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| - Last night was my second time at Giada and like the first time, it didn't disappoint. I made a reservation well over a week ago to take a friend to dinner for her birthday. Reservation was made through Open Table and was quick and efficient. I requested a window seat via Open Table and of course was told nothing was guaranteed but a request would be submitted.
I was called about 3 days prior to our reservation to confirm and was told (rather bluntly but I get it - money talks) that a window seat is only guaranteed to guests who "commit to spending $100 per person." I thought that was a bit strange but told the restaurant rep that I couldn't commit to that (I couldn't eat $100 worth of food anywhere and I don't drink so getting to that figure wasn't feasible for me) and she politely said that she understood but would put in the request and do their best to accommodate me. That's all I could ask and while it was a little strange to have been told that, in some weird way I appreciated the honesty.
Forward to last night. We arrived on time and were seated right away at...wait for it...a window seat! The caveat was that it was a window seat on the south side of the restaurant where they have these rather large and cumbersome wooden blinds that don't offer the best view but if we craned our necks just so...we'd get a partial view of the Bellagio fountains. Suggestion: If a window seat is your thing, get specific and ask for a seat on the west side of the restaurant. It's a less obstructed view (although I'm not certain you'd be able to see the fountains) but there are no wooden blinds at all on that side so the view is far better.
For dinner, we decided on a couple apps and then a couple pastas and we shared everything. We started with the arugula salad with candied lemons, pancetta and shaved parmesan. No kidding - I could have stopped there and been completely content. It was so good. Light but satisfying. We then shared the crab and artichoke dip. I was worried at first that it was going to be too heavy but in true Italian form, it was light but packed with flavor and incredibly delicious. The lemon and spiciness of it made for a completely different taste than what you normally think of as a crab and artichoke dip and the herb crostini, while slightly over-greasy, paired perfectly with it.
We HAD to go with pasta for our main entrees and one out of two was amazing. We settled on the risotto with king crab and scallops and the white lasagna. The risotto was seriously out of this world. It was so flavorful but again not heavy at all. The scallops were grilled to perfection. Absolute and total perfection. We were a little less impressed with the white lasagna. It just seemed like it was lacking something. It was bland and not anywhere near as flavorful as anything else we ate. The one bright spot was the jumbo prawn on top - it was delicious.
Dessert. We had to. I mean, when in Rome... We had the Limoncello souffle and it was wonderful. The perfect end to an (almost) perfect meal. It was light (oh I'm so overusing that word!) and lemony and tableside, just as it's served, they put a scoop of vanilla gelato smack dab in the middle and it cools it off just enough so that it's ready to eat. Be prepared to wait a little bit for it - our server told us it would be about 15-20 minutes and it most definitely took at least that long but it was well worth it.
Our server, Rocco, was smashing. Italian, personable, funny, helpful, professional, knowledgeable and all around fun. He made the entire experience more enjoyable. The femme maitre ds were satisfactory - but nothing to exclaim about. Matter of fact, when we left around 10pm we asked if one of them would take our picture. She seemed less than thrilled (and I get that it's late and she was probably tired) and barely acknowledged us other than to grab the camera, take a few pics and hand the camera back. With that said, the behavior (however bad or good) of the front house staff doesn't make or break my opinion of a restaurant but had the ladies been just ever so slightly more friendly and enthusiastic, it would have made the entire experience even better.
Overall, fantastico! Really. It's pricey but it's the strip and it's Giada. I'm a local so I can't see myself going here any more than maybe a few times a year but I will most decidedly be back and when I have guests in town I'll make it a point to recommend Giada. Cibo eccellente! Ciao!
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