Why this Italian restaurant is a go-to for celebrities like Lenny Kravitz and Rihanna

• Emilio's Ballato, originally founded in 1956, has long been a popular spot among celebrities for Italian American food in NYC.
• The no-reservations restaurant is known for its traditional take on Italian classics like tagliatelle alla Bolognese.
• As one of the best sellers on the menu, chefs must slow cook 100-pound batches of Bolognese every three days.
• Insider visited Emilio's Ballato in December 2019. Please call (212) 274-8881 for the latest updates on takeout and delivery options.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Taryn Varricchio: Amid New York's ever-growing restaurant scene is one of the city's most trusted havens for Italian American food. It's known for its tagliatelle alla Bolognese, but arguably just as much for its roster of celebrity customers. And the man standing beside them in photos? That's Emilio. This is Emilio's Ballato, and it's been serving some of New York's most sought-after Italian food since 1956.

Customer: It's not only the best restaurant that I know, it's the best restaurant in New York City. And it's a hell of a hard place to get into in the evenings.

Taryn: We're in Nolita today, and we're heading to Emilio's Ballato. To be honest, we found out about this place from Instagram and all of the celebrity photos at the restaurant. So, we're heading in to find out, basically, for celebrities that can get a table anywhere in the city, why are they coming here? Let's go in.

The menu at Emilio's Ballato is simple. It's focused on Italian American classics that executive chef Anthony Vitolo and his brothers learned from their father.

Anthony Vitolo: My father started the restaurant. So, our meals together were our love, you know? 'Cause he was always working. So being here was the love. This place became our home.

Taryn: That love has translated into many customers' cherished dishes, like Ballato's best seller, tagliatelle alla Bolognese. It starts with a blend of pork and beef, typically cooked in 100-pound batches, which last roughly three days.

Anthony: And next goes in the tomato paste. That'll cook down a little bit, and then I hit it with white wine. That has to cook down.

Taryn: And then Anthony finally adds in a secret white sauce, mixing it all thoroughly with a wooden spatula. But it's not ready until six hours later, when the Bolognese has finished slow cooking on the stove. And with cheese imported from Italy, the shaved Parmesan is the final cue that the dish is ready.

I'm nervous. Feeling anxious, 'cause I've been awaiting this moment. It's, like, uncomparable for many, many Bolognese that I've had. A lot have been too thick and too heavy, but this cooks for six hours, is what Anthony was telling us, so, after that time, what looked to be like it was gonna be a really creamy sauce ends up just absorbing. And so you don't get a heavy, saucy dish. You get, like, really just that meat and that fresh pasta.

Customer: Amazing. She wanted my entrée, and I wanted hers.

Customer: So we ate each other's food the whole time.

Customer: We shared the whole thing. It was both, I mean, there was no, like, perfect thing. It was all wonderful.

Taryn: Since opening its doors in 1956, Ballato's has been a familiar place for high-profile people, like Andy Warhol, who's displayed front and center on the menu. But the restaurant isn't what you imagine a typical celeb hangout to be. It's small, homely, unassuming, with only 10 tables packed together in its front room. It doesn't isolate the famous, but rather seats celebrities and regular customers among one another and accepts customers, regardless of fame, on a strictly walk-in basis. And yet there's a reason one of Ballato's most loyal regulars, Lenny Kravitz, has been coming for over 20 years.

Anthony: He's all love. Lenny's all love. So, he spreads the word. His daughter has been coming here since she was, like, 7, 8 years.

Taryn: What is Lenny Kravitz's favorite meal? Do you know?

Anthony: Lenny Kravitz loves the rigatoni zucchini.

Customer: You know, it's very simple. This is the restaurant where people who own Italian restaurants come to eat. I bring everybody here. Everybody's like, "Oh I wanna go here, I wanna go...." No. There's only one place to go if you want Italian food.