www.saintheos.com
340 Bleecker Street (between Christopher and West 10th Sts.)
212-969-8221
Italian. Before finishing dinner, I was already plotting my return. I would have come back the very next day and ordered the very same meal, so good is the food at Saint Theo’s.
I began with Caesar salad (parmesan, rosemary breadcrumbs) and mozzarella in carrozza (mozzarella, tomato sauce, parmesan) then asked myself, “Would it be blasphemous to slice the cheese into the greens? And with a name like Saint Theo’s, would there be repercussions?”
Turns out, it’s a heavenly combination I could not recommend more highly. There’s something about this dressing, or maybe it’s the breadcrumbs, that carries the lettuce way beyond its Caesar peers. And the tomato sauce is nothing less than a mozzarella whisperer.
I began to wonder how the entrées could ever be this good. Yet there was no cause for alarm. The halibut (salsify, spigarello, lemon brown butter) and branzino (trumpet mushroom, romanesco, lemon gremolata), light years apart in flavor and texture, are both pure seafood paradise.
The portions here are plentiful but the pacing so fabulous I was able to contemplate dessert. I chose tiramisu which arrives in a generous brandy glass. It is creamy and smooth and about the best dinner finish I’ve had in a while.
Beyond that, the staff is truly on point from the warmly enthusiastic welcome to the endless water pours.
It’s common knowledge you can’t kick a rock in the city without hitting an Italian place. The choice is infinite but that doesn’t mean it’s hard. In fact, it couldn’t be simpler. You do not, and I mean not, want to miss Saint Theo’s.