Gigino was recommended to us from the day we moved to Battery Park City almost 3 years ago. We have been going fairly regularly during the summer months ever since. The interior of Gigino is rather small, decorated in chic Italian white leather with stark white tablecloths. But the exterior is the draw here! It is a patio area right in Wagner Park with stunning views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty. This is not traditionally a tourist spot, however of late it has been ranked in the top 10 Outdoor Dining venues on Open Table. As a result, the place is pretty packed with foreign visitors, but it makes for a rather sophisticated European atmosphere. It doesn’t seem to attract the Statue of Liberty crowd because of the price points.

The food is authentic classic Italian. The ingredients are fresh, delicious and house made. The fresh fish menu (and every menu, actually) is quite extensive. It is a bit overwhelming, but never have we had a bad or even mediocre item. The appetizers are 3 pages, the specials are always a full page plus others delivered verbally.

We recently took Steve’s Mom for dinner and my Dad took us there for lunch. Below are our appetizers and entrees from both meals. We will continue to add information as the summer goes on.  We got some rather awesome photos yesterday during daylight.  The only item I would not recommend is the herb crusted shrimp over mesclun.  While it was OK, it was not the most outstanding dish.

A top dish was the Burata.  Burata is one of our ‘Smackdown’ foods.  We try it everywhere and thus far the winner was Batali’s Eataly and runner up was Peasant.  This may have surpassed all.  It is clearly made in house and they created a flat ‘tortilla’ of the mozzarella which they filled with the mozzarella and cream mixture.  They rolled it like a crepe with the soft filling inside and covered with baby arugula and roasted red, orange and yellow peppers.  A winner.  It was a daily special we hope to have again!  Another highlight was the seared scallops with pork lardons.

MENU

APPETIZERS

Bruschetta grilled Italian bread with fresh tomato, basil, garlic & olive oil  $9.50

Polpetini fried small meatballs over spicy tomato sauce  $11.50

Special of the Day Seared Dry Scallops with pork lardons

Special of the Day Burata with roasted peppers

ENTREES

Special of the Day Soft Shell Crab crusted with cornmeal

Gamberoni Gratinati broiled fresh herb crumb shrimp over mesclun with lemon  $24

Special of the Day Tuna with Capers and Angel Hair Pasta

Ravioli al Sugo con Mozzarella cheese ravioli with tomato ragu and fresh mozzarella  $17.50

Gamberoni Vulcano grilled shrimp with olive oil over mussels risotto and lightly spiced tomato sauce  $24.50

Tortellini alla Buongustaia cheese filled tortellini with mushrooms, peas and ham in a light cream sauce  $17.50

DESSERT

Estasi chocolate lava cake with raspberry sauce and hazel nut ice cream  $8.50

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8/1/11

We had lunch at Gigino’s on Sunday to enjoy the fantastic view and food outdoors in the sunshine. Once again, they delivered a fabulous, fresh and colorful meal.  As usual, we ordered a few of the daily specials as well as regular menu items.  To reconfirm, our favorite special is still the house-made burrata.  Burrata is mozzarella filled with mozzarella and cream.  Gigino is the only place where we’ve had it served almost like a crepe instead of a ball shape.  Then again, most people like Batali import it daily.  This is made in house.  It does not get any better than this.  But of course we ALWAYS forget the photo.

Next up we both hat the Zuppa Gialla or yellow tomato soup.  The following photos speak 1000 words…

Next up I had the Venere Polpettini or seafood meatballs.  This was not my favorite of all their meatballs, but it was light with a lobster sauce.

Steve had the Red Canyon Salad from their regular menu which is in essence a mixed beet salad.

Every time we visit Gigino’s we wonder why we don’t go every week during the summer.   We are going to try in August!

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4/6/2012