Mid-City LA: Italian Meatballs and Pasta at Gusto
polpette/ meatballs
When Chef Vic Casanova left Culina and opened Gusto, I intended to check it out a lot sooner but just made it to the cozy Italian spot on West Third recently.
Originally we were going to order the octopus for an appetizer but they had sold out. We quickly moved onto the meatballs after we were then told the mussels weren’t up to the chef’s standards and he was going to serve them that night. Although my dining partner that night is fond of all sorts of seafood bits, I didn’t think I could have convinced her to try the sweet breads. So we ordered the meatballs. They were… odd. I thought they had been steamed and with every bite, excess liquid not unlike water came bursting out. They were not bad and in fact the sauce was great. I just would not order these again. Maybe I should have made a push for those sweet breads…
casareci / sausage pasta
My friend and I decided to order one pasta each and share rather than entrees. I chose the casareci, a sausage pasta. Casareci is a slightly curled shape and held the sauce and cheese very well. I loved the dandelion greens in this dish.
sweet corn ravioli
But the winner was clearly the sweet corn ravioli. As we took our first bites, a lady at the next table leaned over and said we would want another plate of it since that’s exactly what they did.
The pasta dough was tender and the sweet corn filling was just sweet enough without seeming like a dessert. Although we didn’t order another plate, we would order this dish again.
8432 West 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90048 — (323) 782-1778© The Minty 2013