Charred broccoli rabe with cranberry walnut gremolata would have been better off with a lot less liquid smoke.ĭesserts found the kitchen in fine form. There was something to be said, too, for the creamed corn with kicky sausage. We loved the lemony-cheesy smashed potatoes, but devoured the crispy Parmigiano polenta with pesto even faster. Since each costs $9, you might as well go for the $20 tasting combo that includes all of them. Salmoriglio seasoning (lemon, oregano, garlic, etc.) provided interest, but the reasonably tender beef still tasted too ordinary for the $51 price. I was expecting more pizzazz from the one entree marked with a “G,” the Tuscan ribeye steak. Even allowing for the piquant flavor, the chicken piccata was a failure, the breasts too thick and tough (seems to me they should have been pounded thin first).

This was Italian cooking worthy of a TV spotlight. The pasta course we sampled revealed considerable finesse - a sensible, perfectly al dente portion of chitarra spaghetti in a light, lemony alfredo sauce with peas. But the crunchy turkey meatball delivered particularly delectable texture, along with hearty flavor from ricotta and a burst of chili. The orzo and chicken marsala ones offered character and charm. Jumbo lump crab is breadcrumb-coated and fried like a rice ball, accompanied by Old Bay-seasoned aioli.Įven more fun is a trio of meatballs. It’s de rigueur to work crab into just about any menu in Maryland, which GDL Italian does in stylish fashion. Our server may have been a little green - a superfluous place setting wasn’t cleared away used plates and silverware remained throughout the meal - but made up for it in charm and pacing. Photos of De Laurentiis dot the walls, of course, but not in a pushy, look-at-me way. Once past a brusque host (strange how such an important, first-impression job often goes to indifferent folks), we felt uplifted walking into the airy dining room with a red-and-white-accented decor that suggests a midcentury-modern-fueled fantasy. And now, nestled away from slot machines and poker tables at Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, we have GDL Italian by Giada - not the most mellifluously named restaurant, perhaps, but a welcome addition to the scene. Her first restaurant opened four years ago in a hotel on the Las Vegas strip another followed in that gambling mecca this year.

But there’s still something intriguing about entering a world created by a Food Network star, especially when that star is the personable Giada De Laurentiis. The era of TV celebrity chefs probably raises as many unreasonable expectations as TV shows about house-buying. Baltimore Sun eNewspaper Home Page Close Menu

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