Last night I had the pleasure of taking 5 of this summer's Wolf Trap Opera singers & staff to dinner at CENTROLINA after three of them gave a stellar recital at the Phillips Collection here in DC(info on that on FB). On arrival about 10 minutes early our table was not ready and the hostess suggested we could dine outside which was quite nice as the alley was cool, upscale and quieter than the dining room. We ordered some bubbly, got our bread and the rain began to plop down on us in big drops. So we headed inside and there were no tables for almost 25 minutes which was a bit of a mess, but the team there under Chef Amy Brandwien is so great they really made up for it.
We had already enjoyed some house bubbly as the bottle I ordered needed some chilling and then when on to a yummy Murgo Brut for Sicily, a winery on the slopes of Mt. Etna which I adore. We finished this off at the indoor table and a superb amuse of toasted focaccia with goat cheese, roasted cherry and pistachio arrived. Our servers Kathryn, aided by Bridget, worked very hard to make sure the timing was superb. The big treat of the night was the family style Summer Harvest Menu which was $55 per person and four amazing courses, each with multiple dishes. The six of us looked at the menu and were convinced instantly not to go al la carte.
The first course(all photos on FB) was an amazing ROSSO beet carpaccio with beet leaves and pesto which I marveled at how went so well with the beets. the beets were huge and paper thin and even one of us who said they "don't eat" beets, had seconds! BURRATA came with strawberries, basil and mint(I didn't taste that) and it was nice, but I am not a fan of burrata with fruit, but these berries were superb and tasty and the dish was a nice foil. The INVOLTINI was collard greens filles with lamb sausage and chickpeas which were simply divine.
The pasta course was next and I had a glass of the always excellent Grillo from Paolo Cali "Blues" 2016 also from Sicily which was ideal with all the pastas. the set menu had two pastas: TRANGOLI or giant ravioli of ricotta with roasted sweet potato and charred swiss chard & PAPPARDELLE with kale, white bolognese (made from veal), sage and parmigiano. The pappardelle are always my favorite as this recipe goes back to when Chef Amy was at Galileo and her pasta heritage is truly amazing. One of our guests did not eat beef/veal so chef sent out two extra portions of non-beef pastas and they were amazing. the GNOCCHI of norma, eggplant, tomato, basil, buffalo mozzarella and one of my favorites the NERI of squid ink, tuna crudo, nonnata di pesce with hint of spicy chili around the edge of the bowl that you can take as much of as you please. I took a lot, and loved the raw tuno topping which I can't ever recall having this way before!
The main courses were a perfectly cooked MERLUZZO or Norwegian Cod with cuttlefish ragu, coco Bianca, basil and enoki mushrooms paired with the most wonderful CONGILIO of Path Valley rabbit with roasted turnips, braised greens and carrot creme. We had moved on to ana amazing Sangiovese, but not from Tuscany. The Tre Monti "Thea" Superiore Riserva 2013 was from Emilia Romagna where we head in 12 days and I have to say it was as smooth and superb as any fine wine from Tuscany--can't wait to try more.
The dessert on the menu was BIGNE but this was preceded by two extra desserts of Carrot Torte and Zucchoto, a flourless chocolate cake with chocolate and mint semifreddo that was awesome(from anon-mint person!). The Bigne however were a revelation indeed and the finale to a truly brilliant meal. these fried-like profiteroles are nothing like their boring relatives and were filled with roasted cherries and hazelnut crema...all I could think was "profiteroles go home!
It was a memorable and amazing night for all!!
