Santina
Created by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick, Santina is New York City’s very own coastal Italian transplant. Tucked on the outer cusp of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District, just beneath the Gansevoort entrance to The High Line. Santina sits where some of the city’s oldest farmers markets one stood, and pulls its inspiration from the area’s rich history, highlighting vegetables and fish all throughout its menus.
A New York Times review of the restaurant, pays tribute to the colorful atmosphere and ambiance as well as the dishes: “Almost all the food at Santina pulses with the bright, refreshing flavors we crave in hot weather and, it turns out, in other months, too: jolts of chiles, sparks of citrus. Fresh herbs are tossed around frequently and enthusiastically. Chives, mint and basil turn a wonderfully gentle tomato-free minestrone garden-green; Thai basil leaves are flattened over the mint-and-parsley salsa verde applied to a juicy, sweet grilled porgy; tortellini sorrentina (delicate eggy pasta sheets stuffed with soft sheep’s milk ricotta) are surrounded by raw marinara sauce and some olive oil mixed liberally with, what else, fresh herbs. Individually, none of Santina’s tricks are really new, but the kitchen throws them all together in ways that are fun, energizing and mood-altering.”
Menu favorites include the squash carpaccio, radish and salmon, house-made anchovies, minestrone soup, swordfish dogana, eggplant sesame, grapefruit Italian ice, and the shrimp zingara.
Santina is open for breakfast from 8 until 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, for lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and for from 5:30 p.m. until midnight every day. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
