I am seriously hoping that Giada was just paid to use her name and isn't involved in any aspect of this restaurant. We got the pesto grilled cheese sandwich and the free lemon ricotta cookies . The cookies look amazing in the package but after one bite from two different people we ended up throwing them away. The lemon flavor doesn't taste like fresh lemon but an artificial flavoring. On to the sandwich . Surely you can't mess up grilled cheese right? Wrong! This sandwich had bland pesto and the same weird Leon taste.
This restaurant has ample seating and a cheerful atmosphere . We were there during a convention and I never saw but a few people sitting . I think it was a huge mistake to close Payard (which was always packed) for this restaurant.
I feel like I must say that I love the Giada restaurant at the Cromwell and can't believe that two restaurants owned by the same person are at such opposite ends of the food spectrum in regards to taste.