Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Cucina Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni in Mountain ViewFor a slice of Italy right in the middle of Silicon Valley, there is no better than this excellent restaurant in Mountain View's Castro Street. Intricate wood-work, earth-colored walls, high ceilings, antique chandeliers and rows of large bottles of wine give this place a lot of homeliness and warmth. Watching the kitchen at the back with fires ablaze and the chefs hard at work, I knew I had made a wise choice for the evening.

Don Giovanni in Mountain ViewThe Carpacchio de Miazo, an appetizer of wafer-thin beef slices which arrived decorated with squiggles of mustard, onion and a lavish topping of capers and shredded Parmesan cheese. A dash of lemon made this a perfect way to begin dinner along with my wine.

Carpaccio at Don GiovanniThe Pollo Ripieno, made of oven-roasted chicken breast stuffed with herbs, ricotta cheese, roasted sweet peppers was served over garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed swiss chard and roasted pepper cream. This was excellent too with its rich, pampering flavors that characterizes good Italian food.

Pollo Ripieno at Don GiovanniLater in the week, I came back here for a lunch meeting with a colleague and ordered minestrone soup followed by grilled snapper in a lemon-butter sauce. The food was excellent again, but it is the ambiance in late evenings that makes this restaurant special - a great choice for a romantic dinner.

Don Giovanni in Mountain View
Minstrone Soup at Don Giovanni
Snapper at Don GiovanniDon Giovanni also scored high on service quality both for lunch and dinner. The menu has many options for the meat and sea-food lover. Unfortunately, I didn't have the appetite to try any of the desserts during this time.

8 comments:

Vamsee Modugula said...

garlic mashed potatoes .....yum!!

Can I send you an email to get restaurant recommendations for Mumbai, Paris and Provence?

Vamsee Modugula said...

No appetite for Dessert? What is with that?
My dad says that there are different compartments in the stomach for different courses.

Atul said...

Sorry for a completely off-topic comment, but you may be the one person who may be able to help me being that you are such a food connoisseur.

I have been trying to get my hands on a bottle of Grand Marnier in PUNE but nobody seems to sell it. Do you know which shop sells it in PUNE?

BTW, I have just recently started reading your blog and I love it. Looking forward to more of your tales!

Shantanu said...

@Vamsee: Sure. Email me at shantanughosh@hotmail.com. I haven't travelled to Provence yet.
And your dad, he is a wise man!

@Atul: Hmm, difficult one. I usually buy my stuff abroad or at airport since I travel so much. Have you tried Dorabjee's on Moledina Road?

GMG said...

Hi Shantanu! Wow! That looks great; but with Barolo or Brunello di Montepulciano, not Valpolicella... ;))

Blogtrotter (not me, I’m stuck here ;)) is profiting from the holidays in Lisbon this week and has a tour of Lake Galve, one of the beautiful lakes near Trakai, to show you! Hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Anonymous said...

The minestrone looks yummy!

I find really good Italians are hard to come by. Anybody can make pasta or pizzas, but few are truly original and tasty.

Deepti said...

I can just dream about these places and hope to go there sometime.... now its only a virtual meal :D

Shantanu said...

@GMG: Cool. I will surely check out your latest Lisbon updates.

@Zhu: I have my own views about original. I think food keeps evolving all the time. :)

@Deepti: Dreaming is a good first step to getting there. Trust me, I have done this!