New Italian tapas bar in Geneva tempts, teases and satisfies
Unless you're an NIU student heading home for the weekend, saying you were just in the neighborhood when stopping by downtown Geneva's Gratto Italian Tapas bar may not cut it.
Yet Gratto is reason enough to stop by.
The scene
A very attractive recessed patio with umbrellas, a fountain and an evening crowd faces Third Street. Until recently this address housed another Italian eatery - Chianti. Although you may have to wait a bit to actually get a table out here, the inside is big enough to accommodate without a problem. A low ceiling with exposed duct hangs over a black granite bar, surrounded by columns lined by small and shiny square tiles. Exposed brick surrounds the tables and the open kitchen, while the low ceiling ensures cozy intimacy.
The food
As it turns out the Italian tapas accent for which the place is named is just that - a fun accent at the beginning of your meal. It's more of an appetizer version of things as opposed to a Spanish emulation. Rest assured that you will not be starved from the regular Italian size and taste of staple dishes such as pizza, pasta and pesce.
The small plates include bruschetta, mussels, calamari, sausage and plenty of other appetizer classics, but we were tempted by the meatless triad of the melanzane el forno, the scampi di francese and the roasted pepper caprese. The first was a layered baked eggplant dish topped with pomodoro sauce and melted mozzarella. Although beautifully presented, the eggplant was just a tiny bit dry, something that could have easily been fixed with a touch of olive oil. Overall, with the hearty tomato sauce and melted mozzarella, the dish did not lack flavor.
Our server suggested the scampi as our second tapas choice - shrimp, eggwashed and sautéed in butter and wine. Eggwashed is just another way to say battered, the results of which were quite crispy and tender. The accompanying marinara sauce proved a great dip. The caprese - roasted pepper, mozzarella, and sprinkled with basil - was a good variation on the standard, substituting the usual tomato in form.
We skipped the pizza selection for sheer worry of gluttonous overconsumption and headed right over to the farfalle impazzita - a pasta dish consisting of crushed prosciutto cotto (cooked prosciutto) and subtle spinach and red pepper in a light white creme sauce with just a touch of tomato. This was, hands down, the most impressive dish of the evening - not for any complex gastronomic reason but the fact that it just tasted so good. For anyone who says there isn't much to Italian cuisine, this should prove a permanent rebuttal.
If you eat veal, your should make sure you're getting it right. We informed our server of our veal pickiness, and he assured us the meat was exceptionally tender and very much worth it. The veal Marsala did consist of very tender veal pieces, and sauteed with crimini mushrooms in a rich Marsala wine sauce. The dish was slightly cold, which was disappointing, but the Marsala sauce was impeccable, and, if mushrooms are your thing, then this dish will make you a happy camper.
We can only presume that the dessert menu was still being developed since there were only a couple on offer - sorbet and tiramisu. However, we soon did not care about abundance of choice or lack there of because after one bite of the coconut sorbet the verdict was in: Insanely good.
The experience
Except for a short wait resulting from slight confusion over which table was being prepped for us, and a nervous busboy overly eager to take away plates, the experience was near flawless. Not bad for a place that had been open exactly five days when we stopped in.
Gratto Italian Tapas
Facts: 207 S. Third, Geneva, www.grattoitaliantapas.com, (630) 208-9988
Cuisine: Italian
Setting: Upscale casual downtown Geneva eatery with a cool bar, a great patio and even better food
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday; 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday
Price range: Tapas: $2.99-7.99; main: $9.99-17.99; dessert: $4-6