Truffles a la mode

Some of the best reporting in the NYT has been the micro-histories by life-style reporters. Today’s story about the upper East Side restaurant Sette Mezzo is another great snapshot. The restaurant, which serves $40 for pasta and $30 for salad and water, is the family canteen for the likes of Si and Donald Newhouse, Tom Tisch, Jonathan Tisch, William Lauder, Saul Steinberg, George Soros, Lily Safra, Leon Black, Michael Schulhof, Mike Nichols, Donald Marron. Cash only. (Or you can throw it on your monthly tab.)

Even here, though, the recession’s cool breeze is blowing.

starting in November, when fresh black truffles arrive, they can be added to any item at $50 for the first flurry of shavings (subsequent shavings are discounted). White truffles bring any entree price up to $200. “I always cover the top,” Mr. Mania said, adding that at a certain other Italian restaurant, “they give you three slices.”

Not that there have been many takers lately. “Nobody ordered truffles this year,” Mr. Esposito added. “It must be the economy.”