Osteria Giotto

[Rosie]

Another restaurant has opened in Montclair for you to try. Osteria Giotto, 21-23 Midland Avenue, Montclair serves Italian food in a small casual space and is also BYO. The menu is different than Corso 98 and Fascino.

We ordered a plate of roasted potatoes and very hot peppers from the "vegetable sides" section of the menu when we were seated to munch on while we looked at the menu. A good bowl of chopped tomatoes and a bowl of olive oil accompanied a basket of disappointing generic bread. One appetizer that was beautifully presented were perfectly cooked tender fried calamari served in a basket of thinly sliced potatoes.It came with two sauces. The tomato sauce was good; the very sweet cinnamon sauce was not liked by anyone at the table. Another appetizer worth trying was a slow cooked parmigiano soufflé with wild mushroom sauce. I didn’t care for the asparagus/potato soup or the underseasoned Caesar salad.

One special of the evening was an Italian fish similar to red snapper which we were told is very seldom seen in the US. Lowell was served two small bony red fish which were very hard to eat and dangerously filled with bones. Later on we were told it was mullet. After doing some research I found out that we were served red mullet which is not related to mullet at all but is part of the goatfish family. In all fairness the owner of the restaurant sent over a plate of biscotti when we were having dessert and said he wasn’t going to have this fish on the menu again. My entree was a thin but very tasty charbroiled rib eye steak accompanied with roasted potatoes and shredded sautéed zucchini. One friend had homemade pasta with shellfish which I liked and a delicious special of gnocchi which was flattened and filled with mozzarella (a teeny bit) and eggplant with a roasted tomato sauce and it looked like a little drizzle of basil oil or maybe a pesto.

Desserts are made in house and we all swooned over the profiteroles filled with homemade ice cream. The warm apple tart looked and tasted like a cupcake with apples. Cappuccino was excellent. I certainly will go back to this restaurant as their were many items on the menu that I would like to try.

Phone 973-746-011

[pnapoli]

i drove by a little while ago. it looks very nice inside. funny, i'm in the area all the time but rarely drive down midland, so i had no idea this was coming. thanks for the report rosie.

[Lreda]

Glad you didn't beat em' over the mullet. It's a new place and there's still trying new things and might not be able to present food the way they wish to. Shit happens, give them credit for trying and giving a proper mea culpa. I wish them the best of luck, tough town to open in.

Besides the fact, mullets are out. Ask Tommy.

[Rosie]

" Glad you didn't beat em' over the mullet. "

Not so. I gave them a very hard time!!!

Montclair is not a hard town to open up in. It's a hard town to find parking.

[Rosie]

We returned to Osteria Giotto recently and our meal had some ups and downs. We ordered a highly recommended side dish of potatoes, onions and peppers to have while we looked over the menu. Bread which was not worth eating was placed on the table with olive oil and a yogurt/cucumber sauce. The yogurt was inappropriate and didn’t go with the Italian cuisine. The bread was forgettable—a sin in NJ which has some outstanding Italian bakeries.

The waiter listed the specials without the prices and when I asked the price of an item he said, “it’s either $8.50 or $9.” This means that in addition to not knowing the price he didn’t have it written down on his “cheat” sheet.

Lowell had a fabulous mushroom risotto which I couldn’t stop dipping my fork into. Two of us had an excellent dish I seldom see on a menu which you should try if it is available; baby artichoke salad with a lemony vinaigrette. Another friend had an antipasto with Italian cured meats, roasted peppers, tomatoes and olives.

One entrée was a mistake. A special pork rib chop was ordered and a roasted pork loin was served. The manager graciously offered to replace this dish but since it was almost finished the offer was declined. To the manager’s credit he had a pork rib chop cooked and wrapped for us to take home. I felt this was above and beyond what was expected and applaud the manager for truly trying to please a customer. Our waiter was replaced with what I assume was a more experienced server.

Another entrée was actually an appetizer that was described as vitello tonnato, veal with tuna sauce, but the sauce had been described by the waiter as containing pieces of tuna. It was actually the classic rendition of this dish with a smooth tuna sauce. Although it was very tasty it was not what we expected. The other entrée was monkfish.

Dessert was hazelnut ice cream and an apple tart which was more like an apple cupcake than a tart.

Osteria Giotto has only been open about 3 months so they are still finding their way. It certainly is worth a trip. The restaurant can be very noisy and you need to call a few weeks in advance for a weekend reservation.

Osteria Giotto, 21-23 Midland Avenue, Montclair

BYO Phone: 973-746-0111

[Casey]

Took my new staff member here today for lunch for her first day as a welcome (wanted to try Alan@Five94, but still not open, so I'll try that next month and report).

This is a nice place for a quiet sit down lunch in the middle of a hectic day! On Rosie's recommendation, I started with the baby artichoke salad with shaved parm to start, which I really enjoyed, followed by one of their fresh homemade pastas (they have four fresh on the menu for lunch), the ravioli with spinach and ricotta in a butter sage sauce that was very good. My new staff member had a field greens salad with a lemon vinaigrette that was popping with freshness, and then had the orrechiete with broccoli rabe and sausage, which was very large and very good, and the rest will be her lunch tomorrow. Portions were good sized, so we skipped coffee and dessert, so our meal was VERY reasonable ($30 with tax before tip).

I will definitely return, as I really want to try the risotto and the mushroom souffle!

Casey

[kimmyb72]

rosie i know you said the yogurt dip was not appropriate for an italian restaurant, but boy oh boy was it good!! i even asked for seconds. we were 5 people when we went and they sat us at a table for 6 right in the hallway when you walk in. it was a little loud and the phone kept ringing and that really was annoying. they must have had the ringer on high so they could hear it. the artichoke salad was great.

[Rosie]

I was sitting in the back near the kitchen and it was painfully loud there also.

[Tracey868]

Had dinner here on Monday for our Anniv.

I surprised my hubby and had flowers waiting for us when we got there.. I am sooo cute.

Anyway, we just visited St. Martin and brought back some amazing wine which came with us to dinner.

Service, nice quick, and eager to tell us the specials.

We chose to split the mussels and clams in a garlic and wine sauce. One wor... YUMMY.

For salads, I had the Mista salad in a lemon vinegarette. Very mild, but nice to the palette. Hubby had the Ceaser. It was well prpared, nice touch of garlic in the dressing. Scores pretty high from someone who ate french food for 2 weeks.

Main Course: I had the special tortielli ( sorry for spelling) This was made with white truffles and the accompaning sauce was made with a veal base and black truffles.. There had to be at least 8 of them all sprinkled with cheese. Now that was a delight for all who like truffles to be had.

Spouse had Chicken in a wine sauce cover with proscuitto and mushrooms. This was a huge piece of chicken. It was also accompained by mashed potatoes and escerole. Took a couple of bits and enjoyed that too.

For dessert we had the creme' Brulee. It was prefectly made. Hot on top but cold in the center...

If you havent gone , put it on your Must Go list... We went on a Monday and the place was packed by 7:30-8.

[suzilightning]

tracey-

address?

easy to get to from morris county?

thanks

[Tracey868]

It is Located on Midland Ave in Montclair.

Very easy to get to, right off Bloomfield Ave.

[Rosie]

Osteria Giotto, 21-23 Midland Avenue, Montclair

BYO Phone: 973-746-0111

[Rosie]

Osteria Giotto received 2 1/2 stars in the September issue of NJ Monthly magazine.

[Rosie]

We had a pleasant dinner at Osteria Giotto. Started out with a bowl of addictive olives and herbed olive oil for dipping. Unfortunately the bread was not worth dipping into anything.

Appetizers were a very good and my generous spinach salad with walnuts, pancetta and shaved Parmigiana with a balsamic vinaigrette was refreshing. The slow cooked parmigiana soufflé with a wild mushroom sauce was also a worthy starter.

Although a special of whole branzino was moist and delicious it was full of bones and inedible because it was not properly filleted in the kitchen. The waiter did offer to replace the dish and this entrée was taken off the bill. My salmon was excellent. I ordered it simply grilled and it was perfectly cooked medium rare.

We shared a ricotta cheesecake for dessert, which was fine. This restaurant gets crowded so do not go here without a reservation.

[coughy]

" We shared a ricotta cheesecake for dessert, which was fine. This restaurant gets crowded so do not go here without a reservation. "

Providing you can get a reservation. Even on a Monday night we could not get one!

[Rosie]

" We shared a ricotta cheesecake for dessert, which was fine. This restaurant gets crowded so do not go here without a reservation. "

Providing you can get a reservation.  Even on a Monday night we could not get one!

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I called a few weeks in advance. I would also recommend that you make reservations for lunch.

[Montclairite]

You need to call about a week in advance even for a weeknight. I imagine Mondays are more in demand, as so few restaurants are open.

I love this restaurant. Their ingredients are great. Even the olive oil that they put out on the table is this year's olio nuovo straight from Umbria. As for desserts ---- I think their semifreddo may be one of the best desserts ever.

[richl2214]

You need to call about a week in advance even for a weeknight.  I imagine Mondays are more in demand, as so few restaurants are open.

I love this restaurant.  Their ingredients are great.  Even the olive oil that they put out on the table is this year's olio nuovo straight from Umbria.  As for desserts ---- I think their semifreddo may be one of the best desserts ever.

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Going tomorrow for my birthday dinner. Anyone been recently? I hear good things abut the hot pepper appetizer.

[Curlz]

Rich--What's the word...?!? How was your dinner?

[richl2214]

Excellent!!!!!!

The hot pepper appetizer was HOT! Yum! We had the special risotto with sweet sausage and porcinis! The cinnamon essence of the porcinis came blasting through and the risotto was perfectly cooked. I finished with the osso bucco which was falling off the bone and had a nice portion of marrow to spead on my bread. WOOHOO! Finished with the hazelnut semifreddo which was out of this world! We brought a couple bottles of fine sassicaia to complement the meal.

They really know how to prepare a meal here. Sevice was great and friendly! Definitely a return visit is warranted, sooner than later.