Samuel and I had headed downtown to City Place for an event for the Washington National Opera and we found ourselves craving dinner afterwards and headed next door to Centrolina, where our friend Chef Amy Brandwein was working her tuchus off readying for the spring/holiday onslaught, not to mention her recent nomination for a James Beard Award.
It's a great spot for vegetarians and Sam was thrilled to choose the BURRATA with baby potato chips, No. 24(spice) and chives which was a gorgeously presented cylinder that disappeared in minutes(see FB fotos). My starter was called ROMANA which was actually Artichokes three ways: creamed, roasted and shaved & crispy with a simple baby greens salad and a spectacular parmesan cream. A glass of Paolo Lali 2016 Grillo brought me back to our trip to Sicily last summer.
Out of nowhere a huge single RAVOLO appeared (not on the menu) stuffed with ricotta and braised greens and served in an egg, butter and parm sauce that was heavenly.
Bridgette, our server, could not have been nicer, and she is a true gem and credit to Centrolina with a winning personality.
We went on to pasta mains with Sam choosing the Tagliolini Rossi made from pinot nero with wood roasted mushrooms, truffle, rosemary and more parm while I indulged in the first(it's MARCH!) soft shell crabs of the season in a magnificent Linguine dish with tomato, basil and EVOO-simple yet perfect.
We were full and it was late, so we headed home knowing we had enough pasta to last through the end of Passover. HAPPY HOLIDAY ALL!
