A few years ago, Taipei's selection of Italian restaurants consisted of those that were reasonably authentic and overpriced and those that were cheap and served inedible food. Italian cuisine has been getting better since then, and Giorgio, which opened early last month, could well push the standard up to another level.
Giorgio has fantastic food and is run by a top-rate Italian chef. On top of that, it is reasonably priced and doesn't pretend to have a fine-dining chip on its shoulder. The restaurant takes a lot of its character from its namesake, head chef and owner, Giorgio Trevisan, a man who never went to cooking school. Instead, he learned recipes from his "mamma," perfecting them for 30 years in the family restaurant in a 16th or 17th century villa (he's not quite sure of the exact age) among the green hills and vineyards outside Verona. A photo mural of the trattoria and surrounding landscape adorns the upper portion of one wall in the restaurant, serving as one of the comfortable yet plain dining room's few decorations.
The Giorgio menu is chiefly composed of pasta, pizza and grilled meat entrees. The fare is hardly standard, however, including several dishes that are hard to find in Taiwan, and especially hard to find done well. Examples include risotti, polenta, gigantic grilled brise mushrooms, and gnocchi, a pasta made of potatoes, which, in its simplicity, achieves a richness and texture hard to describe. Like all the pasta at Giorgio, the gnocchi is homemade with machines imported from Italy. The pizza oven, which takes three days to heat properly, is likewise imported, as are many key ingredients.
PHOTO: DAVID FRAZIER, TAIPEI TIMES
As with pastas and antipastas, sauces are delicious, especially the mixed cheese, which combines gorgonzola, fontina and parmesan cheeses with a touch of cream. At lunchtime, pasta dishes go for NT$200 with a salad, and at dinner they run in the NT$300 price range. Grilled entrees of beef or lamb start at around NT$400, and pizzas start at under NT$300. Compared to most Italian restaurants of similar quality, Giorgio is an absolute bargain.
Address: 1F, 375 Renel Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei (臺北市仁愛路四段375號1樓)
Telephone: (02)2731-7641
Open: 11:30am - 2pm, 6pm - 10pm. Closed Mondays.
Average Meal: NT$300 lunch, NT$400 - NT$500 dinner
Details: English mennu. Credit cards accepted. Dinner reservations recommended.
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