FIFY - Dean was a wine buyer (among other things) for Whole Foods before going into the restaurant trade. IMO the best Italian wine list in town (and yes, including Fiola).
Food is excellent too and fairly priced BUT the best part is Dean himself. Lots of great stories. His wife Kay is delightful as well.
Excellent place.
Totally different type of place from Fiola. Much better priced wine list than Fiola (and much better priced generally). I love Dino’s but the cooking is not up to Fiola. An excellent more casual place vs. an excellent more upscale place.
Dean also is a huge Ridge collector and the wines sometimes show up on the wine list, at least they did at the old Dinos, cannot remember about Dino’s Grotto.
Totally different worlds, I agree. Fiola is in the very top tier of Italian restaurants. Dino’s is a fun place, good ingredients, very casual.
Exactly.
We dined at Fainting Goat last night-1330 U street. Small and medium plates fairly priced-nothing over $20 I think. Whole fish, goat cheese fondue for example were good. We didn’t like the chocolate dessert as there were too many flavors that didn’t mesh. They also have a burger which looked good. $15 corkage with good stemware and Chris decanted my Pomerol with no problem. Small but interesting list as well. We will return and you’re in the heart of the U street corridor if you want to continue the evening with music, etc.
Don’t disagree but the best truffles I’ve had in season in DC were from Dean. Very close to what I had in Nice years ago.
Neal & Nicholas - Brilliant! Thank you! After reading your recs on how to handle the data, my crew is onboard. ![[welldone.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/fc9709a841aa9379fd892a9cf0b535b05f473b86.gif "[welldone.gif]"){kind=small}
Last time we were in DC (for the Rally to Restore Sanity…) we went to the National Museum of the American Indian. They had an amazing display of gold objects from various Indian tribes - huge and truly stunning. I’d highly recommend it.
Have fun on your trip. Remembering back to when I first visited DC before I lived here, driving Rock Creek Parkway by the Watergate was such a “wait, you mean it’s just, like, right there” kinda moment I remember it vividly.
I echo what many others have said: do t miss the Smithsonian. Air and Spce is kind of cutely Cold War anachronistic; Natural History has one of the best gemstone collections, including the Hope Diamond; the Portrait Gallery is great and the Peacock Room by Whistler in the Freer/Sackler is awesome. I would skip Native American. I think it’s fairly poorly curated. If you have a car, and are coming from the West, go out of your way to see the Udvar-Hazy (the Real Air and Space museum) near Dulles. Five times the size, with the actual space shuttle Discovery, an SR-71 stealth plane and about 100 other aircraft.
To walk through and shop fun areas, you can skip Georgetown’s M Street shopping district and most of downtown. 14th Street and U is probably the most fun and vibrant. Union Market and Capitol Hill/Barracks Row are good walks too.
I think you’re good with restaurants but I would take a casual look at Eater DC’s Eater 38 and Hot List. Had a recent phenomenal dinner at Tail Up Goat and am hearing great things about a few other newer places. Dining in DC is vibrant and up there with NYC for innovation, I feel. If you want to check out Old School bars and restaurants, PM me.
Two quick adds on the DC restaurant scene:
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The folks who run Raskia (2 high end, “haute” Indian restaurants – the best I have been to in this country) have opened a new, tiny place serving what is billed as Indian street food called Bindaas. It is fantastic. If you are looking for something very different and don’t want to spend a fortune, it is a great option. Cleveland Park metro station is a block away.
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We were downtown at a matinee 2 weeks ago and on a gorgeous summer afternoon we stopped at Michel Richard’s Central to eat outside. Richard passed away recently and we were curious about the restaurant’s plans Well, they are going to stay open, in the same choice spot on Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capital and the White House, two blocks from the Mall and Smithsonian Museums (so a perfect place for hungry tourists). The meal was simple but exceptional. Think bistro food prepared with first rate ingredients and great care. A bottle of rose champagne, some of the best gougeres I have had, and I was in heaven. we had not been there in ages, and walked away asking ourselves why not. Highly recommended and extremely convenient
I’ve always liked Central, $25 corkage with a 2 bottle limit I think. List is pretty good as I recall. I need a return visit soon.
Big fan of Central, too! Glad to hear the plan is to stay open! (it was always a delight seeing Michel Richard in the restaurant sitting in a corner booth or chatting with a table full of guests).
We went to Momofuku DC last night and it was terrific. Another great option for (more or less) inexpensive dining in the convention center/City Center neighborhood. The beef soup was the standout, but every dish was very fine.
Neal - are reservations difficult?
Thanks,
George
Yes, but they don’t take many. Almost all tables are saved for 1st come 1st served. We had plans so we were there when they opened at 5. When we left after 6, most but not all tables were filled. If you want to make reservations, do so as early as possible.
One other thing that could make a difference: most seats in the place have no backs. They are like blocks. If you have back problems I could imagine that would be unwelcome. Anotehr instance of form completely divorced from function for the sake of aesthetics.
Thanks for the info. Any idea when they release tables for new reservations… I am not much for waiting. The seats should be no issue.
George
I don’t. They are on open table, I think, and if you go to their website they have their own system.
I can walk to Momofuku DC from where I am staying!
I really enjoyed it Glenn. Definitely recommend