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“Gusto”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Italian	West Village	Moderate	Great

our months, but last week, we did. We wanted John to join us, but since he was in the throes of opening Waverly we knew he wouldn’t be able to join. We decided we’d visit Amanda on our own, and make a separate trip to see John.

So last week, after manicures and pedicures at Janna (some times I love being a girl), Jamie and I walked down the block to Gusto where we were seated in a cozy corner banquette by the bay window. The tables up by the windows afford sweeping views of the dining room, which is one the city’s most glamorous Italian restaurants. It is washed in black and white, a Fellini-esque palate interrupted only by the twinkle of a grand old Art Deco chandelier that casts a sexy pale over the room. Forget ubiquitous rusticity, this place is sleek—like a long, soft velvet glove pulled tight over a slender pale hand, all the way up to the elbow.

To match the décor, the crowd is divided between tables of chic women and seriously stylish boys who all appear to cleanse, exfoliate, tone, moisturize, rinse, and repeat, at least two times daily.

As we took in the scene, we took a look at the wine list. It took us no time to pick a wine once we found a Rosso di Montefalco on the list, a wine we fell in love with while traveling through Umbria this October. But the menu took a bit more attention since it’s one of those that makes you want to order everything.

We started with a few antipasti, including wafer-thin foccacia made in house and topped with sheer slices of apple with gorgonzola and bitter honey that brought me close to heaven with its hot crispy crust, tart apples, ripe cheese, and warm sticky honey. I could eat that every day. Even twice a day. Ditto a fresh salad of blood oranges, fennel and arugula that packs a juicy punch of Vitamin C with its fresh sweet-tart citrus.

In classic Italian form, the menu moves on to pastas and then secondi, and we followed the menu’s direction and went for a couple of pastas, most of which Amanda makes in house. The pappardelle had that texture I remember from Italy; there’s a sort of delicate nutty chewiness to it that lets you know someone’s floured fingers have kneaded that dough, rolled it out, passed it though a pasta machine a few times and cut it by hand. The braised oxtail ragout tops a tangle of those fresh egg noodles with a dollop of fresh ricotta and herbs, and the gnocchi ($19), also ma ... [more, click below]

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Posted: February 5, 2007

Other restaurants in West Village :
+ Jefferson-- Closed   + La Palapa Rockola   + Sumile   + Babbo   + Tasca   + AOC Bedford   + Home   + The Spotted Pig   + Barbuto   + Numero 26   + Mas   + August   + Alta   + Cru   + Blue Mill Tavern-- Closed   + Employees Only   + Lassi   + Metropol--Closed   + Turks and Frogs   + Bellavitae   + Yumcha-- CLOSED   + Gusto: SEE EARLIER REVIEW; THIS CHEF HAS LEFT GUSTO   + Perry Street   + Home   + Ditch Plains   + The Little Owl   + Cafe Condesa   + Cafe Cluny   + Gusto   + The Waverly Inn   + Morandi   + P*ONG   + Perilla   + Soto   + Market Table   + Centro Vinoteca   + Barfry   + Dell'Anima   + Bar Blanc   + Smith's   + Commerce   + Elettaria   + Bar Q   + Cabrito   + 10 Downing   + Minetta Tavern   + Braeburn   + Scuderia, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Bar Blanc Bistro by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Joseph Leonard   + Bar Henry, by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Kin Shop   + Monument Lane   + Wong   + Bin on Bleecker, by Dara Pollak   + Ristorante Rafele   + Cole's Greenwich Village by Guest Reviewer Claire Jaffe   

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