Giulia

Cuisine	Italian
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	9/10
Last Visit	Dec. 11, 2019
Location	Boston: Harvard

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General Notes

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Giulia is now hands-down my favorite restaurant in the Boston area, and it's not even close. When I come back to the same restaurant twice in a span of a month, that's a very positive sign. I was not disappointed. They are most well-known for their fresh pasta dishes, and aside from the lobster pansotti I had at Marea, their pappardelle is the best pasta dish I've had. While it is extremely difficult to get a reservation here, the experience is well worth it and I would highly recommend giving this place a try.

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Positives

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> The food is incredible. Aside from a couple of specific dishes, every dish was executed very well, and I struggle to find any faults in them.
> I love the ambiance of the restaurant - it's a perfect balance between rustic and sleek/modern. But unlike many similar restaurants, the interior is also fairly well-lit.
> Obviously a good place for a date or a nice dinner with a small group, but they also have a "pasta table" for 8-12 people. Specifically, (from the website): "The pasta table can be reserved for larger groups (8-12 people). It is the perfect setting for a special occasion. Your party will enjoy a family-style tasting menu and share a wide variety of dishes inspired by seasonal flavors."
> Their pasta dishes also frequently rotate out (except the pappardelle, which has been on since the restaurant opened), so you can try something new each time.
> The servers are really friendly and thoughtful. Especially my second visit here - we ordered two pasta dishes to share and the server kindly asked the kitchen staff to split it into two dishes for us!

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Negatives

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> It is very, very difficult to get a reservation here. They only take reservations one month in advance, and most of the spots fill up instantly. You'll either have to jump the gun in terms of getting a reservation, or you could try calling them day-of to check for cancellations. Alternatively, if you're just a party of one or two, you could try going for bar seating, which is first come first serve.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★☆☆ Tagliolini -- Sea urchin butter, lemon, chanterelle mushrooms. I'm probably missing some other ingredients - this is a new menu item and I couldn't find it online. A decent dish overall, but I found the lemon to be a bit overpowering. It's a bit hard to detect the other more subtle flavors in the dish, and I can't really taste the sea urchin butter at all.
• ★★★★ Octopus and Smoked Squid 'in umido' -- With ceci (chickpeas), tomatoes, and citrus. Amazing dish! The squid and octopus were both incredibly tender, flavorful (the smokiness really shines through), and the octopus had a nice sear on it. I'm typically indifferent to chickpeas but they (along with the octopus and squid) pair really well with the sauce, which was super flavorful and had just the right consistency.
• ★★★★ Warm Almond Torta -- Baked apples, maple sabayon. I generally wouldn't order something like this, but my server recommended it and I don't regret it. The almond cake is so tender and moist, and the flavor combination of apples, almonds, cake, maple, and cream just makes so much sense. Each item complements the others and the dish is beautifully balanced, both in terms of flavor and texture.
• ★★★★ Pappardelle with Wild Boar -- Black trumpet, juniper, parmigiano. Their flagship dish that has been on the menu since their conception, and for good reason. This dish is absolutely incredible. It's fairly simple in terms of the number of ingredients, but they complement each other so well. Pappardelle is fresh and has a nice texture, wild boar is super tender and lightly gamy, black trumpet is surprisingly delicious (considering I don't like mushrooms in general), and the parmigiano adds much-needed creaminess and acidity.
• ★★☆☆ Live Scallop Crudo -- With green apple, smoked nardello and lemon. In retrospect, I'm not quite sure why I ordered this because I don't really like most crudo that much in general. It was a decent dish but I found that the acidity kind of overpowered the scallops, and I couldn't really taste the flavor of the scallop.
• ★★★★ Chicken Liver Crostini -- With spiced green tomato marmalella. Incredibly delicious. The paste is soft, smooth, flavorful, and really buttery. The spiced green tomato marmaletta pairs beautifully with the strong flavor of the liver, and brightens the dish well with its acidity.
• ★★★☆ Warm Seminola Cakes -- Pine nuts, parmigiano, black truffles. Wonderful texture - moist, soft cake and pairs well with the pine nuts. The flavor is nice but could use a touch of a slightly acidic component.