This fun and playful eatery in the East Village gives diners a choice to enjoy the excellent food and drink in either a futuristic setting or a rustic one. The interior design and the menu reflect the name Giano, the double-faced mythological deity with one side looking toward the future while the other beholds the past. And service and prices are just right.
The bar in the front serves not only drinks but also food. The sophisticated and clean-lined contemporary setting exemplifies the future. Surface material for the bar is compressed sea salt from Italy, and the tables in this section are made of carved wood and coordinated sea-salt inlays. Diners who prefer a more traditional setting will find their comfort a few steps away and immediately feel they have entered a time tunnel, finding themselves in a rustic, cozy area surrounded by brick walls, wooden ceiling, and lots of candles sitting in wall niches, emanating warmth.
Partner Matteo Niccoli said, “Italian food is all about the quality of the ingredients. At Giano we use the freshest and best quality available.” Matteo and his partner Paolo Rossi, an architect and an engineer, designed and built the interior and the furniture with the help of a talented carpenter friend who flew in from Italy.
The menu honors both the old and the futuristic Italian cuisine. Each menu category—appetizers, seconds (secondi), and mains (primi) do elegant and creative justice for each food choice—the traditional and the innovative, contemporary fare, emphasizing high quality and seasonal ingredients.
Traditional appetizers are the Insalata Invernale ($9.95), warm octopus and potato salad, or the Calamari In Umido ($11.95), which is calamari and green peas stewed and flavored in a thick tomato sauce and paprika. The contemporary counterparts are innovative, artistic presentations, such as the Crespelle Di Zucchini e Taleggio ($10.95), crepes stuffed with zucchini and taleggio cheese, which my friend and I chose.
