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Tivoli, Northern Italian at the Rosslyn Metro Mall - Closed.


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Have you ever seen the 1963 Italian Film "Black Sabbath," where this vengeful corpse comes floating after a terrified nurse? You see, while dressing a recently deceased, elderly woman for her funeral, this nurse made the dramatic mistake of prying a diamond ring off the woman's finger, and when she got home later that night, she ended up paying the ultimate price for her evil deed.

I've been to Tivoli numerous times over the years, and remember some enjoyable dinners in the past, including a Thanksgiving dinner one year (which isn't saying much coming from someone who once had Thanksgiving dinner at the Brass Duck in Laurel).

The big question I have for myself is this: Has my taste evolved this much over the years? Or has Tivoli simply descended into the vortex of Banquet Hell?

I suspect it's a little of both, but there's no doubting the fatigue that has set into this restaurant.

An awful basket of bread is served with an almost-unidentifiable eggplant-based spread, and although an amuse-bouche empanada with gorgonzola cheese and black olives was a wonderful touch, the flaky pastry was greasy and limp, and the filling nondescript.

Although Tivoli offers several throwaway children's courses, they surprisingly don't serve half-portions of pasta, and Ravioli di Vitello, Ricotta e Spinaci, al Pomodoro e Basilico ($22) is too much food for an eleven-year-old. This homemade ravioli comes stuffed with ground veal and spinach, and was served in a bland, bright red tomato-basil sauce. A passable ravioli, it was far more tolerable than the Scaloppine di Vitello con Trio di Funghi Selvatici ($27), which was a couple mushy scallops of veal bathing in a thick, brown mushroom gravy, with a side order of homemade spaghetti that was cooked into a pasty oblivion.

Our server, a well-meaning jokester, misunderstood my "Saltimbocca" order as "Scaloppine." You can tell he's probably waited tables for decades, and I'm certain he would have corrected the bill had I asked (the Saltimbocca was only $25) but at that point, I was ready to get out of there.

Tivoli is a cadaver of a restaurant, but based on the size of the banquet in the back room, someone forgot to tell it it was dead.

As I sit and type this, I'm bothered by a fly buzzing around me that won't go away. And I'm now running on reserve battery power because the lights just went out ...

Cheers,

Rocks.

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My then girlfriend (now wife) used to go there frequently back in the early 80s. I enjoyed their Sunday brunch as well. It must be doing something right to still be there though what it is is not apparent from your report :lol: .

Given its size, it seems to be a popular corporate place for a "nice" lunch. At least, that's where my bosses have taken the 20-some of us the last few times - and I can't imagine anywhere else in Rosslyn able to really handle a group that sized at lunch.

I didn't thin it was horrible but to be honest, I was busy trying not to laugh at the look on my one coworker's face who had missed the key word "sweetbreads" next to "veal" and took a huge bite of his entree...

(And since I usually have a very small breakfast and lunch was late, I was more in just a "food oooo nom nom nom" mood.)

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Ugh, I'm sorry to say that I was wrong: Tivoli is closing its doors for the final time on December 19th or 20th.

Well that might explain the abrupt cancellation of our latest corporate event...

So now here's the real question: what could take its spot in that building?

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May we presume that the delis, both in Rosslyn and at Ballston, will remain open?

I called yesterday to see if the bakery/deli in rosslyn would remain open (i like their mousse cakes and strawberry cream puffs) and they said it would. i didn't ask about ballston.

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