ELV  went to Giada – The Restaurant (on Earth – The Planet) last night. A friend/client took us, in part because they were dying to try it, and in part because we wanted to see how the place functioned on a busy, Saturday night.

Although several of the staff spotted us, for the most part we received no special treatment, no freebies, no intensive-care service of any kind. In fact, the service was spotty all night — well-meaning but slow, too attentive at first and then sporadic as the night wore on. What should have been a two hour meal took three, and the kitchen was obviously in the weeds from 8:00 onward.

But the point of this post is not to discuss service. The point is to briefly tell you that  it was our fifth meal here, the most “regular” meal we’ve had (no chefs or managers personally taking care of us), and the food (with one disaster) was as solid and tasty as the first time we tried it.

Yes, the portions on some items can be small, but three apps, three pastas and a single entree (a pounded veal chop “Milanese” stye) were more than enough for four hungry adults. That chop was every bit as good as one we’ve had a Spago – The Restaurant, in Los Angeles – The City. The seafood risotto was simply sublime, as was the signature lemon-cream spaghetti (pictured above). Only the veal tonnato — four slices of tuna on four slices of veal on a stale sliver of baguette — didn’t make the grade: it being something that looked and tasted like a bad canapé thrown together by a careless home cook.

Yes, Giada – The Person is someone people either love or love to hate, but for a restaurant doing this kind of volume (600+ covers/day is our guess), with this kind of scrutiny, it is doing her name proud.

That is all.