#PeachysPicks #IlGattopardo @IlGattopardoNYC #GianfrancoSorrentino #PaulaBollaSorrentino #VitoGnazzo #PeachyDeegan A Peachy's Pick Since 2011, Il Gattopardo Spring 2021 #FineDining #Manhattan
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Stanley Cup Playoffs! (If you think we write on restaurants a lot, check out our 1,100 posts in NHL Peachy.) And in your jovial celebratory mood, you would be remiss to dismiss your hunger with cuisine that does not reach the high caliber of the Lobster Ravioli at Il Gattopardo! We are delighted to return to this authentically Italian favorite in midtown and it has been far too long. Everyone has been vaccinated here.
Il Gattopardo was last featured in 2018:
https://www.whomyouknow.com/2018/02/a-peachys-pick-since-2011-il-gattopardo.html#.YLpX-KhKg2w
Finally, no meal is ever complete with a salad. Avid readers know that Peachy is from the great state of Connecticut and there when she was growing up, you automatically got a salad with your dinner at all restaurants. This is not the case in Manhattan so we require it! Plus you all want to live a long healthy life and Vito's colorful, nutritious creation contributes to that goal. The crispy salad is a symphony of freshness with seasonal radicchio, frisee, fennel, rainbow carrots, radishes and classic red wine vinegar and olive oil. You can trust them to apply the salad dressing correctly, a rare feat among their competitors.
The LOBSTER RAVIOLI should be a major priority in your life. In fact, whoever wins The Stanley Cup this year should have this flown into them so they can eat it out of The Stanley Cup.
Here it is from the side.
A newcomer to the menu is Sardinian fregola risotto-style with asparagus tips and scallops flown in from Maine twice a week add up to a unique combination that you won't find anywhere else. The 2-3 millimeter semolina dough pasta is flown in from Italy! Sometimes restaurants have a dish just because it's different or trendy, which we roll our eyes at. Il Gattopardo only does a dish in this manner when it is not only different and trendy but also EXCELLENT and BETTER. You know we preach the gospel of Ever to Excel and sadly, this column has shrunk because of the poor political choices of New York leaders but the best are surviving and will ultimately thrive. (Vote for a PRO-BUSINESS mayor please.)
For the main course, we always feature both a fish and a meat.
Avid, loyal readers know that we have been recommending Il Gattopardo since 2011:
Back then, it was in the Mozzarella e Vino space; get excited because that is now being renovated and will reopen this December and we can't wait.
Il Gattopardo is among the elite group of independent restaurant owners who are dedicated to bringing Manhattan back and you absolutely should visit them now. It is buzzing with the most brilliant dealmakers in the city concurrently bringing it back with business acumen that can only be found in Manhattan. In fact, we might even tell you about them soon.
We wrote on their other restaurant, The Leopard at Des Artistes, earlier this year:
It goes without saying that their wine list is among the very best and you will be faced with the most pleasant decisions of your week when you open it up. Our favorite appetizer, above, is the Pan-Seared smoked buffalo mozzarella from Cilento in a light tomato sauce and basil. We reveled in the delicious simplicity elevated to a taste level that only Executive Chef and Owner Vito Gnazzo is capable of. The smoky quality was not overbearing and not too light for Goldilocks Peachy who likes everything JUST RIGHT.
Below, meet a more creative entry: Timballo of eggplant and caciocavallo Silano served with heirloom cherry tomatoes. It boasts a distinguished texture and the fragrance of superb Italian gastronomy will make you feel as if you are a valued guest in Il Gattopardo's virtual vegetable garden that arrives in style on your plate.
Here is a close up.
Only on Whom You Know will you find Lobster Ravioli glamour shots!
In addition to of course lobster, the ravioli is filled with perfectly braised artichokes and arrives graciously in its own sauce with leeks. Delicate, ultimately fresh, and even better when you add the chili flakes for an added kick, the Lobster Ravioli is the best trip to the beach you can take in a pasta dish in Manhattan right now.
Yes, your dinner arrives hot.
The broiled red snapper waltzes in fragrant lemon and olive oil enhancing all its natural flavor and edible beauty. Asparagus tips, Castelvetrano olives and caper berries also come to the party on a plate. For the carnivorous, Pan-seared veal tenderloin is extraordinary in depth of flavor with white wine, fresh thyme and veal broth, and is served with fava beans and artichokes. Of course when you cut it open, it is also perfection because you are at Il Gattopardo and Vito is among the best. Also everyone knows that Elon Musk was the best thing that ever happened to Saturday Night Live in so many years we can't count that high; guess where he ate his dinner with Grimes, yes Il Gattopardo. They had gnocchi, steak and barolo.
Delizia al limone by Vito, above, is the embodiment of decadence and perfect for a hot day like today. Delicate sponge cake soaked in Limoncello Amalfitano with white chocolate curls is only available at the West 54th Street version of heaven; we highly encourage you to read the rich history below of this venue.
Il Gattopardo continues to be Highly Recommended by Whom You Know.
IL GATTOPARDO at The Rockefeller Townhouses!
Built in 1896 for William Murray by architect Henry Hardenbergh (Dakota Building, Waldorf and the Astoria Hotels, The Plaza Hotel among many others) on “Millionaire’s Row” in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the buildings are now a Nationally Registered Historic Place. Known by their most famous owners, the Rockefeller Family, who called it their home and office on and off for nearly forty years, the Renaissance-inspired style houses were later renovated by Nelson, the son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to host the Museum of Primitive Art which open in 1957. A passageway was carved into the rear of No. 13, connecting it to No. 22 West 55th Street where Nelson, at this point Governor of New York, maintained offices. It was in No. 13, in 1979, that Nelson Rockefeller died of a heart attack. Shortly after Rockefeller’s death, both houses were sold, Rockefeller’s Museum of Primitive art was closed in 1976 and its collection transferred to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today the homes house offices and Il Gattopardo Restaurant, their charming outward appearances essentially unchanged since their completion in 1897.
We also hope to have the pleasure of your company at THE LEOPARD AT DES ARTISTES - our Upper West Side location - in one of the most iconic landmark spaces in New York City, the Hotel des Artistes, 1 W 67th Street
(at Central Park West) www.the leopardnyc.com
