This was not what I expected when we set out on the Roving Ravenous Horde’s 31st outing. I’d heard about this place from one of my regular readers (waving vaguely in the direction of San Isidro) who has a particular penchant for commenting on the authenticity of anything I write about that’s Italian. I envisioned one of those dimly lit spots with dark wood, Chianti fiaschi, mama in the kitchen, kind of Italian spot. A trattoria is all about casual, unpretentious service and good food without a lot of creativity. And no doubt, that’s what this place is, it was just… more modern, more… lunchroom feeling, than I think we expected.

 

We’re at Trattoria da Giulio, Fitz Roy 1575, Palermo, where my northern suburban correspondent asserted, “Giulio is authentic, good and che cheap. So far, the cheapest authentic Italian restaurant in bs as.” We love authenticity, and in a city that’s so heavily Italian influenced, it’s surprisingly hard to find. I’d immediately put the place on my list of spots to check out, and followed Giulio’s instagram feed, and he promptly followed mine back. We didn’t correspond, but liked photos back and forth a few times. And, so, I put it in the rotation for the Horde. In the end, a trio of us arrive at the table this week (the rest of you, who cancelled out, you missed out). [Closed]

I arrived a bit early, Giulio treated me (and then the others on arrival) to a round of Campari and orange juice, just what I needed on an empty stomach…. But hey, it gets the appetite flowing. In conversation we discovered that he is from the Amalfi Coast, and his focus is on classic trattoria food of southern Italy. There’s a blackboard with most of the menu, but also a printed menu that’s slightly more extensive. Interestingly, though in traditional fashion, he lists his pastas as primi piatti, first plates, the blackboard menu lists no secondi piatti, or main courses – and the printed menu has only a trio of them. Pasta, primi o segundi, is clearly the king of the hill in this spot.

I’d noted two appetizers that particularly grabbed my attention. An asparagus gratin, and stracciatella. Now the latter, interestingly, has three different meanings – most people probably know it as either what amounts to Italian egg drop soup, or as an ice cream flavor of vanilla ice cream with fine shavings of chocolate in it. The third, and the one that I was counting on, is an Apulian cheese that takes the form of a very creamy cheese, almost like burrata, but in form is like bundles of shards or needles of cheese. On the menu it’s noted as something to inquire about, as it’s not always available, and luckily, it was. Giulio makes it himself, when he has time, or the whim.

He offered to put together his antipasti platter, along with those two additions, and get us going. And that he did. First up, a lovely platter of charcuterie, cheeses, jams, eggs, and olives. At the end of the board, a big mound of stracciatella in a hollowed out house-made bread round, with cherry tomatoes. Oh so good. I have to learn how to make stracciatella, I know the process is a bit more arduous than many cheeses, but it’s one I’d love to have in my repertoire.

The antipasti platter also includes a trio of empanadas, bowing, I imagine, to local custom – one filled with creamy white asparagus, the other two variations on eggplant, one with cheese and onion, the other with cheese and tomato.

And then the gratin of white asparagus, basking in cream and topped with browned, gooey, melted cheese. Yum.

 

Pastas being the raison d’etre for this place, we picked a trio. The lasagna of the day was an eggplant one, packed with flavor, and one of the better lasagnas I’ve had here in town. Fresh spinach tagliatelle came smothered in a boscaiola sauce, a traditional Tuscan “woodsman’s” sauce of wild mushrooms, garlic, parsley, and a nigh on perfect tomato cream, just a touch of the last to give it a richness without coming across as a cream sauce. And, linguini in one of the best putanesca sauces that I think I’ve had in a restaurant – packed with flavor, and a really decent kick. Giulio clearly knows his local audience, and asked upfront to be sure if we wanted it with chili and/or anchovies in it or without. We went full tilt traditional and asked him to make it the way it would be made back in Naples, and he went straight for it. I should note, the last pasta comes to the table in its skillet, and what’s in the bowl was less than half of the serving size. I ended up taking half home for Henry.

We were full. Really full. And eschewed desserts, just ordering a round of espressos. But…

 

…Giulio sent out a flavor bomb of a fried pastry filled with soft pears and melted chocolate to the table. And we finished it, right down to the powdered sugar on the plate.

So, the roundup? The space isn’t what we expected, it just doesn’t have that old school trattoria feel to it, though that was swiftly forgotten as the food started to arrive. Service, at least at lunch, is all handled by Giulio himself – someone is down in the basement cooking, so he’s getting his exercise going up and down the stairs with all the plates. It’s friendly and knowledgeable, as it ought to be in a place like this. The food was uniformly excellent. Well, maybe not uniformly – that putanesca was outstanding. Wait, so was the boscaiola, and the stracciatella, and the dessert, oh hell, it’s uniformly excellent. Some of the better pasta around.

Pricing? Let’s see, the antipasti is 380 pesos ($14), and although on the menu the asparagus and the stracciatella are 260 pesos apiece ($9.50), he charged us only 480 pesos ($17.50) for all three things together. The pastas all run in the 220-260 peso range ($8-9.50), indeed making them very reasonably priced, especially for the exceptional quality. He didn’t charge us for the dessert he sent to the table, nor the complimentary cocktails, obviously. Add in the round of espressos, and a round of bottled water, and the bill came to 1570 pesos for three – with tip we left 1800 – basically $33 apiece for an absolutely excellent lunch. Is it the cheapest place for authentic Italian fare in BA? Mmm… I’d have to give that accolade to Maria Fedele, but it’s a close second! And of course, here, you can order just a pasta, you don’t have to order the whole multi-course meal. Highly recommended, and goes on my list for top 5 casual Italian spots.