Gemelli: A Double Dose of Hospitality

When I first moved back to the Main Line after cooking stints in NYC, Napa Valley and San Francisco I yearned for restaurants of the same caliber.

There are some great restaurants in Philadelphia, but the pickings get slim when you head to the suburbs. Not to say that there aren't some great places to eat locally, but in my experience, fine dining leaves much to be desired.

I have gone to restaurants with good food but lousy service, restaurants with great service but lousy food and every amalgam in between. I had heard wonderful things about Chef Clark Gilbert and had been meaning to head to Gemelli when it was in Narberth but never got the chance. Lucky for me, Gemelli moved to Manayunk and I was assigned it for my next review.

I had dined at Mango Moon previously and was amazed at the transformation the Gemelli crew has done to the space. The saturated earth tones were replaced by stark white walls, metal lanterns and rich dark wood furniture. Large flowers were in slender vases around the dining area for a touch of natural beauty. The interior had a relaxed elegance to it. 

We were escorted upstairs to the brighter dining area adjacent to the bar. The space is odd because the bar is upstairs and the kitchen is the first thing you see when you enter. The pillows along the banquette proved to be a bit bulky so we set them aside.

The menu is simple but done well. We began with the caprese salad, rabbit rillette and beef tartare. Rather than feature raw tomatoes the caprese salad had oven-cooked tomatoes which made the flavor much more potent. They were bursting with flavor and incredibly succulent. The artfully arranged slices of fresh mozzarella and tomato with drizzles of balsamic reduction and pesto garnered some oohs and aahs from my dining companion. There were many different textures and tastes going on in each bite. 

The beef tartare with cockle vinaigrette was beautifully presented but seemed to focus more on looks than taste. The beef was very fresh and cut well but the vinaigrette did not pack as much punch as I would have liked. The crushed nuts added an interesting textural contrast and some savory accents but were unnecessary.

The rabbit rillette with lentils was a sweet surprise. The tender shreds of rabbit meat were delicately combined with herbs and spices to render a rustic version of a pate. Regardless of what you've heard, rabbit does not taste like chicken. It tastes like rabbit. If I were to describe it I would say it has a slightly gamey flavor and a chewier texture than chicken. The rabbit rillette had surprisingly tender bits of meat, which signifies a deft hand. The lentils were cooked well and tossed with a vinaigrette that had some sort of sweet element to it that tasted like honey. There were slightly pepper micro-greens and a few dollops of whole grain mustard. Tender rabbit, slightly sweet and acidic lentils, peppery greens and mustard worked quite well together. It was a lovely interplay of sweet and savory. We agreed that this was the best appetizer of the table. 

For our entrees we had the pig cheeks over polenta with spring vegetables, the steak with fingerling potatoes and the pasta with corn, shitake mushrooms and asparagus. The pig cheeks were amazingly tender--you didn't even need a knife, a fork worked perfectly. The creamy polenta was hearty and satisfying but better suited for cooler weather. The spring vegetables (carrots, green beans and peas) were cooked nicely and paired well with the glossy and rich sauce.

The steak with fingerling potatoes was good. The meat we ordered medium rare was a bit overcooked but had been sliced and nicely fanned out on the plate. It was seasoned well and the fingerling and purple peruvian potatoes on the side were excellent. Cooked all the way through, crisp on the outside with just a hint of parmesan, these potatoes were the best part of the entree.

The pasta dish was quite large and filling. Though it sounded light, the sheer volume of the noodles and the velvety sauce were enough to satisfy anyone's appetite. There were plenty of niblets of sweet corn, sauteed shitake mushrooms and bright green asparagus stalks. This dish is a celebration of summer and highly enjoyable.

For dessert we had the strawberries sauteed in saba (thick liquid from cooked down grapes that is aged in barrels) and vanilla ice cream and the flourless chocolate cake. The in-season strawberries in the hot cooking liquid combined with the cold and creamy vanilla ice cream made for an interesting bite. It's a mild dessert and not overly sweet. It was a nice dining coda to our heavy meal. The flourless chocolate cake was also good but just so rich. I couldn't take more than one bite. The fresh whipped cream and seasonal berries were ideal companions to the dessert though.

The service at Gemelli is excellent--probably the best service I have received in a long time. There was a problem with one of our items and literally four different people apologized for the mistake.

A new item was brought out and it was taken off of our check. Everyone is friendly, courteous and accommodating. Everyone we encountered wanted to make sure that our dining experience was the best it could be. There is no judgment and people seem genuinely happy to be there.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, I have had some wonderful food on the Main Line but the service was lacking. Gemelli manages to create delicious food and combine it with stellar service. It doesn't sound all that difficult in theory but it's difficult to execute and even more difficult to find. Gemelli is the type of place you would want to return to and I definitely will. I just hope they have their liquor license by the next time I go in.