Food

The Obamas Dine on Italian at Casa Luca

The President and First Lady dined at Casa Luca, a rustic Italian restaurant in downtown DC. Photograph by Jeff Elkins

President Obama and the First Lady joined friends for a meal at Casa Luca on Sunday night. The rustic Italian restaurant in downtown DC is owned by chef Fabio and Maria Trabocchi, who are now very familiar with hosting the Obamas. FLOTUS dined at Fiola, their upscale Italian restaurant, in 2013, while POTUS celebrated his 55th birthday at the seafood-centric Fiola Mare on the Georgetown waterfront in August—complete with a serenade from the public.

Casa Luca is helmed by executive chef Erin Clarke, and is the most casual of the Trabocchi’s current Italian restaurants (their Van Ness pasta joint, Sfoglina, opens soon). The Obama party was seated in a private room off the main dining area that’s hung with family photos of the owners. No word on the menu, though Casa Luca is known for its homemade pastas and a family-style Sunday supper featuring dishes like whole grilled fish and dry-aged bistecca.

Food Editor

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.