Otto occupies a busy stretch of Karangahape Road, where it carries on the story of Cotto, the much loved pasta restaurant on the same site that closed suddenly late in 2023. Early in 2024 a team that included members of the original crew reopened it under a slightly shortened name, keeping the space, much of the menu and many familiar faces. Otto calls its cooking Italian inspired with a modern touch, putting seasonal New Zealand produce through Italian technique with handmade pasta at the centre of everything. The dining room has a lively, slightly funky energy, with local art on the walls, plenty of conversation and no shortage of negronis, and it suits a quick bowl of pasta as readily as a long dinner with friends.
Dishes come in a sharing style, climbing from snacks towards heartier plates. Lighter dishes might include potato pizza fritta with puttanesca, focaccia with broad beans and verjuice, chickpea and parmesan chips with feta and oregano, zucchini fritti with lemon and farinata topped with roasted asparagus, while a cucumber salad with chilli, mint and almonds adds freshness. Next come lamb ribs glazed with honey and balsamic, pork belly with eggplant caponata, burrata with salsa rossa and capsicum, and arancini filled with zucchini, smoked mozzarella and pistachio. The spinach and goat cheese dumplings in sage butter were on the table when the restaurant reopened in 2024, and they are still on the menu today.
Every pasta is shaped by hand daily, while the filled shapes change with the seasons. Recent choices have included fazzoletti with basil and pine nut pesto, spaghetti alla chitarra with cherry tomatoes and stracciatella, maltagliati with a lamb shoulder and nduja ragu finished with salted ricotta, and ricotta gnocchi with peas, asparagus, mint and prosciutto. A beef short rib lasagne with spinach and a parmesan crisp, tortelli caprese with mozzarella, basil and semi dried tomato butter, and a risotto of watercress, rocket and walnut with stracchino round out the larger plates. Desserts keep an Italian accent with a tiramisu semifreddo, affogato made with hokey pokey ice cream, a fig leaf mascarpone panna cotta with rhubarb, chocolate nemesis with salted caramel and a rotating sorbet.
Each dish is coded for dairy, eggs, gluten and nuts, with vegan dishes marked and asterisks showing where an ingredient can be left out, which makes ordering around dietary needs straightforward. Otto holds a full licence and also pours a broad range of drinks without alcohol. Groups can settle into a shared set menu that moves through focaccia, burrata, lamb ribs and several pastas to a choice of beef short rib or pork belly, with desserts as an option. Three private rooms sit apart from the main restaurant with their own entrance: an underground space taking the whole basement, complete with its own bar, stage and sound system, an upstairs room looking out over the motorway and the pink cycle path, and a smaller room overlooking Karangahape Road for business dinners and celebrations.
Address: 375 Karangahape Road, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
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