There’s a New Breakfast Restaurant at Encore Boston Harbor

Photo by Brian Samuels

Nothing brings people together quite like food. Speaking with restaurateurs Frank DePasquale and Nick Varano just after their modern Italian breakfast and lunch spot, Giardino, opened within Encore Boston Harbor in Everett on July 24, the talk turns from food to family. And how the lines blur between pals, business partners, and family when breaking bread (or, in their case, sharing plates of pasta on the Amalfi Coast). “We’re two friends that became fratelli,” Varano says, slipping in the Italian word “brothers,” which also is the name of one of their two dinner spots at Encore. “Two friends that became brothers through a passion of the Italian culture, family, love, and respect.”

On paper, a partnership between two North End titans who already separately own successful spots might seem like a head-scratcher. (Giardino is their third outing at Encore together, with fast-casual spot Frank & Nick’s joining Fratelli). After all, DePasquale’s restaurant group, DePasquale Ventures, has been slinging pasta in the North End for more than 30 years, and is behind favorites such as Bricco and Mare Oyster Bar. Varano, meanwhile, has helmed his Varano Group (Strega and Nico Ristorante, with a forthcoming spot replacing the recently shuttered Rina’s Pizzeria & Café) for two decades. Shouldn’t they be competing with each other? But as DePasquale tells it, “We’ve helped each other over many, many years in reaching where we are right now.” Their families travel together, too, with trips to the Campagnia region of Italy, where DePasquale’s family hails from, and Calabria, where Varano traces back his roots. “Our families are well-connected and it’s an honor to be doing things with a friend that shares the same vision that I do,” DePasquale says.

Photo by Brian Samuels

And what a vision Giardino offers: For the duo, “modern Italian” means not only slightly reworking familiar recipes, but also presenting dishes as works of art you might spy in an Italian gallery (or at the very least, snap a pic of for your Instagram feed). It’s a level of detail that’s unsurprising, perhaps, for two restaurateurs more accustomed to swanky dinner service. “We challenged ourselves to do every type of Italian cuisine that there is,” DePasquale explains. “The one thing that we didn’t have was a breakfast place.” And neither did Encore: besides Dunkin’, the other 11 dining options at the casino don’t offer breakfast.

Formerly home to the Garden Café, the 120-seat restaurant received an interior refresh to skew closer to the concept of Giardino, which means “garden” in Italian. Fresh olive trees add hints of greenery to the bright, marble-clad space, which overlooks the garden lobby of the casino. “You feel like you’re eating outside in the garden,” Varano says.

Photo by Brian Samuels

The duo worked on the menu over about eight months, drawing on meals from their travels and customer favorites from decades in the industry. The kitchen, led by Depasquale Ventures’s corporate chef Nello Caccioppoli, whips up 15 breakfast entrees, and casino guests can bet on the Benedicts, with both a classic version and one featuring chunks of fresh Maine lobster on poached eggs, drizzled with tomato hollandaise. Or they can roll the roulette wheel and see what croissants and muffins, made fresh each morning at Bricco Panetteria, are a part of the daily pastry basket, served with jams and whipped butter. The nocciobello French toast brings the decadence by adding Nutella, whipped ricotta, and berries to the mix. Other plates find inspiration both near and far, such as the southern-inspired chicken and waffles with spicy Vermont maple syrup, and the zucchini frittata, which DePasquale adds is inspired by lighter meals on the Amalfi Coast. For Varano, though, one breakfast bite takes the jackpot. “I’ll put our pancakes against anyone,” he says. “They’re that spectacular.”

Photo by Brian Samuels

Along with a handful of lighter items, including clam chowder and a classic Caesar salad, diners will find eight sandwiches on the lunch-leaning side of the menu. Here, marinated heirloom tomatoes and basil pesto add a fresh zip to the caprese sandwich, with imported mozzarella and prosciutto from the small village of San Daniele del Friuli in northeastern Italy. Sweet Italian sausage, house-made pickles, and roasted pepper aioli elevate the burger from basic to molto bene.

Of course, no one can open an Italian restaurant without certain favorite dishes. Yes, there are pizzas, including one topped with mashed potatoes and Strega filet mignon, as well as entrees such as chicken Parm and lasagna with house-made pasta and a triple-threat of ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses. But it’s the Italian Sunday meal (lucky for casino diners, it’s served daily) where Giardino’s promise of food and family really blossoms. The entree sees the house ragu—made of San Marzano tomatoes simmered for more than three hours, brightened by hand-torn basil and aged Parmigiana Regiano for richness—served with house-made paccheri pasta, meatballs, and sausage. For DePasquale, it calls to mind family meals of his youth, familiar to a lot of Italian-Americans. “It’s about being together,” he says. “And by the way, when someone comes to the table on a Sunday afternoon, it’s not just family. Everybody becomes family.”

Encore Boston Harbor, One Broadway, Everett, 857-770-7000, encorebostonharbor.com.

Photo by Brian Samuels

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of the September 2024 issue with the headline, “Giardino of Delights.”