I love cannoli. It might be my favorite dessert, except I don’t get it often enough to tell. You only ever get it at Italian restaurants, and even they often only have ‘ice cream cannoli’ or somesuch nonsense, or none at all. My memories of cannoli are easily traced back to the dearly departed Floriana Ristorante, where Matisse is now. Floriana may have made the perfect cannoli, or it could be over-idealized in my memory.
So, you can imagine my excitmglee when I saw the big stack of cannoli on the counter today at the Galileo Grill. For those who don’t know, the Galileo Grill is, when open, the Best Thing to Do For Lunch in DC. Superstar chef Roberto Donna himself stands behind a counter, between it and the grill itself, making your sandwiches and scooping your soup and handing you your pizza, meatballs, or ribs.
Today I had the pork shoulder sandwich with provolone, broccoli rabe and green sauce, a selection always praised by Mr. Donna as his favorite. It was very tasty, but it was a little greasier than would be ideal, and one of my co-workers found she couldn’t get her mouth around the thickly-stacked sandwich (I did not have that problem).
And I had a cannoli. The best cannoli, in my mind, do not involve chocolate; the textural necessities of the pastry, I believe, generally make the chocolate mousse too light for my taste. Galileo’s has a ‘light side’ and a ‘chocolate side’ the former of which I much preferred. It had a delicious, creamy ricotta filling, topped with pistachios and hiding little bits of candied fruit in the very center. The chocolate side, unfortunately, did fall in line with other cannolis, being a bit too light and fluffy and not enough CHOCOLATE for my tastes. This is not at all to say I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it, and won’t be getting it again ASAP. The light, crispy shell was perfect, and it fell apart in the last few bites, leaving me to lick the last gooey bits of filling from my fingers. Dignified I was not – luckily my office has a door!
At $8 for the sandwich (rabe and provolone extra), $2.50 for the cannoli – a very good deal!
The Galileo Grill
1110 21st St. NW
Washington, DC 20036
202.293.7191