About Restaurant Openings Around DC
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Tarì Trattori. 300 Morse St., NE.
As a kid growing up on the Amalfi Coast, amaro-maker Francesco Amodeo used to watch his father dive from a boat to spearfish. Over the last couple years, Amodeo has gotten really into scuba diving, hoping to see the bottom of the ocean as his dad did. He’s since dived all over the world, from Italy to Mexico and the Cayman Islands, earning multiple certifications and now interning to become a Divemaster. Those experiences have helped inform his new Amalfi-inspired restaurant, Tarì Trattoria, which will specialize in lesser-seen, dry-aged fish and fresh pastas. It’s set to open on the ground floor of the Gantry apartment building in Union Market on Thursday, June 19.
Amodeo is known for the Italian-style liqueurs and amaros produced by his Ivy City distillery Don Ciccio & Figli. But before that, he was a sommelier and oversaw beverage programs at the likes of Cafe Milano and the now-closed Bibiana. Amodeo says he’s wanted to open his own restaurant since he was a kid, but put aside those plans when the opportunity for Don Ciccio & Figli came along more than a decade ago.
Instead of your standard branzino, Amodeo wants to highlight fish you don’t see on Italian menus as often: barracudas, John Dory (think Finding Nemo), gurnards, silver mullets, eels, and scorpionfish, to name a few. The daily catches will be on display, and guests can opt to have one of them grilled whole. But for the most part, all the fish on the menu will be dry-aged for two to four weeks to develop flavor, similar to a dry-aged steak.
A tartare of black spotted seabream comes with “acqua santa,” also known as holy water, made of “coltura,” an Italian-style of fish sauce. Amodeo says the elixir is inspired by a garum (an ancient style of fish sauce) that was made from oil pressed from the salted fish that fisherman would use to catch squid off the Amalfi Coast. The tartare is further enhanced with a drizzle of smoked olive oil, a sprinkle of Sicilian salt, and a squid-ink tuile.
Another dish highlights dry-aged amberjack that’s roasted under a broiler and served with peas, guanciale, and mint. Look out for specials, too, such as giant African prawns with herby, citrusy salmoriglio sauce or octopus prepared in its own broth and accompanied by roasted potatoes and olives. There will also be non-seafood options, such as rabbit with liver-glazed legs served on a potato cake with roasted peppers and a grape reduction.
The menu will also feature handmade pastas. One pasta dish dubbed “oro rosso” (meaning “red gold” in Italian) comes with a seven-fish sauce in two parts. The calamarata noodles, shaped like cuttlefish rings, will come dressed in a tomato-based sauce made with the heads of four types of fish. On the side is another tomato sauce, with cuttlefish, octopus, and langoustine, that you can mix in. “Now the pasta becomes a completely different dish. It’s a completely different flavor profile. And you can play around,” Amodeo says.
Cocktails are simple and classic and will highlight Don Ciccio & Figli’s Italian-style herbal liqueurs. For example, a spritz incorporates Amodeo’s own bittersweet orange liqueur called Ambrosia, and a gin martini mixes in his fennel liqueur. The wine list is exclusively Italian and focuses heavily on bottles from the Campania region (where the Amalfi Coast is located) and Sicily, with the majority of bottles under $100.
The color scheme of the 30-seat restaurant, which also will have 40 patio seats, is also inspired by Amodeo’s dives. Pops of coral mimic the ocean’s floor, while an Amalfi Coast artist created ceramic anemone in different colors. “You go from 100 feet to 140 feet [below sea level], the color changes,” Amodeo says. “The orange becomes red, the red becomes blue, the yellow becomes green.”
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.
