/ Reviews / Italian
Ode to Joy
by Tom Lee
on Friday, November 13, 2009 12:00 AM
Emblazoned on the napkins and over the entrance to the restaurant, the head from Botticelli‘s Birth of Venus gazes serenely out, hair floating loosely about her face. "My mother used to call me gioia mia (my joy) when I was a child," reminisces Annarosa Carnovale, Owner of Gioiamia. "When I think of the words gioia mia, I see Botticelli's paintings Primavera and Birth of Venus, which is why I chose the head of Venus as our motif."
Opened tentatively in June, Gioiamia Italian Restaurant & Lounge Bar is a new dining step for the Italian businesswoman, who already has several Gioiamia Cafés, but wanted to advance further into the restaurant business. Custom-made scarlet red chairs blaze out from the soft jade green walls and curtains. The furniture is distinctly Chinese in style, while the walls are mounted with a smattering of artwork, including reproductions of 1930s' Italian poster art for Campari and Martini.
Though the décor may be a mix of Italian and Chinese styles, the food is unmistakably Mediterranean. The tender lamb chops with truffle sauce (RMB118) were cooked to a nice medium rare, garnished with sweet caramelized onions. Fortuitously, the chops managed to escape the chef's overzealous use of the salt shaker.
Several other dishes were less lucky, like the lightly grilled seabass (RMB112), topped with marinated peppers and served with eggplant - a particular shame because the fish itself was adeptly cooked, exhibiting both a pure flavor and soft flesh.
Pizza was the original specialty of the Gioiamia Cafés. While the Gioiamia brand has undergone a culinary evolution in the creation of its restaurant, the Diavola (RMB60) pizza's fluffy base, topped with lightly spiced salami and fringed by a crispy crust, testifies to the continued quality of Gioiamia's original specialty.
After several months, Gioiamia now feels confident enough to begin its PR parade, hosting Italian "King of Seafood", Chef Ercole Villirillo.
The Bottom Line: A well-blended mix of East and West decor beating with an Italian heart.
