Gigino Ristorante of Wagner Park, NYC

I had such a nice time taking a Zephyr Cruise of New York Harbor last week that my husband suggested we return to Battery Park on the weekend to have lunch in a restaurant where he recently dined with a business associate.  He knew I'd enjoy the view from Gigino Ristorante of Wagner Park, located at 20 Battery Place in lower Manhattan.

The wonderful attraction of this restaurant is its location in Wagner Park, which has a beautiful view of the harbor, and the fact that it has an outdoor patio area. 

Our table was on the inner edge of the park grass, with a view of......

.....the Stature of Liberty!

It was pleasant to relax and watch the harbor traffic go by as we gazed into the distance at Lady Liberty.

I had taken many close-up photos of the Statue of Liberty when I had gone on my cruise to the harbor. If you missed them you can see them on this link.  I've visited her many times over the years, but she never fails to make me be in awe whenever I see her.

We enjoyed a bottle of wine and nibbled on our crusty bread after dipping it in extra virgin olive oil and some aged balsamic vinegar....pure bliss!  A small bowl of cured olives was also provided and they were a nice salty addition.  Although we were very tempted by their descriptions, we decided to forgo appetizers and instead try a couple of luncheon specials.

My husband had rigatoni served with baccala (salt-cured codfish) and broccoli sauteed in olive oil, red pepper and garlic.  My husband is a native Italian and baccala is a fish he can rarely refuse.

I had gamberi (shrimp) sauteed in a light fresh tomato sauce served accompanied by julienned zucchini and yellow squash.  Both entrees were rich, full of flavor, and the perfect portions for an enjoyable lumch.

Gigino's chef, Luigi Celentano, is a native of the resort town of Positano on the Amalfi coast in Italy.  Dining al fresco, while enjoying his expertly crafted creations, made us feel as if we had taken a mini-vacation to an exotic port.

Giginos Ristorante is located in the beautifully manicured  Wagner Park, which is a wonderful mix of open lawns and intensively planted gardens, threaded through with paths and walkways. In my next blog post, I'll show you more photos of this magnificent park and the "green gardening" method used to maintain it.