I had the great pleasure of revisiting my favorite Italian restaurant in the City, Juno Trattoria OXFORD CENTER. Keep in mind the Juno in Ross Park is completely different. Great atmosphere, granite tables, photographs of Italy, linen runners. It is a very comfortable room. I hate the chairs, however, they don't seem to belong. The bar stools are worse, you have the feeling you're going to tumble backward at any moment. The staff is neatly dressed, clean pressed uniforms a fun tie. The antipasta cart is a must. French green beans with carmelized shallots & roasted garlic the thyme & Balsamic vinegar. Baby potatoes with fresh sliced artichoke hearts with hazlenut oil & lemon. Cous Cous with calamata olives & crispy vegetables. Roasted tri-color peppers with capers, herbs & anchovies. Wilted Broccoli rabe with chestnuts. Cold pesto raviolini in walnut sauce with crumbled gorgonzola. Everything was fresh, well seasoned & very very pretty. The raviolini were delicious, well, everything was. I did not have a single complaint on these items. I did not, however, appreciate the appearance of the person who was tending the cart. He was a little gruff and lacked knowledge of the items. Appetizers: Capellini Calabria: Magnificent. Capellini pasta with herb roasted chicken breast, fresh (peeled) julienne tomatoes, fresh spinach and a sauce with goat's cheese & rosemary. Perfect combination, fresh & crispy vegetables, smokey chicken, rich salty sauce. I also love the oval bowls they serve pasta in, and the plate was warm! Gnocchi Fontina: I get this every time I come, light & fluffy homemade gnocchi melted with smooth buttery fontina sauce, simple but sinfully rich. Salads: We both got the heart of romaine salad. The romaine was too wet & it washed the dressing out. The wetness ruined this salad. But they did have shaved Roquefort cheese, even though it wasn't on the menu! Filet Mignon Tomasino: This was the best entree I have ever eaten in a Pittsburgh Italian restaurant. Smokey rare, incredibly tender filet mignon, not a spec of fat on it. Sliced & served over spinach sauted in virgin oil, surrounded with Danish bleu ravioli (with black pepper pasta dough), all in a red wine butter sauce that used demi-glace as a base. The combination of the salty sharp flavor of the bleu cheese & rich tender filet and the sauce. This was almost perfect. Bluefish Ambruzzi: Fresh bluefish with basil linguine & tomato, green peppercorn beurre blanc. This was ok, the bluefish was delightful, but the sauce really didn't work well, and we both concurred the basil linguine was a waste. I guess we were both raving over the filet dish & didn't really pay much attention to this. We didn't have room for dessert but we still tasted the chocolate decadence with a little raspberry sauce, it was not very nicely presented, but the cake is fantastic. Espresso & Cappuccino are both delicious and not overpriced. I almost forgot, they have great bread. They say they bake it themselves & it is served warm. However, they bring out rock hard cold butter with it. I ask for a cruet of the virgin olive oil they have, it is great. Dinner for two with a good bottle of wine, $100. The great thing about this place is you can come in before a hockey game, get two small pastas & a glass of wine & get out for 25 bucks, including tip. We love this place. A solid 9. GAT.
Pittsburgh, PA