Gusto Osteria replaces Relish in Hauppauge
Spaghetti in a buttery black garlic sauce with mussels and clams at Gusto Osteria in Hauppauge. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Say bye bye to red velvet pancakes. At the new Gusto Osteria and Wine Bar in Hauppauge, you'll instead find a delicate Italian crepe topped with deep fried olives. Freshly shaved Coppa ham arrives on a white platter with sun-dried tomatoes, pistachios and whole caper berries. And if you're really into carbs, say hello to a bowl of spaghetti smothered in mussels and a buttery black garlic sauce. Mangia!
The Hauppauge location of the brunch spot Relish went through a full rebranding and reopened last week as a regional Italian restaurant serving the cuisine of Naples, Italy, where general manager Giuseppe Sasso hails from. The southern Italian city of Naples is best known for its pizza, where the icon originated, but also its stellar seafood due to its position on the Amalfi Coast.
Sasso said that it's always been his dream to open an Italian osteria, a restaurant and wine bar with "old fashioned traditional food, but simple and particular at the same time." The freshly redesigned space is fashioned around the bar, with a stately look of white tablecloths and a new hardwood floor. (He's already working on opening a second Gusto in the former home of the Old Dock Inn at Kings Park.)
A server sets the tone of the meal here by shaving a hunk of Parmesan over your plate of olive oil, imported from Puglia. A substantial portion of Gusto's menu is dedicated to cheeses and charcuterie, which presented artfully along with a touch of the fruity olive oil. In addition to the faintly spiced Coppa I enjoyed during a recent lunch, there was also dry-cured Sopressata, smoky Speck and funky cheeses such as Taleggio and a black truffle sheep's milk Primosale.
Entrees are mostly in the $30 range and include a 21-day dry aged porterhouse and Lupo di Mare seafood platter of sea bream with clams and mussels in a light tomato broth. There is a 60-bottle strong boutique wine list, cocktails and a "spritz bar" for your bubbly Aperol needs.
As for that olive appetizer — it's olive all'ascolana, or deep fried Castelvetrano olives hollowed out and stuffed with spicy 'Nduja sausage. It's a popular bar food all over Italy that Sasso says "goes down like candy." Here the olives get the chef treatment, but don't let the restrained presentation fool you. There's chaos inside there. And it's delicious — salty, spicy, savory. Olives are nature's perfect food, but who knew they could get even better.
Gusto Osteria is at 551 Hauppauge Road, Hauppauge, open 4 to10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2-9 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday; 631-652-0150.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
