On Monday evening, six of us headed to Dino's Grotto in Shaw for what was sadly a farewell dinner after close to 15 years of dining in owners' Dean Gold & Kay Zimmerman's truly local and superb Italian spot. We started at Dino's when it was on Connecticut Avenue opposite the Uptown Theater where we were introduced to Dean & Kay by Christina Scheppelmann, who had just moved to town to head up the Washington Opera. We fell in love and returned there regularly with singers, friends, and often our son, who was only 1 at the time, in tow. Samuel grew up there and joined us two days ago as well as this was also a farewell for him as heads off to boarding school for the first time this weekend.
Omar greeted us with open arms and later Kay & Dean popped us as well as Andrew who has tended bar for ages. All their stories can be found at https://dinosgrotto.com/staff/, and we shall miss them all so much. I ordered a Prideful Mule which was loaded with Citrus Civic Vodka, house lime cordial, K&B Ginger Brew and was a huge drink that lasted for what seemed forever. Our first wine was a hail back to our winery visit in Sicily 2 years ago at Alcesti with their superb "Edesia" Grillo 2018. Wines here are still 1/2 priced on many days for the bottles over $60 so our reds were a bit more adventurous. Starting with a superb Beconcini Chianti Riserva 2013 blended of Sangiovese & Cabernet, but the big fun was the over the top Costanti Brunello di Montalcino 2006 that was like drinking silk; what an amazing blend of flavors and red intensity.
Will could not resist ordering the Burrata with oven roasted tomato, fire-roasted red pepper puree and Kalamata olive puree. Burrata was introduced to DC by Dean ages ago when Alitalia started flying nonstop from Italy and he had it flown in regularly! We were in love with this top end mozzarella from Puglia where we got to go 2 years ago to enjoy it; Dino's is as good as any in Italy!
I split the main course of Soft Shell Crab on Linguini with Arugula, Garlic, Almond Pesto that was a dream, and this year the crabs are bigger than ever. Sam had his regular starter of yummy Meatballs and the Caesar Salad was a huge beautiful plate of two beautifully dressed heads of Romaine lettuce. Of course, in season, Squash Blossoms are always on the must have list. Photos are on FB as always.
All the food was divine and indeed it was one of the best meals we ever had, making it even more sad. Main courses ranged from Linguini with Meatballs to the truly decadent and rich Duck Bolognese Lasagna and I smartly split an order of the tasty Rosticciana Pork ribs grilled Tuscan style with Fagioli all'uccellatta, a perfect side of garlicky beans with tomato. We ordered this as a side dish as well so others could enjoy and also chose the Sauteed Green Beans with a yummy Arugula Pesto, Tuscan roasted potatoes with shallots and herbs and the Roasted Eggplant with Peppers(because you get four sides for $21!)
Limoncello always arrives as a treat and this was the herbiest one ever and we all split a yummy Stone Fruit Cobbler of Peach, Plum, nectarine & Blackberries with Triple Sec Orange, Black pepper and Amaretti Crumble topped with Vanilla Gelato before we kissed and hugged everyone and had to depart.
It is so sad when one of your favorite places to dine or go shuts down, but we can only wish Kay & Dean much love and happiness in their future which will offer them a bit more free time to enjoy life as well.
Dino's Grotto is open through September 15 if you want to make it there for your own farewell!
