THE next time you dine at Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Giovanni’s Restaurant, you will experience the quintessential Italian cuisine.
Giovanni’s new executive chef is Matteo Fracalossi whose mother is from Tuscany, the region of Italy known for cuisine that favors simplicity in cooking, and fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Fracalossi and Hyatt’s new Food and Beverage Director Hani Min met with local media members on Friday to present some of the new Italian dishes now served at Giovanni’s.
These include selezione di antipasti (selection of appetizers), such as insalata di mare (seafood, parsley salad, celery, cherry tomato), melanzane (marinated grilled eggplant, oregano, garlic, vinegar, extra virgin olive oil), cavolfiore, broccoli e acciughe (cauliflower, broccoli, black olive, bread crouton, anchovy dressing), insalata di riso (rice, ham, mozzarella, grilled vegetables, green pea), caprese (cow mozzarella, tomato, basil pesto) and frittelle di cavolfiore (cauliflower fritters).
One of the two salad options is l’angolo dell’ insalata or create your own salad with salad greens, cherry tomato, cucumber and corn kernel. The salad comes with condimenti such as olio extra vergine d’oliva, aceto balsamico (traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena) and salsa senape e miele or honey mustard dressing.
You may also want to try Giovanni’s take on the Caesar salad with romaine lettuce, parmigiano, crispy bacon, garlic bread crouton and Caesar dressing.
The lunch menu comes with pane della casa or homemade bread choices, such as ciabatta, traditional Tuscan bread, germe di grano, and whole wheat. The pizza menu lists three pizza styles: al taglio, a street food style pizza typically sold “by the cut” and weight, but which actually refers to thin crust pizza baked in a rectangular tray; capricciosa with tomato sauce, mozzarella, artichoke, black olive and cooked ham; and margherita with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil.
For soup, Fracalossi highly recommends his mother’s recipe for mesciua, a traditional Tuscan legumes and grain soup. “It’s the soup that my mom cooks for me at home. Very yummy and very enjoyable,” he said.
Fracalossi, who has 24 years of culinary experience, said he wants to showcase food from the different Italian regions, including those his own mother cooked.
He said they have traditional dishes from central, south and north Italy. Giovanni’s menu is all Italian, Fracalossi added.
He said some ingredients may not be easy to find on island, but they are committed to “deliver the best Italian food.”
Fracalossi began his culinary career at a young age in Trento, Italy. He served as executive chef in Moscow at the Restaurant Amarsi and was the Italian chef of the Banana Island Resort in Doha, Qatar.
He started working for the Hyatt in 2016 as chef de cuisine at the Park Hyatt Saigon’s Opera Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam before he became the executive sous chef of the Grand Hyatt in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Min said, “There is a lot of opportunity for us to improve [our] Hyatt touch.”
With Fracalossi on board, she said: “We just want to show the world that Giovanni’s is living up to its name by becoming more Italian. This is just the beginning.”
Min began her Hyatt journey as F&B marketing manager at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul, South Korea in 2016.
She received a bachelor’s degree in international management from Kyung Hee University in South Korea and a master’s degree in fashion, marketing, and management from Mod’Spe Paris in France.
Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Food & Beverage Director Hani Min, left, and Giovanni’s Restaurant Executive Chef Matteo Fracalossi.
Giovanni’s Restaurant’s Executive Chef Matteo Fracalossi stands next to an Italian soup, mesciua and other Italian dishes.
Pollo & Pepperoni.
Giovanni’s Cook 1 Matthew Tateus Igisaiar stands next to the pasta section of the lunch buffet.
