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Giorgio's
1131
NW Hoyt St., 221-1888.
Open
5-10 pm Tuesdays-Thursdays,
5-11 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Kids welcome but
infrequently seen. Moderate to expensive.
Picks:
Cauliflower soup, salmon tartare, potato tart, chick
pea fries, French fries, chocolate cake
Nice
touch: Handsome plating of dishes
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Giorgio's on my mind. And my mind is not completely made
up. There's nothing especially complex or ambiguous about
this new restaurant in the Pearl District, and if you order
the "right" items from a modestly sized menu, you'll be
a most happy fella. On the other hand--I don't mean to sound
as if I'm promoting some culinary orthodoxy--if you order
the "wrong" items, you might go into the night feeling slightly
blue.
One of the nice aspects of dining here is the cheery bistro-like
ambiance. Giorgio's occupies the corner ground floor of
a Pearl building, and the restaurant's space is essentially
an L-shaped corridor, long and narrow, with a cute bar tucked
into one end. The black-and-white tile floor, ceiling fans,
exposed pipes, creamy walls and copper-colored trim make
for a warm, lightly sophisticated space. The room is free
of decoration save for a series of beautifully simple mirrors
that echo the windows along the length of the room. The
look is spare but without austerity, and it's a comfortable
feel.
Chef Alex Ralston pays considerable heed to the appearance
of his dishes, and sometimes it pays off handsomely. The
platings are generally superb, with artful compositions
and glistening colors; much of the time the aesthetic palette
excites the waiting palate. There are seven appetizers;
topping my list is a comforting saffron cauliflower soup
with swirls of fresh dill circling the bowl like a jade
spiral nebula. I also like the bracing salmon tartare, a
flat disk of chilled fish hashed to resemble a scattering
of miniature jewels, ringed with paper-thin cucumber slices
and topped with a dollop of caviar.
Ralston likes low-lying, round presentations: His tasty
curried confit of chicken salad is as flat as a CD, with
a scattering of salad across the surface. The tortino di
risotto seems less successful; although the little savory
cake filled with chanterelles has an earthy, forest taste,
the rice seems somewhat overcooked, even a bit mushy. But
a potato tart with Gruyère and Parmesan is creamy
and delectable, more Alsatian than Italian, or perhaps Swiss-Italian.
I mention this because the restaurant's menu is vaguely
Italian (Giorgio Anastasio Kawas, its owner, is Bolognese),
but it has numerous eclectic touches shading it away from
any strict culinary conformity.
In general, the starters seem to have been given an attention
to detail and flavoring not so evident in the main courses.
There are about eight entrees, a sensible number allowing
for both range and focus, though three of these are pastas.
One consists of a hearty duck ragout ladled over tagliatelle,
decent enough but blandly lacking the pungency one wishes
in duck; wild mushrooms might have given more dimension
to the dish. I often try a simple, unadorned steak when
reviewing a restaurant because the preparation is so straightforward
it represents a test of beef's quality and flavor, as well
as the kitchen's adherence to strict timing; in short, with
a steak there is no place to hide. Giorgio's Angus is cooked
perfectly to order, but the beef itself is not especially
flavorful, and a mediocre brown sauce adds less than nothing.
But the French fries that accompany it are spectacular and
addictive, well worth adding to any order for general table
noshing.
Giorgio's meats fare less well than the other choices.
The veal shank is tender but lacking in deep flavor, and
the gravy seems like an afterthought, not a sauce developed
from the cooking of the veal itself. Two other dishes have
elements that are rewarding hobbled by elements that are
disappointing. A free-range chicken breast is admirably
stuffed with smoky, salty prosciutto, and crunchy cabbage
leaves lend a welcome autumnal touch; but the carrot ravioli
that accompany this savory offering, however smart in theory,
are thin and hard, as if they've been put under the broiler.
An order of seared codfish seems a bit over the hill, yet
the finger-sized chick-pea fries that come with it are marvelous,
the light and crunchy batter enveloping a sweet, creamy
interior.
The dessert selection similarly suffers from schizophrenia.
The warm, soft chocolate cake is stupendous--intense in
flavor and as runny as a lava flow of molten chocolate.
Lighter appetites might gravitate to the homemade sorbets
cradled in a crisp, free-form pastry shell, the sorbet flecked
with dried orange. A fig tart has a nice crust, though it
needs a glaze or powdered sugar, anything to sweeten the
affair. But the apple tartlette is so hard it practically
needs a steak knife (as, in fact, does the steak) for one
to make any inroads.
Kawas worked in JoJo, the New York bistro of Jean-Georges
Vongerichten, one of the world's leading French chefs. Several
dishes, including the chicken salad, the potato tart and
the chocolate cake, come almost directly from Vongerichten.
On the plus side, good pedigree; on the minus side, a lack
of originality. With some restaurants you suspect that what
you have early on is what you are stuck with, the chances
for growth quite slim. This is not the case with Giorgio's,
and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. One senses, to use an
oxymoron, a modestly ambitious design on the food, and there
are certainly touches of real talent and savvy in the kitchen,
all of which argue that what is needed here is greater control
and attention to detail, and as much concern with flavoring
as with visual aesthetics. When that happens, I'll cheerfully
sing, "Just an old sweet sauce keeps Giorgio on my mind."
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