Travel + Leisure: Mani Osteria makes list of 20 best Italian restaurants in America; Mario Batali loves it too

By Jessica Webster Community Content Coordinator

Posted on Tue, Aug 28, 2012 : 5:53 a.m.

A pizza comes out of the oven at Mani Osteria in Ann Arbor.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The accolades keep coming. On the heels of being named the 10th best college town in the country and the seventh best small city for successful aging, Ann Arbor can now brag that we've got one of the 20 best Italian restaurants in America, at least according to the September issue of Travel + Leisure magazine.

Open just since last spring, Mani Osteria is a relative newcomer on the Ann Arbor restaurant scene, but it has already made a big splash nationally. Detroit Free Press critic Sylvia Rector named it one of the10 best new Metro Detroit restaurants, and Food & Wine listed the Mani as one of the top new pizza restaurants in the world.

Mani Osteria's pizzas are the focus of Travel + Leisure's write-up as well. They mention the restaurant's new clam pizza and their use of "more nuanced ingredients like pickled chilies, garlic cream, mint, chili pesto, and black truffles."

You can see the full list on the Travel + Leisure site.

It turns out that celebrity chef Mario Batali is a fan too. He tweeted a photo from the restaurant on Saturday night, with the caption: "Loved Mani in Ann Arbor !!! Ribs w charred shishito. YUMASTE!!"

Mani Osteria is located at 341 E. Liberty St., at the corner of Division. For more, see the restaurant's website.