Buffalo Rising Online

Jan 25th 2007, 6:48am By Emmeleia

Every once in a while you have a meal so good you can't stop raving about it. I had just such a meal on Monday night at DiGiulio & Co. That's right, MONDAY night. While many restaurants, especially on Hertel Avenue, are closed on Mondays, DiGiulio's is open for a warm welcome and a fabulous meal in a cozy, ambient setting. The menu features a carefully selected wine list and dishes from appetizers, to salads, intermezzos, entrees, and of course, desserts. The regular menu is reason enough for a visit, but my dinner Monday night was all about the specials.

First off, for wine, my dinner companion and I enjoyed a luscious Amarone. The appetizer was a featured special of pan-seared scallops over potato pancake with a smoked trout and cream reduction, topped with a few delicate greens and caviar. This was, quite simply, one of the best dishes I've ever had. Simply brilliant and cooked to perfection by chef Teddy. There are a lot of strong flavors in this dish and they were all perfectly balanced so that you could taste each unique flavor and no ingredient overpowered any of the others.

Next, my dinner companion opted for two intermezzo's instead of an entr/(c)e. He chose the Polenta (with a variety of mushrooms, egg, and other ingredients I neglected to write down!) and a classic and delicious Pasta Pommodoro. He described both dishes as "everything you want them to be" which considering the source, is a high compliment indeed (trust me). For my entr/(c)e, I chose a special again, this time it was cajun dusted pan-seared shrimp over homemade fettucine with red bell peppers, peas, tiny potatoes, and chorizo sausage in a light saffron-coconut milk broth. Exquisite. For dessert, we shared a scrumptious and surprisingly light chocolate cake layered with coconut mousse.

With well-deserved complements to the chef, I would be remiss if I neglected to comment on the excellent service we received. Julie was our server that night and was wonderfully attentive, providing spot-on advice about the offerings as we made our selections. We also had the pleasure of meeting the warm and gracious owner, Joanne DiGiulio who welcomed us as if we were in her home. One final note about our meal, I deliberately ordered enough food so that I would have leftovers for lunch the next day. My leftover fettucine made me the envy of everyone in the office!

DiGiulio & Co. is located at 1673 Hertel Avenue. Open Monday-Saturday. 716.446.1673. Reservations recommended on busier nights.