Gusto Italiano, a long-time Italian favorite on the Glenview scene, has moved to new digs and the change seems to have inspired the kitchen.
Maybe it’s having more room to breathe, or the appealing redo of the old Orange space, but the restaurant was packed on a recent snowy weeknight.
A beautiful dark wood bar has pride of place in one dining room, lined with gleaming bottles and glassware. The bartender certainly seemed to know what he was doing when he crafted the lovely, dry Ruby Red ($8), a martini that relied heavily on Absolut Grapefruit and fresh grapefruit juice. The Cucumber Collins ($10) was a tad sweet for my taste and would have benefited from more lime and less simple syrup. Happily, the delicious house-made garlic rolls, brought warm from the oven, absorbed all of the alcohol.
We split a few appetizers—you don’t need much, since the entrees come with your choice of soup or salad—and there’s a nice mix of antipasti to choose from. Vegetarians will approve of the Portobello D’Ischia ($9.95), which is gluten-free to boot. The giant fungi is stuffed with whipped potatoes, roasted eggplant and garlic, browned in the oven and served with pesto and roasted veggies. Surprisingly on the bland side, but filling.
A plate of Gnocchi ($13.95) was ordered for the table, and they were unlike any “gnocchi” I have had before. Instead of flour- or potato-based dumplings, these were packages of thin noodle stuffed with ricotta and Asiago filling, like very plump ravioli without the edge. They floated in a pool of tomato cream sauce that reminded me of Campbell’s Tomato Bisque. I imagine that the dish is a big hit with kids, especially.
The Minestrone soup included with the meal was flavorful, brothy and filled with veggies. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t dwell on the salad dressings, because to my surprise, they were outstanding. I’m (almost) embarrassed to admit that I ate some of the creamy garlic dressing with a spoon after finishing my salad. The Italian was equally yummy.
Entrée portion sizes here are generous, especially given the pricing. An enormous bowl of Gamberi and Rapini pasta ($19.95) featured six plump shrimp sautéed with garlic and olive oil, tossed with broccoli rabe (I love its bitterness), oven-dried tomatoes and angel-hair pasta. The rim of the plate was sprinkled with chopped parsley, and the dish was both colorful and tasty.
Our favorite vegetarian ordered the highly touted (“voted #1 by the Chicago Tribune”) Eggplant Parmigiana ($13.95, pictured above), a massive serving of thinly sliced, breaded and fried eggplant layered with the house marinara, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, accompanied by an equally enormous mound of spaghetti marinara. It could have easily served two people.
Boneless Chicken Marsala ($15.95), served with a side of pasta, passed muster, as did the Vitello Sassi ($22.95, pictured right), tender veal scallopine sautéed with artichokes, herbs, mushrooms and spinach in white wine sauce and served with your choice of roasted or mashed potato or pasta.
Save room for the Cheesecake Mousse ($6), all the flavor of cheesecake but much lighter. Served “up” in a martini glass with graham cracker crumbs and a berry sauce, it was gone in a flash. We also enjoyed the Molten Chocolate Cake ($8), which arrived with a large scoop of refreshing raspberry sorbet.
Gusto Italiano has invested in a beautiful new wood-burning pizza oven that they imported from Italy. They hope to have that up and running by next month—they are waiting on approval from the city before they can operate it. Apparently it’s a complicated venting system. The arrival of real Italian-style pizza in Glenview is sure to generate lots of buzz.
3 out of 5 stars (B)
Gusto Italiano
1834 Glenview Rd.
Glenview
847-729-5444
