Dell’anima
38 Eighth Ave., nr. Jane St.; 212-366-6633
For what essentially is an old way to utilize stale bread, bruschetta sure is having a moment. Inventive (and often non-Italian) variations on the garlic-rubbed theme are everywhere these days, from a tongue-topped version at Mia Dona to a spicy shrimp number at the haute Indian restaurant Dévi. You’ll find the most innovative approach, though, at Dell’anima, in the West Village. While purist bruschette cooks go the chopped-tomato route and others stick to a single signature topping their whole careers, chef Gabe Thompson’s inspired toppings change daily and seasonally and run the gamut from beet greens to bone-marrow custard. We’re particularly fond of his octopus (diced then mingled with fennel, chiles, and preserved citrus) and the baccalà mantecato. Best of all is the do-it-yourself construction: You choose from one to five different toppings delivered to your table in separate bowls along with a stack of warm, garlic-and-olive-oil-brushed bread, and then you slather away at will. It’s—yes, we’ll say it—the toast of the town.
Best Bruschette
Our mission this year: to hunt down not just the best but the best values in the eating, shopping, drinking, and general-consuming universe of New York. It’s quite the process, this, requiring eating and shopping and drinking (all in the name of research), followed by heated but civil discussion, and heated but less-civil discussion, until a winner emerges in each category.


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