"If your ideal night out is a few close friends, a round of espresso martinis, and a bunch of shared plates, Gemma is your place. This Italian restaurant in the Bowery Hotel has warm lighting, wine bottles lining the walls, and coffered wood ceilings, making it the ideal spot to spend a few hours catching up. Settle into a leather banquette booth, order espresso martinis for the table, and a few housemade pastas like the chitarra cacio e pepe, canestrini with fennel, sausage, lemon, and parmesan, and the gnocchi with black truffle cream. If pizzas are more your style, they have them in spades: Try the Apulia with cherry tomato sauce, oregano, and burrata, or the Nduja topped with fior di latte, spreadable and spicy Calabrian salami, and basil." - Lee Musho