Rich Jevons and Holly Spanner sample the wares at leading Italian restaurant Giorgio’s in Headingley, Leeds and despite the Halloween horrorshow outside are in high spirits at this the perfect haunt to hide from the fancy-dress ghouls.
It’s Halloween and at home the trick-or-treaters are coming thick and fast – sorry, no sweeties kids! Then I head into Leeds city centre and people-watch for half an hour through a cafe window with a parade of ghouls, vampires, doctors of death and their blood-spattered nurses and an entourage of miscellaneous horrors.
My companion Holly Spanner, Yorkshire and North-East Editor at The Public Reviews, arrives and we head up to Headingley for a meal at Giorgio’s, an Italian restaurant of great repute, where we are met with a warm greeting and taken to our window table amidst the ambience of subtle red lighting and a tiny candle all aglow.
Considerately we are asked immediately if we want a drink: I’m on the sparkling water, nicely chilled with ice and lemon, Holly takes a Merlot rosé, both a refreshing treat after a slow bus journey.
The à la carte menu is hugely comprehensive but still Holly can practically order for me (she knows my tastes too well). So for starters we share the Fritto misto which comes in a dumpling cover, beautifully displaying the light fried squid, king prawns, zucchini with a garlic mayo dip – quite simply divine. And Holly has the Bruschetta, grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with tomato and basil, I have a nibble and it’s rather delightful too.
The mains are equally excellent: my salmon ravioli comes with a rich creamy sauce including cottage cheese and whipping cream and its generous portion leaves you totally sated. And Holly’s Quattro stagioni pizza with prosciutto, mushrooms, artichokes, mozzarella, tomatoes and olives is so rich and huge we put half in a take-out box.
But for me the highlight of the meal are the desserts: a Torta al Formaggio, cheesecake with mixed berries that is simply a work of art in terms of display and the fresh fruit is so full of zest; and Affogato al caffe e Amaretto with even an extra shot if you want an added edge (as a teetotaller I can’t try this one but it does smell gorgeous with that lovely bouquet of almonds).
The service throughout is unfussy but friendly and the gentle pace in the restaurant itself with its opulent space belies the frantic energy going on in the kitchen to keep up on this busy Friday night. The owner Solos comes over for a quick chat before we leave and explains this is a family run business and is particularly proud of the home-made pasta that made my ravioli so extraordinary and the 00 Italian flour with lemon and pepper as the secret behind the pizza base.
It’s handy for the bus route and as we wait to head back into the city centre our hostess walks past, she too with her take-out pizza box (sometimes it’s good to take your work home with you!)
http://www.giorgiosrestaurant.co.uk/g4d/
Review: Rich Jevons
Photos: Holly Spanner
Fabulous review, so proud of my brother’s superb restaurant!