IL GATTOPARDO

ITALY / BY WAY OF / 54TH STREET

by JENIFER LANG

Why is it we like to eat in restaurants in Italy so much?

Admit it: when you plan a trip to Italy, north or south, the first thing that crosses your mind is, “Where should we eat when we’re there?” Aside from the food being reliably delicious almost everywhere in Italy, the mood is usually felicitous; even formal restaurants feel approachable, not intimidating, inviting. Why can’t we find an authentic Italian restaurant like that in New York, we wonder.

Well, there is one, right under our very noses, and my perspicacious friend pointed it out to me: Il Gattopardo, on West 54th Street, across the street from the back door of the Museum of Modern Art – pertinent information, because it draws a crowd that is cave dweller fashionable, meaning old money, established New Yorkers, people who serve on the boards of important museums, ahem. Others are there, too: executives from the neighborhood, people who are in vogue (not Vogue) without being trendy, young sophisticates. (The night we were there, a beautiful young girl with a sleeve tattoo decided to put on her sweater upon arriving – she fit into the scene so much more appropriately that way.) If it were the 1960’s and Jacqueline Kennedy were still around, she would eat dinner here – I see her in a beautiful sleeveless shift dress, deceptively simple.

Maybe I’m thinking of the ‘60’s because the name of the restaurant, Il Gattopardo [the Leopard], comes from a Visconti film of the same name that was produced in 1963. Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale were the stars – beautiful, beautiful people.

The key ingredient to an authentically charming Italian restaurant is a proprietor who is ever-present and attentive. There is no substitute. Il Gattopardo has one of those; he is Gianfranco Sorrentino, an experienced restaurateur who opened here in 2001. He is originally from Naples, and has chosen to highlight the cuisine of his region, but without the intrusion of any of the Americanized versions of southern Italian cooking, e.g., no gigantic plates of over-sauced pasta. Everything is light, and elegant.

Gianfranco welcomes you at the door so warmly that you wonder if you’ve met him before - perfect. The restaurant is on the bottom floor of a townhouse. White brick walls, small dining room, and a tiny garden room at the back. The waiters are wearing the white jackets that you only see in Italy; the crisp look matches the solicitude.

You look at the menu – it’s meaningless. Gianfranco is at your side, counseling you in intimate undertones. You can look at the menu, but what’s not on the menu is important. “Would you like for me to choose a dinner for you?” Of course, but not too much, not too much. Every course is tiny, and absolutely delicious. We feel as if our Italian mother avatar was in the kitchen, intuiting what we would most like to eat at that moment. Baby artichokes – check. Risotto with zucchini blossoms – check. Mozzarella in carrozza – double check.

Gianfranco is impeccably dressed, in an Italian blazer with a patterned shirt – but the points of the collar are sprung like apostrophes outside of the blazer collar. You want to reach over the tuck them in – but NO – it’s his signature look, I was told by an insider. Okay, Gianfranco. You can do anything you want with your fabulous shirts, as long as you keep serving me perfect dinners.

Grazie!

IL GATTOPARDO Restaurant & Catering

33 West 54th Street / New York New York 10019 / Tel 212 246 0412 / Fax 212 246 3332

Reservations are recomended, please contact us at 212 246 0412

Lunch / Mon - Sun, 12 noon to 3 pm /// Dinner / Mon - Sat, 5 pm to 11:30 pm /// Sunday Dinner / 5 pm to 10 pm