Review: Gian-Tony's in St. Louis

The west side of the Hill, where Berra Park provides a pleasant haven for picnickers, softball players and soccer enthusiasts, is less crowded and commercial than the blocks to the east. The aura is relaxed and conservative, and new construction has not been seen in many years.

It's also the home of a true dining gem, Gian-Tony's, where traditional Sicilian cooking, well-punctuated by the aroma of tomatoes, garlic and olive oil, has kept the restaurant busy into a second generation, with Tony Catarrinicchia's son relieving him in the kitchen from time to time, a fact the Guru didn't know until he was part-way through his dinner on the first visit. The restaurant is a comfortable throwback to the days when the Hill was justly famous for hearty meals, when trenchermen (and women) tucked their napkins into their collars before digging in.

There's nothing fancy - or even modern - at Gian-Tony's. It's a place for dinner, for enjoying companions and conversation and the joy of a full stomach. The chairs are solid, the menu plain, but easy to read. Decor is plain, and the capable staff puts diners at ease.

The menu is simple and straightforward, like the cooking, and the Guru's visits come when the need is strong for old-fashioned, comfortable dining on classics like chicken cacciatore or veal Marsala or osso bucco, the marrow-laden veal shank that is cooked until the sweet and tender meat falls off the bone, served with risotto and chunks of fresh, sweet carrots. Osso bucco, by the way, is not a regular menu item, and it's made at Tony's whim, usually on a Monday or Tuesday. Call and make reservations for the meal and the dish.

The pasta dishes are splendid, the pasta slightly al dente, the sauces rich and tasty. Seafood cannelloni, the thin tubular pasta wrapped around crabmeat and shrimp, then topped with a delicious, light cream sauce, is a delicacy, available as an special appetizer or as an entree. One of the Guru's favorites, by the way, is the linguine with squid in marinara sauce, bolstered with capers and olives. The latter two vegetables, both comfortably at home in southern Italian cuisine, show up in many dishes at Gian-Tony's, and they add a delicious finishing touch to everything they visit.

Chicken cacciatore, for example, benefits from a rich, tomato-based sauce, but the kitchen here uses lots of mushrooms, green peppers and tomatoes for extra flavor, and capers and olives are a final fillip to take the dish out of the ordinary. The sauce is so rich and delicious it probably doesn't need them, but that final touch takes the dish from "Delicious!" to "Oh, wow!"

Marsala wine sauce for veal is an Italian classic, and there's a special touch to it at Gian-Tony's. Too many Marsala sauces are over sweet and almost gummy in texture, but Tony keeps the sauce light and flavorful, with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes adding flavor and color. Close to two dozen pastas of various shapes are on the menu, and another few become daily specials, and as we've often said, one of the badly overlooked dishes in St. Louis' fine Italian restaurants are the pastas.

Among those who live across the street from Berra Park are pasta Milanese, with a sweet-and-sour sauce led by sardines and fennel, contrasting with raisins and pignolas (pine nuts), olive oil and tomatoes. This combination speaks more of Sicily, or perhaps Sardinia, and the Moorish invaders of yore than it does of Milan, but whatever he calls it, it's outstanding. Angel hair pasta comes with scallops, small penne work beautifully with the spicy red arrabiata sauce, and the wide, flat noodle known as papardelle, usually served with duck, is matched here with a white wine, butter and garlic sauce with mushrooms and blue cheese. More traditional sauces also are available, too.

Dinner entrees feature chicken, fish, veal and steak, and are accompanied by salad and either pasta or vegetable, and the Guru can vouch for delicious spinach. Both white and red sauces top the veal and chicken entrees, and there's an unfortunate tendency to go overboard on cheese, but I'm afraid that's a current state of affairs that will have to wear off some day.

Appetizers are standard, but grilled portabella mushrooms are always winners, and when it's available, the involtini, or rolled, stuffed eggplant is a delight. The green salad also is delicious, with a good proportion of tart dressing to greens.

The wine list is modest, but there are enough Italian and California reds to provide solid company for most of the dishes, and don't forget that if the white meat (chicken or veal) is topped with a red tomato sauce, red wine will work properly. The dessert list also is modest, but the cannoli shells come from a good Hill baker, and the filling is rich and delicious, right from the Gian-Tony's kitchen, a fine end to a fine evening.