Gnocchi vary from hard little balls of dough that weigh inside your stomach like lead shot to light and delightful airy clouds carrying just a taste of potato toward your mouth, accompanied by sauces of varying sorts. I have had both. I have had gnocchi with duck and gnocchi with brown butter and mushrooms in Washington DC (two different restaurants). Not to mention some very weird orange colored gnocchi in San Diego --a kind of gnocchi with the appearance of Kraft mar & cheese. And in upstate New York, too, I have had gnocchi. There is a range from ok to terrible gnocchi in the Finger Lakes and, in fact, you can find nearly transcendent gnocchi in the Finger Lakes.
Torrey Park Grill is the new name for what was, for many years, Pronti's Restaurant in Geneva, NY. Same decor, same menu, same everything -- except the restaurant's name. (At least as far as I can tell.) I was there recently (actually twice recently) and had gnocchi. The sauce was great. The gnocchi were not. Alas. But then the second time I had angel hair with roasted garlic and oil. Much better. Not transcendent, but better. And, Pronti's (ok, I know they have changed their name, but really. . . the neon sign still says Pronti's) does have fried bologna. A weird phenomenon. I have never had it anywhere else. In fact, I had never heard of it until I went to Pronti's. It comes with fried jalapenos. And it is truly a junk food worth trying. To be truthful, this is the only reason to go to Torrey Park/Pronti's.
Henry B's is in Seneca Falls. It is a swell restaurant, with family size dishes but the food is much much better than that phrase implies. The ambience is white-table-cloth extremely friendly but not obnoxious. It is nealy always packed. This is the food of a family that loves food and, more particularly, loves Italian food. They serve gnocchi three ways: with a fresh tomato sauce, with a meat sauce (their bolognese is really good though I have not had it onthe gnocchi), with pesto, and with proscuitto and parmesan. They are called, respectively Gnocchi alla Mama, Gnocchi al Papa, Gnocchi Pesto and Gnocchi con Proscuitto di Parma. I have only tried the last of the four types. (You can also get a Gnocchi Trio and sample three of these.) The gnocchi is definitely dandy. It is better than dandy. I would drive miles for this. Wow. And, of course, Henry B's has much more: a lemony chicken that is wonderful, rapini (aka broccoli rapi) with italian sausage, salads that taste of childhood and summer. Not to mention a pretty good cosmopolitan. The menus on their web site are not identical to what is on their menu at the restaurant right now, but pretty close and so check it out!
Torrey Park Grill/Pronti's
89 Avenue E
Geneva, NY
315-789-1629
Henry B's
84 Fall Street (that's 5 & 20 as it goes through Seneca Falls)
Seneca Falls, NY
For reservations OR TAKE OUT (315) 568-1600
