EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan — This week’s Neighborhood Eats is a spot that makes a great pasta meal that’s easy to grab and affordable.
Gnocchi on 9th is located on 9th Street between 1st and 2nd avenues in the East Village of Manhattan.
A container of pasta is just $10 or $13 if you add a ball of burrata.
“This is our little gnocchi shop in the East Village,” said Ariel Strizower, one of the shop’s co-owners.
“Ariel was my client in commercial real estate,” said fellow co-owner Michael Salzano. “And we were taking a subway ride for another concept and started talking about pasta.”
“You get a burger you get pizza anywhere. If you want Italian food, you have to sit down for 20, 30, 40 minutes and take all the time, every day, a lot of money. Why not do something quick, easy, and affordable?” Strizower said.
“I think gnocchi are fun. They’re almost like little puffs that are dumplings. They’re really easy to eat. They fit on the fork. Well, and I, for me, my favorite thing to make at home if I ever have time,” Strizower said. “We have gnocchi with pomodoro sauce and we have gnocchi with vodka sauce. That will cover it there. Everybody throws a ball of burrata right on top. That’s like the signature of every picture. You see. It’s going to have a nice big ball on top.”
They may have started small, but the shop quickly gained a big following thanks to social media.
“We started off pretty quiet. You know a few customers and our two now a few 100 customers and a regular customer just made a TikTok video. She goes, ‘I’m going to make a TikTok of you.’ I go, ‘That’s great. Thanks.’ And the next day, we sold out, and the next day we sold out, we sold out again. And then all of a sudden we’re like, oh, this is a thing,” Salzano said.
“It’s been really fun to come in and see all of the people just sitting on the stoops and in the neighborhood with takeout containers,” Strizower said.
“From day one to today is completely it’s a hockey stick of growth. It’s like I mean I don’t even know how to describe it in other than like the explosive growth we’ve experienced is tremendously rewarding and hard at the same time,” Salzano said. “The affordability is something that we are striving for. And also to make it approachable to everybody. Exactly. So we’re trying to make it affordable and portable and approachable, just to the masses.”