New York - July 11, 2007

A Total Gem

Gemma Restaurant Opens

Just like that, without too much annoying fanfare, The Bowery Hotel became our favorite place to be. It’s Chateau Marmont meets Hotel Costes on a barely-still-sketchy stretch of the Bowery.

And now that Gemma, its too-cute Italian restaurant, is serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we’ll be running up even more tabs.

The space is divided into three rooms: a bar at the entrance, a dining room, and a skylit dining space in the back (cue private parties). The look is rustic cool, reminiscent of La Esquina, only with high ceilings, sunshine, and an oh-there-it-is front door. (Design credit goes to Freemans’s Taavo Somer.)

The menu is as easy as any sweet-lipped Italian: pastas, pizzas, prosciutto. The crew in charge (hoteliers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode) recently brought us The Waverly Inn, which may explain why they claim they’re still in preview mode and are accepting only walk-ins for now.

That’s enough. We’d rather they keep the go-go antics across town anyway.

Gemma, 335 Bowery, at 3rd Street (212-505-9100).