Campono Trattoria (Formerly Ancora), Fast-Casual Italian in the Watergate Hotel - Closed

[DonRocks]

Even though Tracy O'Grady was working at The Bird, and is now Chef de Cuisine at 1789, Campono's website still lists her as chef - does anyone know who's running the show here?

[dcs]

This story is a bit dated but it says Brian Wolken, although I have never seen him there. 

Jun 26, 2017 - "The Bird Founding Chef Michael Bonk Hands Baton to Tracy O'Grady" by Warren Rojas on dc.eater.com

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Even though Tracy O'Grady was working at The Bird, and is now Chef de Cuisine at 1789, Campono's website still lists her as chef - does anyone know who's running the show here?

 

[Genevieve]

On 5/11/2018 at 1:27 PM, DonRocks said:

Even though Tracy O'Grady was working at The Bird, and is now Chef de Cuisine at 1789, Campono's website still lists her as chef - does anyone know who's running the show here?

How long has Tracy O'Grady been at 1789? I've been there once long ago and wasn't especially interested in going back, but my whole family loved Willow and we miss it, so I'd definitely go there for O'Grady's cooking.

[Brian Wolken]

I am still running Campono. In fact I have been making some menu changes lately. We are busy gearing up for Hamilton, which will bring 8 sold-out shows a week to the KC for 3 months.

While I am still in close contact with Tracy🙂, she has left Campono and is the new Executive Chef at 1789 in Georgetown. She has been there a few months now and is doing wonderful things with the menu. 

We will update the website soon, but I am reluctant to take down a picture of such a pretty lady:)

Cheers!

Brian

[DonRocks]

3 hours ago, Brian Wolken said:

I am still running Campono. In fact I have been making some menu changes lately. We are busy gearing up for Hamilton, which will bring 8 sold-out shows a week to the KC for 3 months.

While I am still in close contact with Tracy:), she has left Campono and is the new Executive Chef at 1789 in Georgetown. She has been there a few months now and is doing wonderful things with the menu. 

We will update the website soon, but I am reluctant to take down a picture of such a pretty lady:)

Cheers!

Brian

May I safely assume your life was a living hell last Friday night?

[Brian Wolken]

On 5/17/2018 at 11:14 AM, DonRocks said:

May I safely assume your life was a living hell last Friday night?

Sold out shows + patio season = mayhem

[beachgirl54]

On 6/11/2019 at 7:44 AM, Brian Wolken said:

You can always try Campono. We offer discounted parking in our garage and we are literally right across the street from the KC. 

We are fast casual and make most things in-house, including all of our own doughs, breads and pastries. 

We feature authentic Italian wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza, both hot and cold sandwiches and a nice variety of salads.  

Who doesn't like like pizza after a race:)

www.camponodc.com

I ate at Campono 2 weekends ago after a Millennium Stage show and it was excellent.  Lentil sausage soup and a salad, plus my favorite flavor of gelato (rum raisin - it's hard to find).  I was a huge Willow fan and the quality from there remains at Campono.  And the bread was really good.

[dcs]

Campono website says it is permanently closed.  That's a loss.  For what it was, it was pretty darn good at it.

 

Quote

It is with great disappointment and sadness that we regret to announce that:

 

CAMPONO IS CLOSED PERMANENTLY.

We have truly enjoyed serving this wonderful community these last four and a half years! We have put our heart and soul into creating great food, friendly service and a warm place to gather with friends and colleagues.

We can only hope that we accomplished that goal!

In addition to the mandatory shut down for the Covid19 outbreak and slower times at both the Kennedy Center and our building, the Landlord has exercised their legal right and directed us to vacate the building by the end of April.

We have had our current lease/agreement in place with the Landlord since 2017. They requested additional monetary contributions in order for us to maintain occupancy and extend our lease. Given our current business model, we are unable to commit to the financial burden of this request. After months of discussions and negotiations they have decide to terminate the month-to-month lease we have been operating under since January of 2019.

If we had been able to continue to operate under our current agreement, it still would have been a difficult road to re-opening (as many, many restaurants are going to soon be struggling with themselves). However, we would have been rigorously exploring any and all options available to us once this shut-down is over: low-interest loans, grants and subsidies, to name just a few.

Thank you to all our wonderful, caring and supportive customers over the years…we will miss each and every one of you.

Best of luck to you all and stay safe and strong!

 

Brian, Tracy, Dante, Freddy, Johnny, Erikxon, Shanil and the entire Campono staff!

[saf]

Well that stinks. They were a very good place for pre-symphony dinner.

[dcs]

I was searching for something else and stumbled across the website for Tazza Cafe which looks like it took over the old Campono space.  Not sure how long its been there.  Maybe if the Kennedy Center reopens and I get a vaccine I'll give it a try.  They have the wood oven pizzas.  The rest of the menu leans Mediterranean.