After enduring an outrageously long travel day, there’s no better feeling than hopping in a hot shower moments after checking in at your hotel. My trip to Savannah will forever be marked in my memory as the most arduous of affairs. I dealt with two mechanical failures (read: cancelled flights) and had to be rerouted via three American airports before I finally slammed onto the tarmac at SAV.
I had barely eaten all day, so when I skipped out of my suite at The Brice Hotel with freshly conditioned bob and splashed into the dimly lit dinning room at Pacci Italian Kitchen I beelined it for the bar. A dapper bartender with a black bowtie affixed under his rugged chin chuckled after I chirped, “I spent 14 hours getting here today and need a stiff drink to celebrate my first visit to Georgia!”
Located in Savannah’s charming historic district, Pacci Italian Kitchen offers one of the city’s hippest Italian offerings at the trendy boutique Brice Hotel. The dinning room features a massive bar (perfect for scooting up to with a stool if you’re on the solo) and ceiling to floor windows which offer a splash of natural light to the breezy, open concept space. The designer here has perfectly combined a rustic country farmhouse sensibility with a touch of bohemian aesthetic.
Pacci’s Chef Roberto Leoci utilizes fresh, local ingredients and age-old techniques to create soulful coastal Italian dishes. Fond memories feature buttery burrata with bright beets, Coca Cola glazed short ribs (a tip of the hat to the fact that the building was once a Coca Cola bottling plant in the early 1900s), crispy duck breast with chestnut cream and addictive bombolini donuts filled with sweet rhubarb and strawberry jam.
1) Bella Rouge | belvedere, vanilla, cranberry, egg white, ginger beer
2) Beet Salad | roasted & pickled beets, baby arugula, burrata, marcona almonds, blood orange vinaigrette
3) Coca Cola Glazed Short Ribs | forest mushroom risotto, parmesan
4) Duck Breast | roasted pear, sweet potato gnocchi, chestnut cream, fig balsamic
5) Bombolini | italian doughnuts served with leoci’s strawberry rhubarb jam
