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By Indy... For Indy
Simple Equals Good at Gusto!
April 3, 2009David Hoppe - Nuvo
Some restaurants seem to have little more connection to their neighborhoods than an address. Then there are places like Gusto! in Fountain Square that feel like they're an organic part of the scene.
Located in a long, narrow storefront space on the ground floor of the Murphy Art Center, Gusto! is a natural complement to the MAC's bohemian ambience.
Gusto! doesn't try to do a lot, but that's OK. This is the kind of place where simple equals good.
Gusto!'s heart pumps a rich, red homemade marinara sauce that serves as the foundation for a streamlined selection of pizzas, sandwiches and pasta dishes that are, in turn, reinforced by a sampling of salads and starters and buttressed with an impressive selection of craft beers listed on a chalkboard above the counter, as well as wines.
You're not paying for overhead here. You seat yourself and are likely to be served on mismatched plates. Water glasses are of the big, plastic Pepsi variety and, the night we stopped by, our wine came in the kind of food service tumblers you usually find in cafeterias.
If the service wasn't so friendly, you might begin to wonder what you've gotten yourself into. As it happened, my companion and I found ourselves enjoying generous pourings of red zin ($5) and pinot grigio ($6) in no time.
Gusto! prides itself on its cheese sticks, a starter we'll probably try on another visit. And the sandwiches (all priced at $6.99) were tempting: There were homemade meatball, Italian deli, Italian dip featuring that marinara sauce and a Greek concoction with chicken to choose from.
We headed for a Greek salad and a Caesar ($4.99 each). Both were fresh and satisfying, with outsourced dressing served on the side. The Greek included sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh - a choice as flavorful as it was smart, taking the off-season into account. The dressing - our waiter called it "Golden Italian" - provided another variation on the theme, being a little sweeter than your standard Greek vinaigrette.
Our main event consisted of an 8-inch, hand-rolled, thin-crust vegetarian pizza ($8.99 with 12-inch and 16-inch versions at $13.49 and $17.99, respectively) with toppings that were practically a mirror image of the Greek salad and the baked ziti ($7.99), a bubbling hot casserole with Italian sausage, pepperoni and penne pasta with marinara sauce under a melted blanket of mozzarella and provolone cheese, served with two sticks of seasoned flat bread.
Let me say here that Gusto!'s reputation may be linked to its excellent pizzas (take-out business was brisk), but the baked ziti has got to be one of this city's great guilty pleasures. Redolent with the aroma of fennel and chock-full of spicy meat, the cheese scorched to a delicious crisp around the edges, this is a dish to savor.
Which is exactly what we did, sipping our wine and gazing contentedly out Gusto!'s picture window as the Edward Hopper-esque storefront across the street caught the last shreds of daylight. If anyone had asked us where we were, there would have been no doubt: Fountain Square in springtime. From Nuvo
A Move in the Right Direction
April 17, 2009Max Von - Downtown
The Skyline Club on top of the One America building had a face lift and is closer to being a venue to Indy's elite. It still has some old flare but most of it has been transformed into a ultra hip location to hang. They removed the hideous street lamps, upgraded the technologies and hipped up the place. Other businesses should follow suit and renovate from the old Indy to the new world class Indy. You've got till 2012!
