Giardino Awards

Giardino Restaurant Review:

When pioneering restaurateur Umberto Menghi shuttered his much-loved Il Giardino after 40 years, his legion of loyal diners was adrift. Happily, Giardino, complete with a Florentine-styled courtyard and sidewalk patio, and mere steps from the original, reflects Menghi's Tuscan roots. Moreover, there are plenty of familiar, welcoming faces among waitstaff to greet longtime devotees and new guests. Menghi's design skills are reflected in everything from the gracious room's vaulted, wood-beamed ceilings and chandeliers to artwork and Tuscan tiles. The focus, however, is on the open kitchen where dishes showcase his classic, signature Tuscan and Mediterranean cooking. Start with Dungeness crab cakes or traditional panzanella salad with fresh organic vegetables. Next, order spaghetti al nero di seppia (squid ink pasta with lobster bathed in cherry tomato sauce) followed with oven-roasted, horseradish-crusted Pacific sablefish and braised lamb ragoût. Or go for broke and order the eye-popping grilled 38-ounce porterhouse steak Fiorentina (for two) with arugula. Dessert? We recommend the almond cannoli with zesty ricotta lemon cream and blood orange sorbet. Giardino's wine list is deep in Italian selections. Service is professional.