Giada
Coffee
Pastry Basket – Polenta Muffin, Savory Bacon Corn Muffin, Chocolate Croissant Monkey Bread
Chicken Marsala Meatballs with Roasted Wild Mushrooms
Pecorino Tartufo with Apricot Preserves
Lavash
Gorgonzola Dolce with Raw Pear Honey
ANTIPASTI PLATTER – Eggs Benedict Deviled Eggs, Mini Pizza Di Pasta, Brussels Sprouts Crostini
Mortadella Bianca Pizza
Baked Sausage & Eggplant Lasagna in Pink Sauce
Sardinian Gnocchi al Pomodoro
Italian Chicken & Waffles with Cacciatore Sauce, Polenta Waffle, Parmesan
Cappugiro – Lavazza Gran Riserva, whipped with ice and layered over warm milk and chocolate sauce
Limoncello Souffle with Buttermilk Gelato
Leaning Tower of Chocolate & Espresso
From the moment Giada De Laurentiis opened her well-branded doors at The Cromwell I knew the day would come when curiosity would finally get the best of me to step inside, but with friends overwhelmingly underwhelmed while Pete Wells basically shredded the place it was not until the opportunity for “Media Brunch” presented itself that I finally sat down at a table…to almost entirely predictable results.
No doubt a luxurious room, the posh banquets and enormous windows with a view of Bellagio some of the perks offered from a place whose prices speak to celebrity Chefdom and Strip-side surcharges more than perhaps any in town, rest assured that one will not forget they are dining at Giada during a single moment of their meal, the name of its proprietor found on everything from menus and napkins to the artwork…small cursive Gs outlining many service pieces, as well.
Humorously handed a card suggesting #hashtags and @handles to tweet with during the stay it was from the full brunch menu as well as a prix fixe tasting that invitees were left to decide from, the service exceedingly pleasant if not a little overbearing – though the special coffee menu did have to be requested while refills of the houseblend drip were infrequent to come around.
Inexplicably targeting every writer in town at once, a PR move I’ll never comprehend as a steady stream of positivity would seem far more beneficial than an obvious en masse lovefest, it was nonetheless in in three courses that our 130-minute stay would take place, some dishes far better than anticipated while a few were no better than those found Off-Strip for less than half the cost.
Beginning with a pastry basket offered as part of the prix-fixe, for our purposes self-selected but usually Chef’s choice, only the Monkey Bread was particularly memorable as both cornmeal-based options were far too dry, and moving on to appetizers suffice it to say that aside from stingy portions none of the Antipasti “platter” showed as well as it sounded, the better bites found in a la carte options including the moist chicken meatballs awash in spices and a duo of cheeses that were well aged and portioned to fit the double-digit pricetag, the accoutrements and crisp lavash also faring well.
Acknowledging the import status of their Artisan meats, but hardly ever to pass up Mortadella whenever it is found, it was an intermezzo “pizza” that would be far better described as a flatbread which seperated appetizers from entrees and with a pleasantly pliable crust and a good sapor to the meat the quality was just fine aside from the $15 tab, particularly compared to dreadful gnocchi that may as well have come from a box, the bowl going unfinished despite being no more than four spoonfuls of limp noodles laid in a watery and insipid sauce.
Turning next to entrees, a porcelain crock featuring layers of eggplant and noodles separated by spicy sausage undoubtedly a highlight of the meal, those interested in tasting Giada’s signature cacciatore without going all-in at dinner have their chance to sample alongside crispy polenta waffles – recommendations to combine sauce, bird, and syrup not worth the time or effort as separating the plate as two-halves is far more successful, though neither is likely to make anyone say “wow.”
Finishing up with dessert, the options scaled down from dinner and lacking in seemingly obvious bombolini for reasons unknown, the go-to dish is undoubtedly a pudding-soft citrus souffle served with buttermilk gelato while the leaning tower is no more than a Cold Stone quality ice cream cake, an “inverted cappuccino” entitled Cappugiro from the specialty coffee menu a far more intriguing proposition and the sort of thing for which I could almost justify a return visit, if only to sit at the bar sipping while enjoying the view.
TWO AND A HALF STARS: Told by some that Giada has improved since opening while others suggest they have locked in their core clientele and no longer need to try, I’m sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle, an experience worth having once if only to say “been there, done that” but not the sort of place warranting return visits for those who truly care about value or great food.
RECOMMENDED: Baked Sausage & Eggplant Lasagna, Limoncello Souffle, Cappugiro.
AVOID: Sardinian Gnocchi al Pomodoro, Polenta Muffin, The Hype.
TIP: Charged at $45 the Brunch Tasting Menu hardly represents a deal when accounting for the paltry Antipasti Platter and meager pastry offerings.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor.
https://www.caesars.com/cromwell/giada
