Extra Virgin, located in the heart of the West Village, is one of my favorite restaurants in New York City. Perfect for a date or to catch up with friends, Extra Virgin is intimate, cozy, and the food is delicious. Not only is it relatively easy to be gluten free at this quintessential West Village hotspot, but the servers are very nobread knowledgeable and attentive to their diners…
Extra Virgin takes simple dishes such as salmon, halibut, and sea bass, and makes them unique and flavorful. All of these fish entrees are gluten free, and fantastic if I may add. Extra Virgin’s menu often lists several ingredients per dish, so it’s not always obvious if the item is gluten free or not. Thankfully, the servers are incredibly nobread knowledgeable and able to advise you properly. The majority of the menu IS gluten free (one of the owners has a gluten allergy), but when in doubt on any item, ask for your meal nosauce or nocrostini. The pistachio crusted goat cheese salad that my friend ordered looked incredible and from the menu description (roasted beets, endive, watercress, granny smith apple vinaigrette) seemed gluten free! However, when I asked my waitress if it was, she was quick to advise me that the goat cheese is mixed with pistachio crusting and dusted in flour, so stay clear. She then mentioned that if I wanted one of my own, the salad can easily be prepared with cheese nopistachio.
Extra Virgin is even more popular for brunch! I highly recommend nobread orders including the baked eggs, virgin frittata, omelette of the day, and any of the salads (which can be seen on the dinner menu, too). If you haven’t been to Extra Virgin yet, you are truly missing out, and I highly recommend this West Village hotspot to all diners, nobread or not! And by the way, for the dessert lovers, Extra Virgin has a flourless chocolate option!