The Boston Phoenix
December 2 - 9, 1999

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Gusto

Exhibit A that Roslindale Square is the new South End

by Robert Nadeau

DINING OUT
Gusto
4174 Washington Street, Roslindale
(617) 363-9225
Open for dinner Tues-Sat, 5-10 p.m.
MC, Visa
Beer and wine
No smoking
Sidewalk-level access
Remember Garret Morris's great bit on Saturday Night Live about sending your fondue sets to Namibia? When I first heard that the owners of the South End's tony Icarus were opening a restaurant in Roslindale Square, it certainly sounded like missionary work. But, in fact, the square has recently established itself as an affordable, tolerant, and chic new version of the old South End, and this open-kitchen bistro has rekindled some of the excitement of the original, no-sign-on-the-door Icarus, a pioneer on restaurant row back when Gordon Hamersley was still in chef school. Getting away from the elaborate South End menu and focusing on Italian food and wine makes Gusto not only cheaper than Icarus, but also more approachable, more fun, and, for my money, more satisfying. And you can park in Roslindale Square. This may be the best restaurant in Greater Boston where you can still park across the street.

The only South End thing about Gusto is that they take reservations only for groups of five or more (and then tack on an automatic 15 percent gratuity/service charge), and only on the same day. These rules favor the neighborhood: if the line is too long, your only back-up is the Roslindale House of Pizza two doors down.

The breadbasket starts things off right: peppery onion pizza and excellent Tuscan bread with butter. There was no olive oil, but I didn't miss it. In the appetizer category, don't you miss the crimini mushroom and asiago tart ($7.50), a creamy quiche full of flavor that wouldn't be out of place for twice the money at Rialto, so meltingly rich was the pastry. The pizzette of the day ($9) was pear-gorgonzola, a great topping on a pretty fair crust.

Other good ways to start included a salad of arugula and herbs ($6.50) with a perfect balsamic dressing, and a caesar salad with lime and chili hidden in the dressing for a Southwestern twist. Grilled shrimp on skewers ($10.50) were wrapped with bacon for extra crunch and flavor. Balsamic eggplant, black-olive tapenade, asparagus, eggplant caviar, pickled onion, fresh mozzarella, and artichoke hearts made up a super vegetarian antipasto platter ($9) that was marred only by underdone Tuscan white beans.

The outstanding entrée was scallops with porcini risotto ($16). The risotto was regular rice cooked in stock, with not much porcini, but none of that crunchy stuff either. It made an ideal setting for the superb seared scallops. North Italian veal stew ($16) with mushrooms verged on veal paprikás in its richness -- I guess Austria-Hungary could be considered North North Italian, if you tilt the map in a hungry enough way. Get another round of the Tuscan bread for this one.

Braised pork ($15) was a little dried out, but tender and flavorful, the only problem being those underdone white beans. Grilled lemon-rosemary chicken, a dish many use to rate a kitchen, ranked high. The half-chicken was tender throughout, with a pleasant crust and herbs tucked under the skin of some pieces, in a tricky sauce that might have had a little soy. With a fancy cabbage slaw and some puréed squash, it doesn't get much better than this.

Cioppino ($17.50) had a good mix of fresh seafood in a somewhat bland fennel broth. Tomatoes wouldn't have hurt, but the essence of these fish stews lies in a stronger fish or shellfish stock than this one delivered. Penne with grilled vegetables ($12) offered a good vegetarian choice for this crunchy neighborhood, with the summer squash standing out in the mix.

The wine list is short but reasonably priced (six bottles under $20). We tried the house chianti ($4.75 per glass, $10 per half-liter, $19 per liter), which was clean but very generic. Besides wine, there's fizzy San Pellegrino water, plus a good variety of well-made teas and coffees for $1.75 each.

A hit among the outstanding desserts was the flourless chocolate torte ($5.50): a killer fudgy concoction with just enough crust and an undertone of orange, plus real whipped cream to lighten (!) some mouthfuls. Even more impressive was the panna cotta ($5), literally "cooked cream," prepared using a little gelatin and decorated with an exquisite caramel sauce and mint zabaglione. The chocolate cannoli ($5) had wonderful crispy shells, but I don't think ricotta cheese carries the taste of chocolate well. Lovers of chocolate cheesecake obviously will disagree.

Gusto is a den-like little place where, once you sit down, you can't look around all that well. The walls are Tuscan ochre with dark wood, and the granite café tables fit in nicely. A high shelf above the opening to the kitchen holds a variety of Italian signifiers, from cookbooks to jars of pickles, and some orchids and pumpkins arranged about the room convey color, clutter, and appetizing thoughts.

The initial crowd look like recent arrivals to the neighborhood -- young couples, some gay or lesbian, happy and talkative. Service is helpful and available (it's never a long walk from the kitchen). Our waiter was taking elementary Italian, and this restaurant made that seem like a good idea for all of us. Gusto isn't big enough to be really loud, although the jazz soundtrack only sometimes came through the noise of the other diners. I have to say that most of my attention was on the food, not the surroundings, and most of the food rewarded that kind of attention. Put the crimini tart, grilled chicken, and panna cotta on the table, and I'll take that table no matter where it is. That Gusto has put some of those tables in Roslindale Square should be an example to residential neighborhoods all over Greater Boston. Accept no less!

Robert Nadeau can be reached at robtnadeau@aol.com.


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