The “next big thing” in dining might very well be hiding at a restaurant in Beachwood that’s been quietly humming along for 50 years. While trend-obsessed diners continue to chase Michelin stars and shell out for tasting-menu marathons that leave us underfed and underwhelmed, Giovanni’s treats guests to an old-school style of dining that puts them, not the chef, first.
Carl Quagliata opened his ristorante in 1976 with a commitment to food, service and hospitality that is nearly impossible to maintain these days, except on the ground floor of an unremarkable office building on Chagrin Boulevard. A meal at Cleveland’s finest fine-dining restaurant is not inexpensive, but the experience is worth every penny.
“There are always things trending with food, but Carl has always stuck to two main things: really good food and really good service,” says chef-partner Zach Ladner. “You’re coming here to be taken care of and to have a good dining experience.”
On a recent Tuesday night, when the Guardians were battling the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS, the well-appointed dining room at Giovanni’s was nearly full. We were immediately escorted to our table, which was double layered in starched white linens. Menus were delivered, water glasses filled, nightly specials explained, bread and butter dropped. Over the next three hours, we ate and drank to our heart’s content, while dining in the lap of luxury.
Giovanni’s has launched the careers of many great chefs, including Sergio Abramof and Michael Symon, but Ladner has been on board for the past 16 years. Since teaming up with Quagliata, the pair have gone on to open Paloma, Tutto Carne, Village Butcher, Smokehouse 91, Cuoco Bello and Haute Donuts & BBQ. Nevertheless, if Giovanni’s is open for dinner, Ladner is working the line.
To please loyal guests, many of whom have been dining here regularly for their entire adult lives, a chef needs to strike a balance between stability and variety. Some diners order the same thing every visit, while others look forward to hearing the many nightly specials. Ladner takes weekly deliveries of whole hogs and sides of beef from local producers, and he finds uses for every single bit from nose to tail.
Instead of using lean, tender and mildly flavored tenderloin in the steak tartare ($25), Ladner reaches for skirt, which packs more punch per bite. The hand-cut beef is seasoned with mustard seeds, presented on roasted marrow bones and garnished with crispy-fried egg yolks that ooze when cut. One special that never seems to go away is the Ham and Eggs ($19), a playful pairing of deviled eggs and prosciutto with housemade chips and horseradish mascarpone.
The dining room at Giovanni’s could easily accommodate a dozen more guests, but instead the tables are generously proportioned and widely spaced. That leaves room for the many carts that glide quietly through the room. There might be no higher test of a restaurant’s craftsmanship than Dover sole ($85), a classic dish that has been prepared tableside by the same tuxedoed maitre d’ for the past 46 years. Pier Luigi Gregori deftly cooks, debones and serves the firm, sweet fish in its buttery sauce without batting an eye. Most pasta dishes are finished tableside, a process that assures the ideal texture, temperature and consistency.
Order the pork chop carbonara ($55) and you’ll be presented with a long bone chop that is pounded schnitzel-thin, breaded, sauteed until crisp and capped with creamy linguini carbonara. It is impossible to finish, despite the desire to do so. Same goes for the beef short rib ($65), which is as flavorful as it meltingly tender. The hearty, savory beef is paired with creamy polenta and roasted Brussels sprouts. A gilding of giardiniera adds tang and texture.
“If you come into Giovanni’s, you are not going to leave hungry. That’s something that’s really important to us,” adds Ladner.
You will not find a more expansive and impressive wine list around, filled with all the big-name vineyards and varietals one would expect to find. But in addition to the Roederers, Far Nientes and Drouhins, the Bordeauxs, Brunellos and Barolos, are affordable Tuscan reds and American blends. Giovanni’s also stocks an impressive selection of demis, or half-bottles, bringing many of those cult wines within reach.
Meals here often end with bananas Foster, prepared tableside with a burst of flames that warm the room as well as the bananas in buttery rum sauce. It’s an appropriate old-school finish for a restaurant that is anything but a flash in the pan.
Giovanni’s Ristorante
25550 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood; 216-831-8625; giovanniscleveland.com
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