dishes at home.