Giovanni

Giovanni Restaurant Review:

Aspiring to be an expensive, top-echelon Italian restaurant, Giovanni lands the first mark just fine, but falls well short of Nashville’s best in the genre in terms of food quality. You get your money’s worth in opulent ambience. An enormous Murano glass chandelier makes the dining room sparkle; ask for a seat on the upper level so you can ogle it up close. Standout dishes include orecchiette with sausage and cauliflower sauce. For an upcharge, pasta dishes may be enjoyed gluten-free. For dessert, the tiramisu is good but not great as it should be for the price, and there’s usually a fine cheesecake to try. The long wine list, heavy in Italian wines, is studded with familiar names, but only a handful of bottles are under $50. But you will have lots of Amarone, Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo and Barbaresco from which to choose, with American and French wines rounding out the offerings.