Restaurant Review: Gaetana’s
Nestled in the West Village you will find a little piece of Italy called Gaetana’s. The best way to describe it would be a more sophisticated Italian dive bar (with a full-service restaurant!), but it is truly a local favorite. The second you walk through the door you’re greeted by Frankie, the owner, a short, round, balding man with the biggest hugs and even bigger personality.
The atmosphere is comfortable: family pictures on the walls (including his grandparent’s wedding photo that proudly hangs above the bar next to a massive Italian flag), candles lit and the tables elegantly covered for those who are there to dine more than drink. If seated at the bar, don’t think you’ll be hiding from Frankie - He personally makes sure every single visitor feels like a guest in his own home and Diggs, the barkeep, has become probably one of my favorite people to pour me a glass of wine in this city. Great conversationalist.
We were given a cheese/olive plate on-the-house to compliment our glasses of the house red and ordered the Spinach Salad with bacon, mushrooms and red onions in a lemon mustard/olive oil dressing. I guess Frankie didn’t like to see two young girls “starving on only salads” and brought out a sausage plate with more of their amazing focaccia bread served on a peppers/onion sauce that was a bit too oily for me but still packed with flavor.
We topped it off with a very light but tasty Tiramisu.
Being an American-Italian and raised in a very traditional Italian home, going out for Italian is very rare but Gaetana’s encompasses a little piece of home that’s both comforting and delicious. The prices are decent, the food (although nothing beats nonna’s) is scrumptious and the wine is always flowing… it might have flowed a little too much near the end for me!
Next time I’m being a fatty and going for the Eggplant Rollatini and Pumpkin Ravioli.
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