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May 01, 2023

GIUSEPPE’S OFFERS RARER NORTHERN FARE

Authentic Italian food doesn’t necessarily mean thick tomato sauces and heavy

Authentic Italian food doesn't necessarily mean thick tomato sauces and heavy melted cheese.

It was refreshing to find an Italian restaurant on the Peninsula that understands that.

While pasta and pizza make up much of the menu, Giuseppe's Italian Cafe's versions of these typical dishes focus on fresh ingredients. And unlike many Italian restaurants I’ve visited on the Peninsula, the Williamsburg eatery offers these typical entrees inspired by the less typical northern and coastal Italian cuisines heavy on beans, olive oil, wine, seafood and garlic.

Giuseppe's was fairly busy when we visited one recent Tuesday evening. Though the restaurant is nestled at the end of Ewell Station Shopping Center on Richmond Road, the decor didn't have that strip mall feel. Intimate booths line the cafe and wooden wine racks surround the walls.

Despite the rain, we opted to sit outside on the tiny terrace beside the restaurant. There, round bistro tables sit under a short overhang and tall landscape plants act as a buffer between the patrons and the road.

For starters we tried the roasted garlic and herb focaccia with ripe olive spread ($2.50). At roughly 5 inches in diameter, this may have been the smallest focaccia I’ve had in a long time. But since all too often appetizers are so large they destroy your appetite rather than whet it, this focaccia was a good appetizer size.

The garlic and herb flavor was strong, which is to my liking but not my husband's. And I must admit, the olive spread was gone long before the focaccia.

The next item we tried was Giuseppe's lentil soup with andouille sausage, available either with an entree or as an appetizer ($2.75 as an appetizer). This was easily the best item that came to our table. Next time, I would consider skipping the entree and instead having two bowls of this wonderful soup.

The lentils gave this soup a stew-like consistency and the sausage, fennel and Creole flavorings balanced wonderfully.

It's no wonder that this recipe has put Giuseppe's on the food map. In 1997 a reader from New Jersey wrote to Bon Appetit magazine and requested the recipe for the "wonderful lentil soup" with "a remarkable flavor." Copies of the magazine cover hang throughout the restaurant and employees regularly hand out the recipe to customers (so just ask at the hostess desk if you want one).

When it comes to entrees, Giuseppe's is a vegetarian's delight. Nearly 20 entrees are available sans meat.

For an entree I ordered the penne puttanesca, billed as tender pasta topped with a hot and spicy caper, black and green olive tomato sauce with optional anchovies ($6.95).

If you aren't an anchovy fan, I’d skip the little fishes. I love anchovies, and their unique and salty flavor permeated this dish. I was however a bit disappointed in the olives – basically small pitted California black and green Spanish olives. Somehow I expected something more Italian.

My husband tried the special for the night, a linguini with scallops, mushrooms, spinach and peppers in a white wine and garlic sauce ($13.95). While tasty, he observed it lacked texture: the scallops felt the same as the linguini, which felt the same as the peppers.

We finished the night with a cannoli, a crisp pastry shell stuffed with chocolate-studded sweet Italian cheese and dusted with sugar ($2.75). It had a light touch of sweetness, and unlike some we’ve tasted, a lovely crunchy-creamy texture.

L.A. Finneran can be reached at 247-7470 or by e-mail at [email protected]

GIUSEPPE’S ITALIAN CAFE

Address: Ewell Station Shopping Center, 5601-1&2 Richmond Road, Williamsburg

Phone: (757) 565-1977

Specialty: Italian pizzas and pastas, vegetarian

Prices: Appetizers $2.50-$6.50; salads $2.50- 6.95; pizzas $4.25-$6.95; pasta $4.95-$15.95; desserts $1.50-$4.95

Payment: Major credit cards

Hours: Lunch Monday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner Monday to Thursday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Reservations: Available for parties of five or more

Dress: Casual

Alcoholic beverages: Full ABC

Nonsmoking section: Yes

Wheelchair accessible: parking lot, restaurant and bathrooms are accessible.

Star rating: Food ***; Atmosphere ***; Service ***

(Key: ***** excellent; **** very good; *** good; ** fair; * poor)

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