Giada Garden @ Beijing

This Italian restaurant has absolutely no affiliation with Giada de Laurentiis, the celebrity chef that specialises in Italian cuisine.

Giada Garden is located on the third floor of China World Hotel, Beijing, and includes a sky garden and indoor dining area, a white spiral staircase connects the restaurant with the fashion boutique of the same name. Together, the restaurant and the boutique represent the only luxury space in Beijing that brings together luxury fashion retail and fine dining.

The interior design of Giada Garden follows the simple, elegant design philosophy of the Giada brand. The space was designed by “the father of European minimalist architecture,” Claudio Silvestrin.

In line with the image of the fashion brand, the airy, elegant space exudes feminine sensibility with a pale colour scheme and warm neutrals.

An alumni of Bombana, Executive Chef Marino D’Antonio honed his culinary skills in reverent Italian restaurants like Da Vittorio in Italy and 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong. Growing up in Bergamo, Northern Italy, D’Antonio has been surrounded and influenced by some of the greatest Italian chef’s in the world. He made his mark in Asia in 2006, where he opened two award winning Italian restaurants – Sophia’s Il Vostri Momenti Italian and Sureno – and has been bringing authentic Italian dishes to the people of Beijing ever since.

With Italian cultural background, and rich knowledge of Chinese dining, Marino creates a unique expression for the concept of GIADA Garden. The restaurant’s menu he designs features the best ingredients from all over the world, combining Italian traditional cuisine and modern culinary techniques, presented to you in an innovative way, expressing the concept of GIADA brand.

Once the order was placed, a basket of freshly baked daily breads was placed with aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. The oil and vinegar dip was perfect with the breads on offer. If they did not serve the amuse bouche quickly, I would have finished all the bread.

Benvenuto

Amuse Bouche | 开胃小吃

First up, a trio of small bites. One that looked like half an Oreo biscuit is made with cream cheese dusted with black truffle. The tartlet with a quenelle of beet, and finally a pillow of tomato, squid and cheese cracker.

The second amuse bouche was a ceviche of yellowtail and tomato with white wine jelly topped with Sichuan farmed caviar. This ceviche is really delicious, balance of sour of the wine jelly and sauce with umami from the fish and caviar.

Scampi & Caviale

Langoustine, citrus, almond, Ricotta & GIADA Caviar | 海鳖虾，杏仁，柑橘，乳清芝士，鱼子酱

The first starter features New Zealand langoustines, accompanied by sturgeon caviar packed specially for the restaurant. Today, caviar is coming from everywhere except Russia, and China is the leading producer of the precious sturgeon eggs, leaving Italy and France far behind.

This course balanced the sweetness from the langoustine, creamy texture of the ricotta that has been infused with almond essence, topped with the savouriness of the Oscietra caviar with droplets of citrus gel and olive oil. Finished with a scattering of salmon row and flowers, it was pretty as it was delicious.

Fegato D’anatra

Foie gras, chestnut, hazelnut & pumpkin | 鸭肝，榛子，南瓜泥

When it comes to luxurious ingredients, Chinese gourmet places high demand of foie gras. Nowadays, pan fried foie gras is not as popular elsewhere, but in China, it has to be saved in a fine dining menu.

Duck liver (foie gras de canard) is used, served on a bed of pumpkin mash, surrounded by roasted chestnuts and finished with a hazelnut sauce with ed wine reduction. I used to love foie gras, these days not so much. But Chef Marino has nailed it, the crust on the foie gras, the richness of the liver paired very well with sweet pumpkin.

Fregola all Algherese

Traditional round pasta, shellfish soup & king crab | 传统圆粒意面，海鲜汁，帝王蟹

At first glance, I thought this was a chickpea dish. However, this is a very special pasta dish that swaps rice for fregola pasta. It is a particular type of pasta made with semolina, which has a spherical shape like cous cous, but larger. It has a very delicate taste and it’s for this reason that it can be coupled with stronger flavours, such as crustaceans, shellfish or pecorino cheese.

This newer addition to the canon of Italian cuisine dates back to just 2003, having been crafted to mark the 900^th anniversary of the Catalan colonization in the town of Alghero. It tasted like a wetter version of the paella, like an Italian version of mui fan (seafood gravy on rice) that I love so much.

Agnolotti

Piedmont ravioli, veal, ricotta & veal jus | 皮埃蒙特式饺子，小牛肉，乳清芝士，牛汁

Agnolotti is a type of stuffed pasta typical of the Piedmont region of Italy, made with small pieces of flattened dough folded over a filling of roasted meat or vegetable. Today’s filling was veal, and the raviolis were finished with a sauce made with the au jus of veal and ricotta cheese. Delicious and at the same time filling, it could be a meal in one plate.

And at this point in the meal, the bread was changed to a more rustic loaf of sourdough sliced at table side with salted butter.

Astice

Atlantic blue lobster, fennel puree & seafood emulsion | 蓝龙虾，茴香泥，海鲜汁

This is the third time seafood is featured in the menu – langoustine, shellfish and now Breton lobster. The lightly poached lobster tail served with a quenelle of mashed fennel, sits on a bed of finally chopped zucchini and beets.

Sorbetto al Melograno

Pomegranate Sorbet, yoghurt foam & almond | 石榴雪葩，酸奶泡沫，杏仁

A palate cleanser before we proceed to desserts and sweets, a pomegranate sorbet on a bed of yoghurt foam drizzled with almond essence. Delightful.

Cioccolato Giada Garden

Equatorial 70%, Gianduja & Guanaja | 厄瓜多尔黑巧，榛子巧克力

Since their opening, they have been acclaimed for their chocolate desserts. Gianduja is at least one-third hazelnuts and 30-50% sugar, with the remainder made up of cocoa butter or beans. Guanaja is bolder and the flavour is more related to what you’d expect from a dark chocolate. Stronger but not sour, just a hint. Not fruity at all, more on the earthy or tobacco side.

This chocolate creation is made up of two types of chocolate, a 70% cocoa dark chocolate made into the truffle and shell, and a hazelnut infused chocolate that is sweeter and balanced the bitterness of the dark chocolate. Finished with milk ice cream and bits of dried berries.

Piccola Pasticceria

Mignardises | 餐后小点

And the sweets kept coming. I asked how many can I choose, and the waiter simply said as many as I want. Of course I would need one of everything.

Among all the homemade sweets and pastries, the candies caught my eyes. Similar to French pâte de fruits, these Italian fruit jellies offer a sweet and sumptuous bite. Renowned Italian confectioner, Pastiglie Leone, crafts these cubifrutta jellies from the pulp of high-quality fruit to achieve concentrated flavour without the use of artificial dyes. 

With such wonderful sweets and pastries, how can I not end the meal with a head of espresso.

Looks liked they retained their 1 star rating in the latest edition of the Beijing Michelin guide. Congratulations to chef and team, well deserved for being one of the better Italian restaurant in the capital.

Giada Garden 迦达花園
3F, China World Hotel, 1 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
Tel : +86 (10) 6505 7671

Visited Oct 2024

Michelin Beijing Guide 1 Star 2024-25, Recommends 2023