Daring Anima Elevates the Off-Strip Dining Experience With Playful Spanish and Italian Dishes

One of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in Las Vegas gains a new restaurant serving a meld of Italian and Spanish fare. The team behind Eater 38 member EDO Gastro Tapas & Wine opened Anima at the Gramercy with favorite dishes from the Chinatown original along with newcomers to explore.

Anima brings together a powerhouse team of chefs — EDO’s chef-partner Oscar Amador and chef Francesco Di Caudo, formerly at Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar. Together they let their Spanish and Italian backgrounds guide the menu with a playful mix and meld of ingredients. Flavors from Catalonia, Asia, Sicily, and beyond find their way onto the plates here: find The Bikini, a pressed ham and cheese sandwich, and strawberry granita, both favorites from EDO, alongside newcomers such a Peruvian scallops crudo and bagna cauda with Piedmont anchovies, garlic dip, fried polenta, and crudité.

At the front of the restaurant sits a charcuterie bar and raw bar serving what general manager and partner at Anima Roberto Liendo calls “the best out of Italy and Spain.” Diners can order charcuterie with a riff that pairs Italian and Spanish meats or simply go head-to-head with jamón and prosciutto. Market oysters and cured tuna sashimi from the raw bar vie for attention with hand-chopped beef tartare and a 30-day dry-aged striploin carpaccio.

The chefs kept an eye on healthier fare as well. “We felt that because we’re in a neighborhood, people are going to be looking for things that are more approachable, a little more healthy in direction,” Liendo says. To satisfy the vegan and vegetarian crowds, Anima turns an eye to burrata with butternut squash and green tartare using vegetables such as zucchini, avocado, green bell pepper, and pistachio vinaigrette.

Diners can watch their dishes being made in the exposition kitchen, similar to those Liendo says he finds in Spain. “We want to do the energy of the kitchen outside,” he says. “We can visualize everything and then we decide what we want to eat. We wanted to create a little bit of that market feel when you come in and you can see all different colors displayed, just like in a store or the market.”

Amador and Di Caudo showcase their skills in large-format dishes such as Catalan suquet, a stew with clams in tomato broth, pappardelle cinghiale with wild boar ragu and Pienza cheese fondue, and arroz a la cazuela with duck confit, foie gras, and black trumpet mushrooms, all meant to share. Of course, diners can sample more of the menu with tastings that parade through 10 to 12 dishes to get a complete lesson in the chefs’ cooking skills.

A 10-seat bar sits to the side of the entrance sporting a list of 100 wines under $100 and nearly 150 total. Sommelier and partner Joseph Mikulich says the tighter list gives him a chance to pair wines with dishes. Botanicals, lesser-known sherries and liqueurs, gin and tonics, amaros, and red and white sangrias make up the cocktail menu.

The dining room itself comes bathed in chocolate, burgundy, and pewter with murals of marine life by Apolo Torres decorating the walls. A private dining room overlooks the Gramercy’s courtyard with room for 12, while a chef’s table and separate private dining room seats small groups near the kitchen.

Louiie Victa/Eater Vegas

Louiie Victa/Eater Vegas

Louiie Victa/Eater Vegas

The charcuterie bar at Anima.

Louiie Victa/Eater Vegas

Louiie Victa/Eater Vegas

Louiie Victa/Eater Vegas

Louiie Victa/Eater Vegas

Anima, The Gramercy, 9205 W. Russell Road, Unit 185; 702-202-4291. Open Thursday through Tuesday from 5 to 9 p.m. Lunch coming soon.

• A New Progressive Spanish and Italian Restaurant from the Edo Tapas Team Heads to the Gramercy
• All Vegas Restaurant Openings