Zagat Restaurants: De Santos Honors Its Rock 'N' Roll Past
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A West Village restaurant is serving up modern Italian fare with some '60s rock on the side. NY1's Michelle Park filed the following report. De Santos
139 West 10th Street
1-212-206-9229
www.desantosnyc.com
If the sounds of '60s accompanied by colorful modern platefuls gets you going, the Zagat Restaurant guide suggests De Santos in West Village. Surveyors say this "delicious" new mid-priced modern Italian restaurant has a young clientele and a "loud," "sexy" soundtrack, giving a "clubby" vibe to its brownstone space.
Owners say the restaurant is following the building's musical past.
"A lot of singers they used to perform here. I'm talking about Bob Dylan -- the second time he played in New York was here," says owner Sebastian Gonella. "Also, Janis Joplin used to live here actually for six months upstairs and she also played down in the basement. So I mean, musicwise, [this] was very influential part of opening De Santos here, because De Santos is also based on music and arts."
The restaurant takes music as inspiration and churns out plates ranging from cavatelli with mussels to a grilled arctic char with squash, zucchini and couscous in a saffron broth, to a very unique buffalo carpaccio with gnocchi and truffle oil.
"I think this is the only place that we have that. They sell buffalo filet mignon, but I've never seen carpacchio," says chef Aldo Alo.
A downstairs lounge is where musicians over the years came to share their passion.
"The downstairs is more groovy. They used to play with Jimi Hendrix and a bunch of other musicians, they used to jam in the building," says owner Luis Miguel Amutio.
For a taste of the great outdoors, De Santos boasts a large outdoor garden patio that seats about 55 people."
Those who thirst for cocktails can take advantage of a special selection of summer offerings, like the "Mo-hot-o," which is a mojito for the hot weather, and the "Frescarita," a margartia with watermelon and cucumber.
NY1 viewers can enjoy two-for-one summer cocktails from 6 to 8 p.m. every day. Just say you saw the special on NY1.
Out of a possible 30, De Santos receives 21 for food, 17 for decor and 18 for service. A dinner here will cost around $54.