Carbone, ZZ’s, Parm, Dirty French… you know them, you’ve been to them, and they’re probably some of your favorite restaurants in New York City. Well, everyone, you’ll be happy to hear the team at Major Food Group has done it again and opened ANOTHER amazing restaurant. Santina, located in the Meatpacking District, serves unique Italian cuisine and seafood in a fun atmosphere with a great ambiance and a drink menu to match…
What strikes me the most about Santina is how gluten friendly the restaurant is. The entire menu is essentially gluten free, the majority is dairy free, and everything is absolutely amazing. To start, you have to order one of the Cecina dishes. Select one of the delicious fillings (my friends and I went with the avocado trapanese) and create your own crepe/taco out of the beautiful, and nobread approved, chickpea pancake. If you’re an avocado lover- order this… you’ll thank me for it. For our next round, my friends and I moved on to the Vegetables + Fish section of the menu. The artichokes & grapes is a must order, and the radish & cured salmon dish is beautiful and tastes just as lovely. I also had my eye on the squash carpaccio, but it is cooked in butter so if you are dairy free I recommend avoiding. From the Salad section of the menu, we ordered the kale sunchoke salad (amazing) and wild rice calamari (really amazing). Calamari is mixed in with wild black rice, and the combination is awesome. For the rice and pasta lovers, all rice dishes are gluten free, and gluten free pasta is available upon request for the pasta dishes, so all pastas can be GF, too!
Everything we ordered was amazing, and everything we didn’t order sounded amazing, so I will absolutely be back in again soon. The meatballs are gluten free, which you don’t see too often, and popular dessert items including the cannoli are GF, as well! Congratulations Major Food Group on ANOTHER amazing restaurant opening… I’m excited to return for more!