Gato | The Dishelin Guide

Why Come Here? Mediterranean Crowd Pleaser from Bobby Flay, NYC’s Best Paella

Gato, Bobby Flay’s first new New York restaurant in over ten years, opened to high praise in 2014. Clearly the word has gotten out as he still appears to be packing in the crowds every night. So yeah, I was a little late to the game eating here last week. But better late than never.

It’s easy to see why people were enamored by his new place. Cool space in a 100 year old warehouse with metal columns and a colorful tile floor. Friendly and attentive staff at all levels (which can be surprisingly difficult to come by these days). And a lengthy menu mixing Mediterranean favorites with some interesting new preparations. It’s an all-around crowd-pleaser that’s perfect for everyone from clients, to parents to friends and dates. It’s hard to think of a bad time to eat here, unless maybe you’re coming from yoga. Don’t come to Gato in yoga pants.

In spite of this I found myself slightly less excited than others with the place. The massive menu must have close to 50 dishes, and it’s hard to do that many really well. This showed with a few misses, although everything was enjoyable for the most part. It just lacked enough true standouts (other than the paella) to warrant the massive hype. Maybe I set the bar too high. Don’t get me wrong you will have a very good meal here. Just not a great one.

Gorgonzola Fonduta You’ll never go wrong ordering melted cheese but the Gorgonzola was surprisingly mild which led to it being overpowered by the fig toast. You can do better here.

Roasted Octopus Bobby knows how to cook his eight legged sea monsters. The tentacle had the right firmness and a smokey-sour taste from the orange and bacon. A unique preparation worth a try.

Crab Risotto Served with garlic bread crumbs on top it sort of felt like eating a casserole with an intense crab flavor.

Brussels Sprouts One of the hot items of the last couple years, Gato finds a new way to serve it up Brussels with a sweet-sour pomegrante-pistachio combination. A smart way to take your vegetables.

Kale and Mushroom Paella As anyone who has ever been to Spain can tell you, one thing NYC does not do well is paella. But lovers of the crispy rice dish can rejoice, the version here is perfect. The rice on top is firm and a little crispy while the stuff on bottom is practically a savory rice krispie treat. Practice your scraping skills because you won’t want to miss a kernel.

Rabbit Between the pine nuts, currants, carrot hot sauce and crispy ham this rabbit is up to more craziness than Bugs. Eat and you’ll understand what Elmer Fudd was working so hard for.