Palazzo Cleveland is bringing back its black truffle dinner, a six-course menu built entirely around the pungent, pricey delicacy, on Sept. 9 at the restaurant's longtime home at 10031 Detroit Ave. Tickets run $125 per person, and reservations are required for the 6:30 p.m. event.
Chef and owner Rafael Zaloshnja is working Italian black truffles into every course of the dinner, according to Cleveland.com. The menu opens with Kobe beef carpaccio topped with shaved truffles, shaved parmesan and extra virgin olive oil, followed by arugula tossed with black truffle oil and shaved parmesan. From there it moves into mezzaluna pasta stuffed with parmesan reggiano and truffles alongside sea scallops in a truffle cream sauce, per the same report.
The main courses lean even heavier into the theme. Diners can expect fresh baked flounder stuffed with lump crabmeat, mascarpone and capers, served with carrot puree and truffle butter, as well as a grilled filet mignon medallion paired with a petite butter-poached lobster tail, truffle demi-glace and a truffle risotto cake. Dessert carries the concept through to the end with butterscotch crème brûlée and truffle cream-filled cannoli, according to Cleveland.com's report.
A Sold-Out Dinner Returns
This isn't the restaurant's first run at an all-truffle tasting menu. Palazzo held a sold-out truffle dinner back in January, and the September edition marks its return, the outlet notes. Italian black truffles are widely regarded as a sought-after delicacy, and the format lets Zaloshnja showcase the ingredient across savory and sweet courses alike rather than reserving it for a single showpiece dish.
The timing lines up with the tail end of Italy's summer truffle harvest. Italian black summer truffles, known as Tuber aestivum, are harvested from late spring through late summer and carry a lighter interior, nuttier aroma and more delicate flavor than their winter counterparts, according to Regalis Foods. That seasonal window helps explain why a September date makes sense for a menu built entirely around the ingredient.
Why Truffles Command Such High Prices
Fresh truffles aren't cheap, and the market reflects it. European black summer truffles have averaged roughly €235 to €265 per kilogram, or around $350 per pound at retail, while rarer winter black truffles have fetched upwards of $1,300 per kilogram, per Terra Ross commodity tracking. Pricing shifts week to week depending on Mediterranean weather, harvest yields and how quickly the delicate fungi can move through cold-chain logistics.
The ingredient's culinary handling also explains why so many of Palazzo's courses pair truffles with warm, rich bases rather than heavy cooking. Fresh truffles release their aroma compounds best when shaved over warm finished dishes or infused into warm butter and cream, according to Milan Truffle, since they degrade quickly after harvest and typically need to be served within about a week.
A Building With Its Own Long Story
The restaurant's home has a history nearly as layered as its tasting menu. The fieldstone and brick building at 10031 Detroit Ave. originally stood across the street, housing a spot called the Spaghetti Grill, before Palmina DiFilippo bought it in 1947 and opened Palmina's; the structure was later physically relocated across Detroit Avenue to make way for a Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority rapid transit station, according to Cleveland Scene.
DiFilippo's granddaughters turned the building into the original Palazzo restaurant in 1993 and ran it until 2002, after which it sat vacant until Zaloshnja bought the property in 2018, Cleveland Scene reported. The Albanian-born chef, who trained in Verona, Italy, and moved to Cleveland at age 20, had already built a local resume that included stints at Heck's Cafe, co-ownership of Beachcliff Tavern and time at Luca Italian Cuisine before taking on Palazzo.
During his roughly ten-month renovation, Zaloshnja kept the Palazzo name, preserved the original wooden bar with its decades of scratches intact, and restored a 70-year-old Italian brick pizza oven, according to Cleveland Scene's reporting on the project. The restaurant reopened in May 2019 along Detroit Avenue on the border of the Edgewater and Cudell neighborhoods, just a few blocks south of Edgewater Park and Lake Erie.
The revamped restaurant has kept building on that reputation in the years since. Cleveland Magazine included The Palazzo Ristorante in its March 2024 dining guide to the region's 24 best Italian spots, pointing to Zaloshnja's Verona-honed technique on dishes like slow-braised lamb shank. Back in April 2020, Hoodline ranked Palazzo among Cleveland's top three Italian spots based on Yelp ratings and local dining trends, noting the restaurant's five-star average among reviewers in Cudell at the time.
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