"Can any good food come out of Heber?" It's the first question people generally ask if you're bold enough to recommend an evening out at il Giardino. In Heber City's private kitchens, women have been turning out hearty, homemade meals for decades, but the bucolic little mountain town has never been noted for its professional cuisine, other than fast food milk shakes. Il Giardino, cunningly set in a restored pioneer home, changes all that.
In a time when it has become vogue to torture Italian food into unnatural shapes, colors and combinations, il Guardino, whose chef and owner come straight from Italy, offers an upscale menu with delicious and discernable meals quite similar to European meals perfected centuries ago.Much of the food, in fact, like the expertly textured pasta, the light, supple mozzarella cheese and much of the olive oil, are imported directly from Italy because the owners couldn't get the effect they desired with local ingredients. Those effects are nothing short of miraculous.
A couple I dined with, for example, were delighted with their Insalata Caprese, which was a plate of very pure sliced mozzarella and tomato with fresh basil, exquisite olive oil and black pepper, for $10. It seems they'd fallen in love over Caprese salads in Italy, and since then had reminisced over them whenever they find them on a menu in any part of the world. They agreed that il Guardino's was the best they'd sampled.
Another member of our party had fond memories of the gnocchi, or potato pasta, that her Italian aunts made for her as a girl. We all agreed that it was bold of her to order gnocchi in the United States because it's so often leaden and pasty, but when we tried her Gnocchi Ai Tre Farmaggi (with three cheeses), we were glad of her decision. For $12, it came flavored with a brilliant gorgonzola, parmesan and mascarpone cheese sauce, and the pasta's light texture was one that our friend said would make her aunts envious.
And these dishes were not even the most brilliant stars on the menu. No one in our large party could get enough of the Carpaccio, which, at $14, was pricy for an appetizer but well worth it. Extremely tender, tissue-thin slices of filet mignon came layered with olive oil, lemon juice, celery slices and small slices of perfectly pungent parmesan cheese. It won't soon be forgotten.
And our choice for most outstanding performance in the main- dish category went to the Fusilli al Salmone, which was fresh salmon tossed with fusilli pasta, ensconced in a lively vodka parsley cream sauce, for $11. Cream sauces often separate before you finish your meal or completely overpower the other ingredients, but this one remained satin-like and subtly favorful, the perfect compliment.
The spaghetti All' Aragosta, for $15, which involved fresh lobster in a tomato sauce, well-tossed with pasta; and the Ravioli Giardino, or homemade ravioli with a distinctive veal filling, fresh tomato, basil and topped with a delicate parmesan cheese, for $13, are also worth mentioning. And the Insalata Di Gamberoni, for $14, a salad made of huge shrimp still in their shells, plus tender shelled bay shrimp, along with artichokes, endive, tomatoes, radicchio and a lemon olive oil dressing, was unsurpassed. As a matter of fact, we had an impossible time finding anything on the menu we didn't like.
And we couldn't even find fault with the service, which was warm and friendly, as befits a cozy town like Heber. Although there was no children's menu, the staff went out of their way to make the children in our party feel welcome. And every dish served to us was so generous there was plenty to share with the wee folk. The only drawback to bringing children to il Giardino is that it will help them acquire a taste for more expensive food. We're sure the 4-year-old in our group will no longer be satisfied with the usual Spaghetti-os but will be insisting on veal marsala from now on.
We couldn't help but wonder how such an extraordinary restaurant would come to be located in Heber. Paige Ruspoli, who owns il Giardino along with her Roman-born husband, Antonio, says she is originally from Utah and met her husband in Los Angeles. Together they decided Heber was a much better environment in which to raise children. Since their quaint restaurant is only 15 minutes from Park City and about 45 from Salt Lake, they thought this location could work. They were right. It definitely does.
Rating: * * * *
il Guirdino, Ristorante Italiano, 98 S. Main, Heber City, (810) 654-1308. Open nightly, Tuesday through Sunday, from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Checks and major credit cards are accepted. Reservations are advised.