100 Very Best 2016On the restaurant menus of the last decade, charcuterie and cheese boards have become nearly as ubiquitous as beet salad and butternut-squash soup. But how many places have whole rooms devoted to the stuff? Here, a glassed-in nook puts forth lavish spreads of Italian imports and house-cured prosciutto, and also does take-home orders of meats and cheese.
The narrow, brick-lined downstairs barroom is a charming place to laze away a few hours over snacks, but stick around for dinner and you’ll be rewarded with excellent cocktails (they lean toward the bitter), simple but decadent pastas like a gooey cacio e pepe, and surprisingly refined desserts.
Don’t miss:
- Fried artichoke
- Salt-baked branzino
- Vanilla mille-feuille
- Crepe with cappuccino cream
- Peruviana cocktail, with pisco, prickly pear, and Aperol
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
