1.

ooooh just have to stir this pot, having worked with both chris and jon @ la bottega can say that my vote is on chris as the better man in the kitchen if we want to eat well while at gemma. He can handle the work while jon is much more of the celeb chef type who would rather wander around the dining room and pull his specials off of a google search for "italian specials".
simply put chris can cook--jon can't.

2.

Ate there last night....place is definitely not ready for prime-time. The a/c was on the fritz and it must have been at least 85 degrees in there. Tons of staff milling about, most of whom seemed clueless, although they were nice enough,and with no attitude. Food was so-so, kind of a poor-man's Otto at this point. Prices are reasonable.

3.

I too have worked with John and I completely disagree with your statement. John is a great chef and manager. All his sous chefs go onto better jobs (eg.Chris Missy) and more imporantly all his places run smoothly. Can you feed 600 people a night? And feed arguably the most celeb filled restaurant on the planet.

"the mark of a great cook is one's confidence in simplicity" Fernad Point.

4.

I've eaten at Gemma twice now (randomly walked in on opening night 6/29, and returned on Saturday evening 7/7). Understandably the service has not yet hit its stride, but decor and lighting are great, and I think the food is very good. I just fear that it will be too cool for school within a month, and locals won't be able to wander in anymore.

5.

room is nice, the food is so-so. every dish was a little off: the fritto misto and escarole salad both flavorless, the chicken liver crostini a bit dry, pizza funghi too sweet, the branzino dry, and linguine overpowered by the lifeless tomatoes. whether or not gemma nails it, however, the hoards of hungries will keep coming back.

6.

I ate here again on Saturday night, this time with a group, so I was able to sample a few more dishes.

The food here JUST ISN'T VERY GOOD. It's not terrible either, but there are no fewer than 10 Italian restaurants (at all price points) in a 10 block radius serving superior food.

We tried a boring salmon dish, reasonably good pizza, and some lackluster contorni. The star was definitely a veal chop which managed to maintain juiciness and a nicely charred exterior.

But the cheese plate was an outright insult: it was served without bread (!) (I saw this happen to someone who ordered it when I was here the other night, as well), and instead of dazzling us with the neato accoutrements (fruit mostardos, truffled honey)one might get at Otto or 'inoteca, the fromagier here has decided that red and green grapes are sufficient accompaniment for a $17 plate containing about 4 ounces of cheese.