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Al Carfagno has a big smile (see photo at left). He makes a really big pizza, the "Big Mama." And as of this past November, he has a big, beautiful space in Soulard, the former Sage.
Gusto’s 314, the sister restaurant to his Mama Gusto’s in Lebanon, Ill., offers a menu on the Missouri side with a bit more variety, as befits the restaurant's larger dining rooms. As we reported here, the space has allowed Carfagno to expand his offerings, adding veal pot roast, polenta, a dynamite cioppino and more to the menu.
If the Gusto’s name sounds familiar, it might be because there was another Mama Gusto’s in the Carondelet ‘hood that closed last year. Carfagno was not the owner of that one, but it was his menu and concepts and such, licensed to others. That arrangement, he said, turned out to be less than ideal, but, still eager to expand the Gusto’s empire, he nabbed the former Sage space on Lynch Street hard by the brewery, where the smell of processing malt fills the air 24/7.
Carfagno (who has a passing resemblance to Vincent Pastore of “The Sopranos”) describes the fare as “rustic, hearty Italian dishes in portions so big you’ll have to take some home.”
His veal pot roast with gravy made-to-order and polenta (above left) was tailor-made for the StL winter. Italian meatloaf is rolled with prosciutto and mozzarella and anointed with tomato sauce. Pesto ravioli are filled in-house with four cheeses and plated with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts in a rich cream sauce. Ziti Gusto (above right) features mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, red wine, fresh basil, and pasta in a fish broth.
The cioppino (above) gets its own paragraph. The classic seafood soup is loaded with shrimp, mussels, clams, crab, scallops, and whitefish, and held together by fish broth, white wine, tomatoes and pepper. It’s served with bread, and verily, it rocks.
Most of the sandwiches on the Gusto’s 314 menu are open-faced barges struggling under the weight of their massive cargo. A meatball hoagie slathered in mozzarella and tomato sauce (below) could probably satiate an entire family of four.
Pizza has always been a big seller at the Gusto’s restaurants. The crust comes in three styles: the “House,” which is medium thickness; the thinner “Traditional,” which Carfagno refers to as “the New York fold-and-cram”; and a heavy, deep-dish Sicilian-style. Gusto’s makes the dough, sauce, and sausage in-house.
The “Sampler” (above) is a colorful pie with a little of everything: pepperoni, sausage, ham, Canadian bacon, onion, mushrooms, black and green olives, green peppers, and two unexpected ingredients: sliced meatballs and banana peppers. The latter adds a real zing to the proceedings.
Other big sellers on the menu include breadsticks, wings, calamari, steaks, pork chops, pasta carbonara, and a fish piccata made with branzino.
The house salad dressing is a sweet Italian that’s a tangy delight. The brief dessert menu features cannoli filled in-house.
Both Gusto’s restaurants offer an eating challenge that has never been won. The aforementioned Big Mama is an unholy, 16 to 20-lb. pizza that is so big it has to be held together with slabs of dough in a lattice on the top, like some freakishly oversized dessert pie. What’s just beneath is no dessert, but an everything-but-the-kitchen sink assortment of every pizza ingredient in the joint. To beat the challenge, you’d need a team of four dudes (it’s always dudes, isn’t it?) to eat the Big Mama, plus four breadsticks and four small salads in an hour. (The breadsticks and salads would seem to turn the wildly improbable into the thoroughly impossible.)
If by some miracle four guys could manage it, they’d win T-shirts that read “Big Mama: Conquered” and $400. Carfagno says that though he has a box of T-shirts he’s never even had to open, the challenge is “not impossible if you got the right four guys.” We’re thinking these four guys would be named Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, Patrick Bertoletti and Tim “Eater X” Janus.
The Big Mama can also be ordered off the regular menu, not as a challenge but simply as an imposing dinner for a sizable group of friends and a way to test the fisheye lens on your camera. It takes an hour to bake, and runs $54.95.
In Soulard, you better come with the booze. At Gusto’s 314, bartender Jennifer Toler (left) and cohorts feature a creamy “Tira Tina” liquid tiramisu creation, a fruity raspberry Cosmo, and Italian lemonade.
The future, says Carfagno, will include patio seating on days much warmer than these, with an outdoor kitchen in use on the patio, too. The owner also hopes to offer family-style meals once a week, and has plans to open a third location soon, a carryout/delivery-only spot in Belleville.
Gusto’s 314
1301 Lynch
Soulard
314-664-3600
