Three weeks into service, Giulia had a front-row seat to Vassar College’s Families Weekend: The restaurant sits directly across the street from campus. The dining room was packed with exactly the mix owners Michael Purcell and Giovanni Ilardi had hoped for, from students grabbing lunch to parents settling in with their kids and multiple generations sharing tables.
Purcell was in the middle of it all, clearing tables, checking on guests, and answering questions behind the counter. When I asked how the first few weeks had been going, he laughed. “I haven’t sat down since we opened, but that’s exactly what you want to happen, right?”
Being across from Vassar was a major part of the plan. Purcell and Ilardi envisioned a place that could move with the neighborhood from morning coffee and pastries through dinner, drinks, and gelato.
The idea for Giulia’s menu, though, started at Spettro, their first Poughkeepsie restaurant.
Satisfy the Craving
Spettro opened in 2023 with a focus on modern regional Italian cooking, but Purcell and Ilardi kept talking about the Italian-American staples and comfort foods they grew up eating that didn’t quite belong there.
“The idea for Giulia began right there,” Purcell says, “taking those beloved red-sauce classics and elevating them with the same rigor, fresh house-made components, and culinary care we bring to Spettro.”
The duo was aiming to dish up meals that were satisfying without being “ridiculously heavy.” Purcell says, “You know, the kind of lunch you can eat and still function afterward.” That held true even with a table full of fried, sauced, and cheese-covered things. My mom and I started with potato croquettes and pasta salad. The croquettes had a crisp exterior and soft, fluffy center, with savory ’nduja aioli underneath. The pasta salad was properly cold but tender, with broccoli, tomato, cucumber, creamy dressing, and grated Parmesan.
A buffalo chicken Caesar paired a juicy, crisp cutlet with noticeable heat, cold shredded lettuce, and bright dressing. The eggplant parm was similarly light, with crisp eggplant beneath vodka sauce and melted cheese, plus pesto for a fresh, herby lift.
Purcell sums up the kitchen’s approach as “satisfy the craving, then elevate the details.” ’Nduja aioli, house pesto, and vinegar peppers sharpen familiar flavors while keeping the dishes recognizable. Giulia’s signature focaccia is baked in-house each morning, while its seeded Italian and ciabatta rolls come fresh daily from a Bronx bakery.
Before we left, we added a cheesesteak to go for my dad. My mom made the mildly sacrilegious request to have the filling packaged separately so the bread wouldn’t be soggy a few hours later when he was able to eat it. The kitchen accommodated her, and my dad later happily reported fresh bread, tender steak, tangy creamy cheese, and vinegar peppers bringing just the acidity it needed.
Giulia After Dark
At dinner, the lights dim, table service takes over, and Giulia’s red-sauce side comes out. Small plates include margherita arancina with San Marzano risotto and fior di latte and Sicilian panelle with basil aioli. House-made pasta runs from cacio e pepe to lumache alla vodka with bacon and Calabrian chile, while the lasagna Bolognese layers spinach pasta with béchamel, San Marzano tomato, mozzarella, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Chicken and eggplant parm are served over spaghetti alla vodka, while house-roasted porchetta comes with potato croquettes and rosemary pan jus.
It’s not all pasta though. House pizza comes in two styles: 18-inch New York-style sourdough rounds and Sicilian sourdough focaccia pies. The namesake Giulia pie gets vodka sauce, stracciatella, basil, and Parmigiano Reggiano, while the Sfincione layers soffritto, San Marzano, garlic, bread crumbs, oregano, anchovy butter, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
General Manager and Beverage Director Brandon Brooks wanted the compact drinks list to “punch way above its weight,” building it around Italian spirits, aperitivi, wines, and riffs on familiar cocktails. Daisy Chain combines Malfy Gin, bergamot-based Italicus, and elderflower tonic. Count Camillo brings together Malfy Gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth.
Coffee, Pastries, and Gelato
Caffè Giulia is the restaurant’s coffee, pastry, and gelato counter, tucked into the same space but given enough separation to feel distinct. Purcell says they wanted guests to feel like they were visiting “two destinations at once,” and dinner guests have already started making their way over for gelato and espresso after their meals.
The coffee menu includes Biscoff, white chocolate pistachio, and rainbow cookie lattes alongside traditional espresso drinks. The tiramisu latte was sweet, but the coffee still came through clearly beneath a generous dusting of cocoa powder.
All pastries are baked in-house each morning, with bomboloni as the specialty. The sugar-dusted Italian doughnuts come plain, filled with house-made pastry creams and rotating fillings, or split and stuffed with gelato.
The pastry I couldn’t stop thinking about, though, was the lemon-raspberry black-and-white cookie. The fruit tasted startlingly fresh, while the cookie itself had that ideal black-and-white texture: cakey and bouncy in the center, with just enough crumble around the edges.
Biscoff & Amarena Cherry is currently Caffè Giulia’s only house-made gelato flavor. The other eight were selected after Purcell and Ilardi taste-tested more than 100 options from Italian specialty purveyors. The house-made flavor was rich and unmistakably Biscoff, with pieces of cookie throughout.
Familiar by Design
Purcell and Ilardi designed Giulia themselves, taking cues from cafés they had visited in Italy, across the Northeast, and in cities like Montreal. White tile, burgundy trim, café chairs, red napkin dispensers, and an illuminated soft-serve cone give the room a distinctly Italian-American feel.
The name works on two levels, honoring the matriarchal figures who brought Italian families around the table while nodding to the historic Juliet building the restaurant occupies.
For all its moving parts, Giulia felt remarkably settled. The room was full, the space was spotless, and service never seemed harried. “Our staff has been wonderful, really on top of everything, and it’s been much smoother than we anticipated,” Purcell says.
By the time we left, the lunch rush showed no signs of letting up, and Purcell was still making his rounds. Three weeks in, he might want to invest in some comfortable shoes.
Giulia is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and 4 – 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. They are closed Monday.
Giulia
60 Raymond Avenue in Poughkeepsie
@giuliapkny
