Jianna - Greenville, SC

 

The last meal out that I had on vacation was at an Italian place.  Now the stereotypical Italian place is a pasta and red sauce place with a rustic look.  Many that I have been to have paintings on the walls that make it look as if the place is very damaged with cracked walls, and an open ceiling.  While Jianna does feature pasta, the space has a very modern and clean look, located in a second floor space with a balcony.  The walls are white, and while there is some trellis work around the bar, which occupies the center of the dining room, the trellises are not decorated with grape vines.  The food would be familiar in many Italian restaurants, though the dishes are frequently treated with a modern twist and many are served as small plates.  I was with a large party, so we ordered a large number of appetizers to share, though our entrees were eaten mostly individually.  Most of our appetizers would easily be recognized as Italian, but there was also a raw bar that featured oysters and fish.  From that selection we went with some Tuna with Lemon Gel, Hazelnut, Arugula, and Olive Oil.  This would look familiar in a sushi joint, but it did have an Italian twist.  It was tender, and flavorful with some great flavors from the lemon, arugula, and olive oil.  The Ciabatta served with the appetizers was grilled, so it had a nice crispy exterior with a nice airy interior.  Also on the appetizer list was Gnocchi with Smoked Bacon, Tomato, Chives, and Parmesan Brodo (broth).  The gnocchi was soft and had a rich flavor added to with the bacon, chives, and tomato, and the Parmesan broth.  grilled Octopus was served with Arugula, Potato, Guaciale, Pistachio, and Sherry-Lemon Vinaigrette.  I love octopus and this was very good.  The Italian Cheese plate came with three cheese as well as Grapes, Pickled Radishes, Fig Jam, Almonds, and Ciabatta Toast.  It was simple as cheese plates usually are, but as long as the cheese is good, which these cheeses were, it fulfills its purpose.  Generally when a cheese plate is ordered, a charcuterie plate is as well.  The plate that fits this bill is was the San Danielle Prosciutto, a sweeter version than the di Parma version.  The last of our appetizers was the Polpette, Veal and Pork Meatballs, with Polenta, Tomato Sugo (sauce), and Parmagiana.  They were very tender and flavorful and very good meatballs, but of our appetizers, I think my favorite was the Octopus.  They had a very good wine and cocktail list, but I decided to take it easy with a Lonerider Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen (from Raleigh, NC).

In many Italian places, the menu is divided into antipasti (appetizer), Secondi (pasta), Terzi (large entrees), and Dulci (dessert).  The menu at Jianna was divided in the same manner although it was written in English.  Generally, if you order pasta, you won't order from the entree section, and this was the case as well.  Our group seemed to split fairly evenly between pastas and entrees.  I went with a pasta.  After the large number of appetizers, I was looking for something a little lighter, so i went with the Casarecce, wich is similar to a rotini that has been more loosely rolled.  The casarecce was served with Lump Crab, Corn, Peas, Lemon, and Chili Flakes.  It had a lot of crab and vegetables, but it was pretty light.  The lemon gave it a tart flavor that really did away with a need for any sauce.  It was very good and I liked it a lot.

To finish things off, it seemed that after our large meals, we were going to wave off dessert.  While I do like dessert and I thought the food we had been served thus far had been great, I had eaten enough that I would have been fine to go without dessert.  Despite this thought, we still ordered several desserts to share among us.  We started with a New York Style Cheesecake with Blueberries, continued with a Honey Lavender Panna Cotta, and finished with a Salted Caramel Semifreddo.  The cheesecake was simple and straightforward and was quickly gone.  The Honey Lavender Panna Cotta (a panna cotta is a sweetened cream dessert thickened with gelatin) was sweet and floral with a nice bit of tart sweetness from the strawberries.  I thought it sounded good, but there were a few that seemed at first to be a little intimidated by it.  After everyone tasted it, they joked that they would leave the rest for me.  I had a few more bites, but then left the table before finishing it and was happy to see it was mostly gone when I returned.  The last dessert, the semifreddo (semi-frozen) was served with Biscotti Crumbs, Caramel Sauce, and Shaved Chocolate.  It had the texture of a frozen mousse and a fantastic flavor and was an easy sell.

I really enjoyed my dinner here.  The food was fantastic, the service was very good, and it was an interesting spin on an Italian restaurant and Italian food.