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2009-05-10
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Trying new places has an adventage -- you get to try the new things in a new location. Everything is so bright and shiny, and everyone is beaming with enthusiasm and anticipation that things will be great. "GUSTO", is one of these places. Located in a brand new upstairs space in a brand new commerical building in Central, this Italian import's first Outside-of-Italy outlet is here to impress with Italian fare. "Gusto", in Italian literally meaning "To taste and savour", spells comfort dining at
Pasticceria Garden, the company which opened Gusto, prides itself over production of artisan cakes, pastries, candies and chocolates. Gusto is continuing its legacy and this is why I'm writing this in two parts -- The appetizers and main courses in part one, and the pastries and desserts for part two. Is it good enough to worth the two-review arc? You bet! Read on.
The lunch covers an appetizer and dessert buffet including one main course of pasta ($170 total), or meat ($200). The appetizers change every day and so do the desserts. Dinners are a la carte and the menu in the soft opening is limited but the repertoire will be expanded by the time everything gets up and running. For our mains, we chose a Pizza Posciutto di Parma e Rucola (Pizza with Prosciutto and Rocket), and Spaghettoni al nero con seppionline e zest d'agrumi ( Squid Ink Spaghetti with calamari and lemon zest).
Let's talk appetizers, you'll see a selection of everything you read from a standard Italian cookbook -- crostini, grilled vegetables, cold meats, carpaccio, and cold pasta. The Three Crostini are astoundingly light but impressively good. The Smoked salmon and celery crostini features green crispy celery dices matched perfectly with the rich taste of smoked salmon, while Air-dried beef and basil has a delicate lone spot of frizzled basil leaf leaning against the beef which melts in the mouth. Raspberry and Ham, a rather later discovery, is adventurous to taste the astringent tartness of the raspberry before relaxing the mellowness of the ham atop a round of Italian bread. The House-made Pasta salad and the bean salads are two things that feels satisfactorily homespun but nonetheless inspiring to find itself on the buffet table.
A strangely pale triangle caught my eye, after some extensive investigation, turned out it's creamy ground chicken wrapped in leeks. It tasted way better than it sounded, and trust me, it bears no resemblance of baby food. Grilled vegetables are must-have in antipasti, this plate consists of mushrooms, bell peppers, eggplants, and surprisingly, fennel bulbs. The grill-marks are prominent but I would prefer the fennel to be more cooked, despite the pleasant anise-flavour through crispy bites of it. Smoked Salmon are served in silvers, upon some further marinating in fresh lemon upon the smoking process, yielding a softer texture and better flavours to an otherwise simple appetizer.
The cold meats (salami and hams) are fanned out nicely while Carpaccio of Beef takes on a different appearance at all -- This one is cooked, as brown round slices of beef arranged nicely on a platter and were topped with chopped radicchio and red wine. Don't be alarmed by the appearance, it's not the overcooked sort, in fact it's quite the opposite. I found them pleasing with a decided tang from the wine and fresh crunch from the radicchio, a vegetable very much underrated these days.
The best appetizer on the table (and not surprisingly the best looking) is the Risotto Balls. They are not Arancini, because they are not fried. Instead, risotto was made, and let cooled, then formed into balls with a mixture of fennel bulb chopped fine, together with yellow courgettes, bits of orange and shrimps to make these dainty globes of wonders. One bite into these starchy delights will get you the burst of tastes not overcome by spices and herbs, but a mixture of clean (and raw) flavours played out with nothing more than freshness itself.
Strolling by the pastry station, I've had my eyes on the 'pepper pie' croissant, which was buttery and rich made with pink peppercorns blended into the dough, and sandwiching cream cheese as a savoury tidbit outside of the fancy bread basket which featured three kinds of house-made bread.
The mains arrived promptly. For the spaghettoni, you'll see on the picture here. Solid black thick strands of pasta handmade the night before (it's standard procedure, to let handmade pasta to let it dry overnight), and were cooked until al dente, served with dainty white rings of calamari. Presented in two separate plates, I fainly remembered we were asked whether we would be sharing the main course earlier, and the chef has considered our answer and split one plate into two separate orders. Now how's this for special attention? Each swivel of spaghettoni reminded of a welcoming tide of ocean freshness bombarding between my palates, with the calamari done just right and the aroma of lemon giving it an earth-element of lightness.
The pizza with prosciutto and rocket is a large round disc of thin crust pizza, smothered with a promising (but not exaggerated) layer of cheese and tomatoes. Thin sahvings of Prosciutto atop each slice, accompanied by fresh frilly pile of rocket leaves. The crust was thin and crispy, but the filling was a decided contrast as soft and flavorful. The good quality prosciutto has a fair taste of fat without a guilt-inducing cloyness lingering behind. One bite into the rocket yields a fresh crispy accompanyment, and for me, it does more, as it cleanses the palate for the next bite into the pizza.
Splitting the two mains between the two of us maybe a little bit too much, but as we languorously nibbled on each cheesy morsel after another, we found ourselves tempted into the downward spiral of decadent culinary heaven, in a meal that the service was prompt but not contrived. And at a time when you have questions to ask regarding the food, the choices, or anything, the staff are knowledgable to inform you on the spot.
So far the food has been fantastic as I found myself enjoying the experience with less than a need of theatrics, only be patted slowly and gently in the cradle of good food and enjoyable ambience. Finishing the last nibble on the pizza, I realized that the pastries are about to stir up some bigger storm of attention as my anticipation grew stronger like a call from nature. That, will be continued on the next review. For the most part it's been fantastic, and when I walked out of the restaurant after desserts, I had a "5" floating up as the idea of a review came to mind.
To be continued...
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