Giada De Laurentiis Talks Book Club Brunch & Reflects On 5 Years Of Giada

Photo Credit: GIADA at The Cromwell

We’ve all heard the phrase “home is where the heart is,” and it couldn’t be truer for celebrity chef and Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis. “When guests come to any of my restaurants, especially Giada at The Cromwell, I want them to feel like they are sitting down to eat at my home,” she said.

“From the moment they walk in, they’re hit by the aroma of our wood-burning oven and immediately see our antipasti station and an exhibition kitchen. The next thing that should grab them is the panoramic windows along the terrace seating that have the most spectacular views of the Las Vegas Strip. That’s what sold me more than five years ago before the restaurant was even built.”

Photo Credit: GIADA at The Cromwell

Giada has become one of the top places to dine since debuting on the Las Vegas Strip in 2014. The restaurant from the highly-acclaimed chef entices guests with top-notch service, innovative cuisine and an upscale ambiance with scenery like no other.

“Throughout their experience, I hope guests see and feel the other important touches I put into the restaurant—from the artwork of my family, the light fixtures with one of my favorite sayings, to even the chairs, as I sat in and tested each furniture piece in the space. Of course, the food is the star, with my Roman Italian dishes mixed with a light, California twist. More than five years later, I’m still so proud of my first restaurant and the team there continues to do an incredible job providing meaningful experiences for first-time guests and the many return guests that we’re so grateful for.”

Photo Credit: GIADA at The Cromwell

De Laurentiis is always reinventing the menu at Giada. The latest addition is the Book Club Brunch tasting menu—a tableside dining experience, inspired by her New York Times best-selling cookbooks including Giada’s Italy, Happy Cooking, Giada at Home and Everyday Italian.

“We wanted to come up with a balanced menu that makes sense for brunch in Las Vegas, but wasn’t just a bunch of random recipes from my books, so we really thought about what people would enjoy at that time of day, including incorporating some tableside elements,” De Laurentiis said. “What we have done is create a fun, interactive experience that has a bit of entertainment value to it.”

The Giada Book Club Brunch tasting menu begins with an item from the tableside pastry cart full of delectable treats such as rosemary scones, espresso cheesecake brownies, mini polenta cakes, oatmeal cherry chocolate chunk cookies, lemon ricotta cookies, blueberry banana bundt cake, chocolate monkey bread and chocolate peanut butter cookies. The Book Club Brunch continues with a salad, main entrée and a dessert for $55/person.

“The endive, pancetta and tomato salad from Giada’s Italy has quickly become a brunch favorite,” De Laurentiis said. The light champagne vinaigrette perfectly completes it. Another option to choose from is the shaker salad with mixed greens topped with feta cheese, almonds, grapes and hummus dressing from the Happy Cooking cookbook.

“From the entrées, the chicken Milanese has been a top order recently.” The dish, served with a tomato and fennel mascarpone sauce, is from Giada at Home. Aside from the chicken Milanese, guests can choose either the eggs cacio e pepe with multigrain toast and pecorino cream from Happy Cooking or spaghetti with clams and white wine garlic sauce topped with gremolata, bread crumbs and lemon zest from Everyday Italian. For an additional $24, upgrade to a family-style creamy polenta with lamb bolognese and parmesan from Giada’s Italy.

The Giada Book Club Brunch tasting menu ends with the chianti affogato with red wine poured over vanilla gelato topped with warm winter spices or the chocolate budino with Amaretto whipped cream, toffee crumbles and Marcona almonds. Both are from the Giada’s Italy cookbook.

Photo Credit: GIADA at The Cromwell

The Giada Book Club Brunch tasting menu is offered Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Guests receive a 20-percent discount on cookbooks when the Book Club Brunch tasting menu is purchased. Giada’s regular brunch menu offers items such as the salmon Benedict, lobster hash, pizza carbonara, hazelnut chocolate chip pancakes and the Giada’s burger with avocado basil cream and provolone cheese. Brunch cocktails offered include the classic Bloody Mary, white peach bellini, the Giada’s sangria and bottomless mimosas.

Giada is also open for dinner from 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m. daily. For reservations, call 855-442-3271 or book online here. For more information on De Laurentiis, visit giadadelaurentiis.com.