Slip into Nicholas Stefanelli’s stylish courtyard and Italian tasting room and you enter a luxurious world—one where chic cliques sip Campari cocktails around fire pits and cannolis are filled with foie gras. The four-to-six-course tasting menus are flexible: Order two pastas if you want before skipping to an indulgent dry-aged rib eye with its cap and marrow. You’ll pay extravagantly—even before extras like truffles and caviar—though the starter $98 prix fixe is fully satisfying, and the sommeliers can pair a funky Puglian bottle for less than the cost of an individual tasting. Very expensive.
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.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
