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| - Previously to this review, I had written another review about Gema from my first visit a few months back. To which the restaurant had left me a sour taste to my mouth and didn't plan to return again.
Fast forward to six months later, and I kind invitation for dinner from the chef/co-owner of the restaurant due to my very disappointing review. My opinion and, experience at Gema has changed.. For the better!
We've arrived on a Saturday night at 6pm. Which the restaurant had a few clients already. Always a good sign!
We sat down at a lovely small table. Soon after we began our meal with a very refreshing, colorful, tasty appetizer. Heirloom tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, with a few leaves of green and purple basil. Oh my! It screamed freshness, and flavor. Which normally fresh mozzarella tends to be on the bland side, not at all in this case. I was quite happy that they didn't use any vinaigrette to add flavor. Nothing like a bite of fresh, juicy, ripe tomato with a light drizzle of a flavorful olive oil on a sunny afternoon.
Gema's main focus is their pizza.. My main focus was obviously going to be on their pizza as well. Which once again, another dish I was very pleased with.
We've ordered a pizza which did not consist of a tomato sauce, which I was skeptical about. We all like tomato sauce on our pizzas, right? Take my word for it, our pizza certainly didn't need it since it had the following ingredients: Blue cheese, pistachio based pesto, and house made mortadella. Yes! They make everything themselves, and my taste buds loved that very much. I always have a strong focus for restaurants that can make as many things themselves as possible. Luckily, I was in the right place since Gema's strongly focuses on that.
Once our pizza was brought to our table, it was served very hot, and crusty. To which I couldn't wait to take a bit out of it. I was worried that due to the cheese, pesto, and mortadella it was going to be dripping in grease. Not at all. This is where good quality ingredients shined rather than showing off with drips of grease. To which I hate!
The pizza was quite salty.. Having said that. Perhaps the combination of toppings didn't help.
Now, desserts!
Most pizzerias lack a variety of desserts or have poor tasting desserts with inexpensive ingredients. Such as artificial flavors or fluffy fake whipped cream. Not at all the case for Gema. They are quite known for the frozen custard, and recently added to to their menu a completely homemade cheesecake, and their zeppole drizzled with Nutella.
We chose the cheesecake and their frozen custard.
The cheesecake was simply a bite of silky, creamy, smooth, perfection! Made with ricotta, and Philadelphia cream cheese. Of course with a buttery, crumbly graham cracker crust. Alongside a few sour cherries, to which in my opinion could have been left aside. Let the cheesecake speak for it's self. Since it was truly outstanding! Oh so creamy!
The frozen custard is quite similar to a soft serve ice cream, in the sense of texture. In terms of flavor, it was superior to any soft serve. This is a vanilla bean based(You can see the specks and taste the strong true vanilla flavor) with an array of toppings. I chose the Belgium dark chocolate sauce. Since it's dark chocolate, it was a lovely contrast to the sweet, and creamy frozen base.
However, there were three minor flaws! Being a very sunny afternoon, I had the sun shinning in my face the entire time. Not that pleasing to eyes. I like to see the true colour of the food. Which sunglasses wouldn't let me if I had to wear them.
Unfortunately the rest of the tables were reserved so, moving was not a choice. In this case, I would suggest to the restaurant to put a thin blind or a thin curtain.
The staff didn't seem to be communicating very well amongst each other that night. One of the staff members mentioned to us their specials. Five minutes later we wanted to order some of the specials. We were informed that they were sold out of them. Which they were not aware of it. Oh ok?!
We were informed that we were only allowed to stay for two hours. Which is descent amount of time. I was a tad disappointed that we had a time limit since the vibe of the restaurant along with the good selection of music was great, and lively. Would have loved to stay longer.
The chairs may not scream comfort, the tables may not offer you a lot of space either, while ours was a tad wobbly.
Having said all this, along with the minor flaws. I'm glad that this experience was far more impressive to my stomach, and eyes than my previous experience. Their strong focus on quality, and homemade ingredients made their meals shine and myself leaving with a smile from ear to ear. It's safe to say that I do plan on coming back.
Thank you to Stefano, Michele, and their entire staff for a wonderful and delicious night! Looking forward in seeing all of you again!
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