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“Gusto”


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

de in house and fashioned into light potato pillows, were just lovely, bedded with seasonal mushrooms in a sauce that was equal parts herbs, butter and mushroom jus.

The main courses, quite simply, rock. Something called uccelletti scappati ($22) was hands down the best pork dish I have had this year. (Okay, maybe tied with The Little Owl pork chop, but it’s different,) Amanda takes a pork loin and stuffs it with pig feet, almonds, grapes, artichokes and pecorino, and wraps it tight with pancetta. Then it gets seared and then roasted it so resembles a fat griddled sausage. Slice through the smoky, crisp pancetta wrapper, and you get the texture and flavor of that stuffing against the tender pork. It’s brilliant. For those of you who like a nice veal chop, there’s a beauty here, lemon-roasted and stuffed with herb ricotta cheese ($36). The scallops ($22) are also on the level of genius. The size of silver dollars, the scallops are plump and moist, seared to caramelized sweetness and plated with braised dandelion greens and topped with melted lardo that’s been pureed, and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and herbs. For the final touch, Amansa adds a hit of saba—a dark, sweet compote made from reduced grape must. I wanted to take a tub of this saba home with me. Next time, I’m coming with Tupperware.

As we decided on dessert, the door opened. We turned to see who was walking in, and low and behold, it was John. He’d been reviewed in the Times that day, and had just finished his night at The Waverly Inn and was coming over to visit with Amanda. And so at 11pm, a year after our original plan to visit Amanda in Brooklyn, Jamie, John and I finally had our night together. John ordered a glass of red and a bowl of house made tonnarelli with cacio e pepe ($16). Amanda brought it up from the kitchen, and it was all hot and creamy and twisted up with cacio. I wanted to ask for a bite, but I didn’t. We had eaten already, and he needed his nourishment after a long day in the trenches known as the kitchen. (He is looking for a sous chef.) While he had his pasta, Jamie and I worked on a few desserts—a dark chocolate torte with pine nuts that was sadly unimpressive, and a heavenly collection of ricotta fritters, light and airy pom poms dusted with cinnamon sugar that more than made up for the disappointing chocolate cake. The four of us toasted to the review, which was a tongue-in-cheek email f ... [more, click below]

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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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