My wife and I had our first planned dinner in Rome at Giulia Osteria. I had made a reservation at Giulia Restaurant, but learned after we arrived that the "fine dining" restaurant won't open for another three weeks. However, although "osteria" usually means a bar that also happens to serve food, Giulia Osteria is a fully-fledged restaurant.
We arrived early, when the osteria opened at 6:00 pm (we're such Americans!), but were seated for drinks before dinner. We were told that the kitchen wouldn't start serving food until 7:00 pm, which was fine with us. The bartender gave me a preview tasting of the signature negroni that he's developing for the restaurant and I have to say that it was the best negroni I've ever had.
We didn't order the tasting menu, but ordered a bunch of dishes; Cervello Fritto, Insalata di Cedro e Maionese all'Aneto (veal brains), Polpo Croccante, Carote e Citronette alle Erbe (crispy octopus), Tartare di Manzo come una Polpetta al Sugo (beef and tomato tartare meatballs), Linguine, Aglio, Olio, Peperoncino, Colatura di Alici e Taralli and Carciofi Arrosto, Cacio e Pepe e Polentina Croccante (artichokes). We missed artichoke season in Rome by a month, but these were still pretty good. We also had the Cicoria (chicory) and Taccole (sweet peas) side dishes. The sweet peas were the surprise dish of the night. We had never before had such ribbonlike sweet peas. At first, I thought that they were a pasta!
The somm recommended a nice nebbiolo-based wine to accompany all of the dishes that we ordered and it was quite good.
For dessert, my wife had the Bignè Crema Pasticcera e Amarena (cream puff) and I had the Zabaione Caldo con Tozzetti (marsala cream). The zabaione was unlike any that I had ever had before. For one, it wasn't spelled "zabaglione". For two, it was served warm, not cold. It was absolutely delicious!
I wish that we could still be in Rome three weeks from now, when the "fine dining" restaurant opens. In the meantime, don't be fooled by the "osteria" designation. Giulia is well with a stop. read more