About Masseria
Hiding along a block that fringes Union Market is one of the most seductive restaurant spaces around—with a pool-blue patio in front and a warmly lit raw-brick dining room inside. You can choose among three-, four-, and five-course tasting menus, and whatever you opt for, make sure pasta plays a role. Chef/owner Nick Stefanelli came up in some of the area’s top Italian kitchens (the late Laboratorio del Galileo and Maestro), and his sophisticated compositions—linguine with salty, garlicky XO sauce, penne with cauliflower and raisins—are among the city’s best. The cocktails, including a fuchsia Negroni tinted with beet juice, are just as dreamy.
Don’t miss: Foie gras with semolina; mushrooms with turnips and honey; agnolotti with butter and black pepper; squab with plums; corvina with black garlic.
See what other restaurants made our 100 Very Best Restaurants list. This article appears in our February 2016 issue of Washingtonian.