Gemma

"Gemma has an unlabored panache that makes an evening go down very easy" -New York Times

Have a handcrafted cocktail amid Victorian charm before or after dinner at the hotel's popular bar.

There's a great selection of Italian wines, but nice values from other regions, too, like a crisp Cote de Provence rose for $35.

Now that CBGB and most of the SROs are gone, the Bowery has gone to the VIPs. Case in point: this trendy trattoria tucked inside the swank Bowery Hotel, courtesy of the scene-loving duo of Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson (Waverly Inn, The Park). Cured meats and cheese, antipasti, pasta and anything feeding the wood-burning oven drives the menu. MVPs include the truffled polenta fries;...

Primo "people-watching" abounds at this "fun", all-day Bowery Hotel Italian that lures "scenesters" with a "romantic", "country-chic" setting festooned with "hundreds of candles"; "tasty" vittles, "attentive service" and "fair prices" make the "no-rez" policy (except for hotel guests) less of a drag.

There's something almost formulaic about this restaurant on the ground floor of the hip Bowery Hotel: from the rustic, wood-bedecked interior to the stone-wall interior facade to the see-and-be-seen crowd who frequent the place and the menu of above-average Italian staples. But the food here is good and nabbing an outside table may make you feel cooler than you are for a couple of hours, so...

A sumptuous Italian menu in a French-inflected atmosphere.

"Gemma has an unlabored panache that makes an evening go down very easy" -New York Times