The menu of the new little Giovanni
Ristorante in Woodland Hills, which replaced Verdi, is pretty
much the tried and the true, the traditional American-Italian
fare.
It's all there, from the spaghetti and meatballs to baked mostaccioli.
But credit Giovanni's kitchen with some good cooking, especially
in the appetizer, seafood and chicken entree categories.
And huzzahs for its addictive house-baked focaccia.
Admittedly, this is no dreary, boring, strictly red sauce Italian.
In fact, the kitchen prides itself on the number of sauces you
can choose from with your De Cecco pasta dishes.
There's the fresh marinara sauce made daily, a mushroom version
of the same made with fresh mushrooms, a fresh meat sauce, a puttanesca
sauce (mild or spicy), a spicy arrabbiata sauce, a basil pesto
sauce, a fresh tomato and basil mixture, a creamy alfredo, an
aglio e olio (olive oil and garlic), a primavera of vegetables
made with either the marinara or the aglio e olio preparation,
a fresh chopped tomato and basil with garlic topping and other
mixtures like broccoli and basil with garlic and oil or sausage
with marinara.
But it's dishes like a rendition of chicken marsala ($11.95) and
cioppino ($18.95) that separate Giovanni from the run-of-the-mill,
neighborhood, family Italian cafe.
The boneless chicken breast here is cooked flawlessly. This means
it is moist and tender, not dry and tough. It means that every
bite ensures a softness and lilting flavor, allowing additions
like that of the marsala wine richness to come through. Allowing
the crunch of each fresh mushroom on the tooth.
That cooking expertise with breast of chicken also shines through
in the house cacciatore dish ($11.95) where the marinara sauce
is enhanced primarily with mushrooms, sweet bell peppers and onions.
Veal marsala ($14.95), though it doesn't impress as much as the
chicken version, shouldn't disappoint, because the veal medallions
display the necessary modicum of softness.
And in the seafood arena, it's the cioppino that satisfies most,
closely followed in gratification by a refreshing, cold, lemony
salad of scungilli and calamari ($7.95) and in third place a decent
bowl of fresh littleneck clams ($8.95) in a steaming white wine
and garlic broth.
The hearty cioppino brings to the fore a heaping of milky-white
chewable calamari, fresh clams and
mussels en shell, crunchy shrimp and several large pieces of tasty
fish in an herbal tomato broth boosted with clam juice. Giving
the soupy bowl plenty of extra heft is a generous portion of al
dente linguini, obviously added at the last minute to avoid mushiness.
Too bad, though, that this isn't the case with the house minestrone
soup ($3.95) which has good taste but possesses extremely mushy
pasta.
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Giovanni owner Rich Battista Grosso and Chef Fausto Hernandez
show off some of the fare at their place in Woodland Hills. (David
Sprague / Daily News)
GIOVANNI RISTORANTE
Food: 3 Stars
Service: 3 Stars
Where: 21926 Ventura Blvd.,
Woodland Hills.
Hours: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, for
dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly, to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Recommended items: Calamari fritti, steamed clams, calamari and
scungilli salad, stracciatella soup, chicken marsala, chicken
cacciatore, cioppino, tiramisu.
How much: Starters from $4 to $9, pastas and entrees from $8 to
$19, desserts $4 each. Beer and wine license. AE, MC,
V.
Reservations: Helpful. Call (818) 884-0243.
On the other hand, the stracciatella ($4.95) is a fine version
of Italy's "little rags' egg drop chicken soup with the
usual accompaniments of baby spinach and angel hair noodles.
Although we only tried the above two, an Italian kitchen that
makes five soups has to be lauded. Giovanni also makes a clam
soup, a pasta e fagioli soup with cannellini beans and uses
the same beans in an escarole and bean soup ($4.95 each).
Though it doesn't bother with osso buco, any lamb dishes or
an expensive veal chop, Giovanni serves up gratifying Naples-style
steak piazzaiola ($18.95) with a New York cooked to order topped
with a garlicky tomato and mushroom sauce.
On the walls of the narrow dining room are vintage black and
white photos of Giovanni's family.
Looks like they enjoyed life with gusto and would expect patrons
of a restaurant with their name to savor the food with the same
exuberance.
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