Dino, Dean Gold and Kay Zimmerman's Italian Enoteca in Cleveland Park with Beverage Director Fabian Malone - Closed

[bookluvingbabe]

Expanded our Dino horizions slightly and split the manza (strip steak) entree after our cured meats and cheeses.

Very nice!

Thanks Dean!

Jennifer

[Escoffier]

We stopped by Dino on our way to Strathmore last Saturday night for a quick dinner before Tchaikovsky. Dean once again came up with a great dinner for the two of us. Grover wanted pasta with seafood and even though there wasn't what she really wanted on the menu, Dean pulled some kitchen magic and she got pasta with clams, prawns, shrimp and scallops. I managed to get one of the shrimp (but not easily). Grover did the equivalent of licking the plate clean. I had the Agnello - Leg of lamb- rotisserie cooked served with a warm tomato olive & rosemary topping & roasted potatoes. Wonderfully done lamb comfort food. This was falling off the bone tender and huge. Grover managed to help me finish. Dean brought out 3 glasses of wines that were perfect. If you want perfect wines with dinner, ask Dean for his recommendation. We haven't gone wrong yet. Dinner made a tasty precursor to the music.

[vinist]

At the risk of self promotion.... a special whimmish invitation to all Rockwilers, Ventworms and other folk who see this...

A special wine madness for Don Rockwell.com

All wines $50 and over are 33% off Saturday, Sunday and Monday May 27-29 at Dino. Just say "Rocks sent me!"

Also posted in the Whim thread...

Cool, thanks Dean! I'm clearing my schedule as we speak!

[Camille-Beau]

Sunday night -- Dino's bar -- had the prosciutto-wrapped grilled asparagus served on a toasted crouton with shaved parm, fruity olive oil and balsamic. This is a really good way to start a meal and could be shared with someone due to the amount of asparagus they use. Makes a great alternative to a salad too. I should have stopped with that, but tried a half-order (again big enough for sharing) of the wild boar pasta. Really loved the flavor in this dish. The meat was well-braised and shredded, not ground, then perfectly spiced and served over parpardelle. I'll be back for both very soon.

-Camille

[DonRocks]

I've hesitated to post much about Dino because Dean is so active here, but I'm going to call a spade a spade: Dino has the best Italian wine list in the city, with Maestro and Galileo the only restaurants I can think of that possibly have more interesting Italian wines (and Galileo's are priced in the stratosphere). And even then I'm not certain, because I've never thought to compare them until this evening. Vincent Feraud of Maestro is one of the greatest sommeliers this city has ever seen, and there's no questioning his overall expertise, but I think Dean Gold may have a better mastery of Italian wine, and the list itself - the actual verbage in the list - is a product of genuine passion and commitment.

The "Wine Madness" promotion currently running through Labor Day is something I've dismissed as marketing, but the truth is that it's one of the best deals in town: 33% off all wines priced over $50 Sunday through Wednesday nights. I scanned the reserve wine list at Dino tonight, and there were 30 wines priced $50-59 (and a lot more priced less than that), which means that during this promotion, there are 30 wines priced at the Dean-like numbers of $33.33-$39.67. Try the 2001 Ca'Rome' Barbera d'Alba, and I promise you won't be disappointed.

I won't be biased for a restaurant based on participation on this website, but I work hard not to be biased against it either. It's a balancing act both ways, and it isn't always easy. How was the food tonight? Bountiful, and well worth the trip. Not everything was sublime, but everything was at least very good, and some of it was excellent. It's easy to fake quantity, but it's harder to fake quality. (FWIW, the one dish this evening that Dean sent out for free, we took a polite bit of, and then sent back. There's nothing wrong with this; I just don't think I should accept it.)

But this post isn't about the food; it's about the wine list, and the Italian wines on the Reserve List at Dino are great. GREAT! If the Palena chicken, Ray's onglet, and 2 Amy's pizza are considered among the great treasures of the Washington restaurant world, then the wine list at Dino must be considered to be the same.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[jparrott]

I just wish they were open at 3PM on a Sunday afternoon, which is my preferred time for poaching a list like that.

[deangold]

I just wish they were open at 3PM on a Sunday afternoon, which is my preferred time for poaching a list like that.

If you can get in the door by 2:30 you can always nurse a cocktail till you start popping the corks.

[deangold]

I haven't posted about specific cheese seletions in a long time, but our last shipment from Italy has some very unusual items cheese lovers may want to know about...

Cora Piramyd Sheep- very runny outside and a creamy dense inside. Schizo cheese!

Toma- aged toma, very earthy & caramel like flavors

Cora Robiola Vite - fresh goats milk cheese wrapped in grape leaves. Incredibly dense, a bit lactic and very sweet at once.

Cave aged Castelmagno- very young, lactic, lemony, spicy, amazing!

We are working on a warm Tomini sott'Olio presentation. These tomini are small discs of cows milk aged in olive oil, vinegar, red peppers, herbs. We will either serve it warm or on a salad (or both). Should be ready by mid week.

[deangold]

Hi

If you know what Gravner is, then you don't need to be told that these wines are expensive and hard to find. During our Taste of Venice, we will pour a Gravner and friends flight for $45.00. This included the Gravner Ribolla Gialla Anfora 2001, Due Terre Sacrasassi Bianco and Lispida Anfora 2001, while supplies last. These wines are incredible. For more details, check out our website! We iwll be offering a special 3 or 4 course (or more) tasting menu for $24 or $30 (or more) staqrting July 6 thru July 19.

[jm chen]

Happy one-year anniversary (as of yesterday) to Dean, Kay, and the Dino crew!

We stopped by for the Taste of Venice tasting menu to celebrate the occasion. Particularly delicious: the big giant seafood raviolo, popping with shrimp. The seared tuna app with harissa, still delicious. Squid ink pasta, rich and black and salty. And although you don't get to choose your cheeses, two of the best are already chosen for you: the La Tur (smeary and creamy and oh-so-good with mostarda) and the Perla Grigia (skip the spice-dusted rind and aim straight for the truffly center.)

We also had the suckling pig but I liked the pastas better; given that I shrink away from fatty pork, even in its delicious Chinese-menu or Galileo-Grill incarnations, take it with a grain.

Words fail me on the Gravner Amphora, by the way. I don't have even a passable wine vocabulary, so the best I can say is that it reminded me of grass, sunshine, and the horizon, and it made my taste buds do the West Coast Swing.

And now, back to my regularly scheduled diet.

[Heather]

Words fail me on the Gravner Amphora, by the way. I don't have even a passable wine vocabulary, so the best I can say is that it reminded me of grass, sunshine, and the horizon, and it made my taste buds do the West Coast Swing.

I would say that's better than the usual winespeak.

[JLK]

Last night +1 and I went to Dino for "a snack" at the bar after a 7 pm showing of Superman at the Uptown. Chris kindly steered us toward a burrata appetizer ($12) that was really wonderful. A nice mound of the rich mozzarella surrounded by two small pools of basil-infused olive oil and a generous lump of black olive tapenade. Loved it.

We then shared the lasagnette ($17). I really didn't like this dish when I first tried it, but since then, it has been a can't miss for me when nothing else on the menu grabs my attention.

[deangold]

I just finished posting our new menu featuring Chef Daniel's Tuscan Tasting Menu. It will run thru August 2. A Brunello Flight (Ciacci Piccolomini 2000, Pertimali 2000 and Le Macioche 1999) and a Rosso Di Montalcino flight (Argiano, Ciacci Piccolomini and Pertimali) will both be available.

[deangold]

Our August menu featuring heirloom tomatoes and some fabulous new fresh cheeses (burrata, tomino and mozzarella di Bufala) is notw posted on our website.

Wine madness, 33% off wines $50 and over is on thru Labor Day.

Restaurant week is filling up but we still ahve ressies available. Full menu! August 14 thru August 24 (4 extra days!).

[wahoooob]

Our August menu featuring heirloom tomatoes and some fabulous new fresh cheeses (burrata, tomino and mozzarella di Bufala) is notw posted on our website.

Wine madness, 33% off wines $50 and over is on thru Labor Day.

Restaurant week is filling up but we still ahve ressies available. Full menu! August 14 thru August 24 (4 extra days!).

*drool* burrata is the BEST. Methinks I will be returning to Dino very soon. Thanks Dean!

[Heather]

A friend and I stopped by Dino last night on the way to a show. My first real visit - I had been to wine dinner back in January but didn't order off the menu. We decided on a few small plates: Burrata, prosciutto, calamari, and a veggie plate.

Fantasia Verdure Baby artichokes, grilled summer squash and courgette, olives, grilled onion, and two half-slices of heirloom tomato, ringed by (excellent) olive oil, balasamico, and pesto? The artichokes were tasty but needed a more careful trimming, and the tomatoes were excellent. I would have gladly taken more of those and fewer squash.

Calamari Very fresh, light batter, grease free. The Aioli needed a bigger punch to me, but I am a garlic freak and therefore not an accurate judge of such things.

Burrata Served with various garnishes (tapenade, chopped roasted pepper, eensy little tomatoes with basil chiffonade) This was delicious.

Prosciutto Fine, fine prosciutto served with cornichons and little pickled onions. Minor quibble: it was shaved so fine as to stick together into a little wad of cured pork product. Is this intentional? The flavor was very good, the presentation was a bit lacking.

We tried two different white from the by-the-glass selection, the Soavia and the Chardonnay. Liked the Soavia, did not care for the Cali Chardonnay. My friend was just the opposite. To each her own.

Total for food, four 3 oz. pours, 2 desserts, and 2 coffees was $93.

[treznor]

Just got back from dinner at Dino. A few minutes after we sat down Dean came over and introduced himself to us and pointed us towards a bottle of wine (more below) to go with the entrees we had picked. Nice to meet you Dean!

We had:

Fettunta - Tuscan Toast- grilled bread with roasted garlic & olio - Toasty and light, it was probably a bit too crunchy for our tastes, but the roasted whole clove garlic was wonderful. Nothin like spreading out a whole clove of garlic onto a piece of bread :-)

Burrata - Others have described this so I won't go into it too much. We both thought it was wonderful, the olive tapenade setting off the creaminess of the bufala and ricotta. I'm not a fan of tomatos but my GF thought they were very good and went well with the cheese.

Tomino alla Diavola - "This is everything fried cheese should be". Light and crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. The sauce with this (a tomato coulis) went wonderfully with the cheese.

Clam Linguini - The clams were done well with the basil oil and garlic sauce a good complement to the linguini and the clams.

Tonna - This was probably the hit of the evening. The tuna itself was quite tasty, though not that much different than what one would expect of seared tuna. The roasted red peppers and the white beans were both the best of each that I've had in quite some time and complemented the tuna very well. The portabello mushroom was meaty and soaked up the juice of the garlic and rosemary sauce.

The only service problem we had was that we didn't end up with any bread (other than the Fettunta that we ordered). We would have liked some to mop up the sauce from the clam linguini and the tuna. Dean had mentioned earlier that they were operating down two people and the lack of the bread wasn't really such a thing that we sought the waitress to bring us out some. Just the only thing we really noticed that went wrong.

2002 Le Due Terre Sacrisassi Bianco - Listed in the "Perfection of Imperfection" section, I doubt I would ever have chosen this wine on my own. Dean pointed me in the direction though and both I and my GF were very impressed. A bit outside of my normal price range for wine, but the Wine Madness savings made it accessible. Dean's description was "if you close your eyes you'll almost think it's a red" and I'd probably have to agree. Served at cellar temp, the flavors in the wine were much more of what I'd expect from a red than a white. I'm not a wine guru and don't know how to describe it all that well, other than I know what I like... This was very good and went well with dinner.

Unfortunately for dessert the canoli and the bread pudding was gone. We split the tiramisu and the chocalate tort. Neither was outstanding, but both were done well.

Overall I give it a thumbs up :-) Dean and the whole staff were gracious, the wine list was extensive (and I believe well priced, especially with the Wine Madness specials), and everything we tried was good. Dessert was a bit of a downer, but my top two options were evidently everyone elses top options as well, so that may have had something to do with it.

[deangold]

We are having a wine dinner September 18. Featurimng the wines of Neil Empson. You can check it out on our website: My Webpage. New mnu is up too.

[TinDC]

I am finally having dinner at Dino tonite. I have been meaning to forever and we were supposed to go crab picking, but the weather dampened our plans. So Dino it is! I will be sure to report back. Have no idea what I am going to eat other than that burrata that sounds so good.

[Escoffier]

I am finally having dinner at Dino tonite. I have been meaning to forever and we were supposed to go crab picking, but the weather dampened our plans. So Dino it is! I will be sure to report back. Have no idea what I am going to eat other than that burrata that sounds so good.

Put yourself in Dean's capable hands and sit back. The man knows his food. We were there last night and had 5 courses and paired wines. Heavenly.

[TinDC]

Dino was so great last night, I cannot believe it took us so long to eat there!

I did not identify myself as a Rockwellian to either Chris or Dean, mainly because I was with a group of non-Rockwellians who probably would have been perplexed that I know so much about a restaurant I had never been to.

Even so, we had excellent service all night. I am not sure who are server was, but she was excellent.

Most of us did the extended restaurant week and were glad that we did.

I had a wild berry mojito as a pre-dinner cocktail and it was so good. Refreshing and a perfect (end of) summer drink.

I started with the burrata which is as good as everyone describes. It is a very ample portion, so I was able to share it with the table and still have plenty for myself. I also tasted the calamari, which had quite a kick to it. We ordered the antipasto misti and the only "miss" in my mind was the frittata. It seemed a bit bland.

As my main, I ordered the mushroom pasta and my husband ordered the lasagna. We ended up eating off of each others' plates and probably could have switched. The crazy thing is that my husband has declared himself a mushroom hater, but was devouring my dish.

For dessert, I had the chocolate torte with vanilla gelato and espresso cream. The torte was not overly rich and was very good. Husband got the cannoli. There were two kinds and I am not sure what the first kind was, but I liked that one better than the chocolate

All in all, a great evening and we cannot wait to return, probably with our little one.

[JLK]

Is Dino open tonight? I just called and got voice mail which leads me to think "closed" however it could have just been a busy time. If anyone knows definitively, please let me know. Thanks!

[JeffC]

Closed. We're on the mailing list and the last e-mail from Dino said that they would be closed tonight.

[deangold]

Closed. We're on the mailing list and the last e-mail from Dino said that they would be closed tonight.

Sorry! We forgot to update our message on the phone!

[DLB]

Nice shout out in the October issue of Food and Wine! Dino was one of the DC choices for "America's 50 most amazing wine experiences."

[deangold]

Today we got the sad word from Tuscarora that, with the possible exception of some heirlooms possible next week, the local tomato season is over. Good bye to caprese. On the other hand, winter squash is on its way. We are launching our first fall menu tomorrow. In addition, we have some cheese made from summer alpine milk, taking advantage of its extra richness.

We also have a few seats left for our wine dinner Monday.

Check it out on our website.

[jm chen]

Nice shout out in the October issue of Food and Wine! Dino was one of the DC choices for "America's 50 most amazing wine experiences."

All the more impressive since the only other restaurant cited in DC proper was Sushi-Ko, and Mark's Duck House in Falls Church got a mention not for its actual wine options, but because Robert Parker is sometimes spotted there.

They specifically like the Wine Madness 1/3-off-any-bottle-over-$50-on-Sundays-and-Mondays deal. And the 250-bottle list. Congrats to Dean and the team.

[mdt]

All the more impressive since the only other restaurant cited in DC proper was Sushi-Ko, and Mark's Duck House in Falls Church got a mention not for its actual wine options, but because Robert Parker is sometimes spotted there.

They specifically like the Wine Madness 1/3-off-any-bottle-over-$50-on-Sundays-and-Mondays deal. And the 250-bottle list. Congrats to Dean and the team.

Hmmm, that list is very interesting...

[deangold]

Hmmm, that list is very interesting...

We are adding a lot of 2001 Brunello and 2004 Rossi each week it seems. Pertimali 01 B, 04 R, Le Macioche 04 R, and Agostina Pieri 01 B are coming on next printing. Plus some new Lagrein and Dolcetto. Recent adds to the glass program include 99 La Selva Felcaiai 100% Sangiovese and 2000 Barbaresco Ada Nada Cru Valeirano.

[deangold]

Tonight marks the return of our Menu della Sera. This is a three course meal available from Sunday thru THursday if you are seated before 7pm. The menu includes your choice of soup, salad or proscuiutto, rotisserie chicken, salmon or mushroom pasta and a small dessert- crema caramello or dolce Firenze (bread pudding). The cost is $20. Add a glass of wine for an additional $5. On Sunday and Monday you can also take advantage of our wine madness (33% off all wine over $50 a bottle).

[cjsadler]

Tonight marks the return of our Menu della Sera. This is a three course meal available from Sunday thru THursday if you are seated before 7pm. The menu includes your choice of soup, salad or proscuiutto, rotisserie chicken, salmon or mushroom pasta and a small dessert- crema caramello or dolce Firenze (bread pudding). The cost is $20. Add a glass of wine for an additional $5. On Sunday and Monday you can also take advantage of our wine madness (33% off all wine over $50 a bottle).

That's a great deal (especially combined with the wine madness). Can you also take advantage of all this if seated at the bar?

[deangold]

That's a great deal (especially combined with the wine madness). Can you also take advantage of all this if seated at the bar?

Yep!

[bonaire]

Going to Dino tonight (hopefully!) with my Dad, his wife and some friends of theirs. Total group will likely be 6 or 7. I can't remember, is there enough room at the bar for all of us? Or should we sit at a table? I think they're looking to be there awhile...

Also, my dad's wife is a vegetarian (but will eat seafood)...what should she not miss?

[jm chen]

The bar might fit your group exactly but there won't be a lot of space and other people will start trying to horn in. I think a table is a much better bet.

There is usually at least one very good vegetarian pasta. If the burrata app is still around, it cries out to be ordered. If not, you can't really go wrong with any of the cheese options.

[dinwiddie]

Going to Dino tonight (hopefully!) with my Dad, his wife and some friends of theirs. Total group will likely be 6 or 7. I can't remember, is there enough room at the bar for all of us? Or should we sit at a table? I think they're looking to be there awhile...

Also, my dad's wife is a vegetarian (but will eat seafood)...what should she not miss?

I'd get a table. And there is a very nice roasted fish option on the menu that is wonderful.

[bonaire]

Thanks for all of your suggestions -- we got a table and had a great night at Dino. My father and his wife are pretty hard to please, so I'm always a little anxious when I take them somewhere new. We were joined by four others, so we had a nice sized group.

We had a booth upstairs, which turned out to be our saving grace later in the evening (my family has a penchant for breaking out in songs from "Pirates of Penzance" when we get together -- don't ask). We stuck mainly w/ small plates for our meals -- the burrata was a bit hit, as was the half order of wild boar pasta we got. My father said the fagioli was "quite good", a huge compliment from him. The proscuitto was gobbled up rather quickly ("melts in your mouth" was the description), even as I got laughed at for trying to explain about the "special machine" they had for slicing it.

Dean was nice enough to help us pick a bottle of wine, a pinot noir which turned into two or three. My dad's a huge grappa fan and we had to talk him out of ordering a couple different kinds at the end of the evening. I thought the bread pudding was delicous and not too soggy and the hint of orange brandy (I think that's what it was) in the canoli kept it from being overly sweet.

All in all, a wonderful meal. Thanks Dean!

[deangold]

Dean was nice enough to help us pick a bottle of wine, a pinot noir which turned into two or three.

I think it was the Nebbiolo from Marchese di Gresy 2004 which is from the Piemonte. One of my favorite new wines on the list. Glad you enjoyed it!

[hungry prof]

There's much to be said for a restaurant that knows what it is and knows what it wants to be. That's how my wife and I and our six friends felt at Dino last night. Dino serves very good, wholesome Italian food in a comfortable environment. Dino is not Maestro, and it doesn't aspire to be Maestro. But it does what it does well.

We started the evening with an assortment of very good salumi and cheeses. The cheeses disappeared very quickly. The salumi last only a bit longer (and only because two people weren't eating the salumi). Hard for me to identify any, in particular, as favorites. I enjoyed them all.

In addition to the salumi and cheese, we had a raw tuna appetizer as well as a plate of baby octopus. The tuna was good, but the octopus, served in a lemony broth with chickpeas, was a favorite of the evening.

For my main course, I had the roasted duck. I'm a sucker for duck and was quite satisfied with Dino's offering. My wife had the whole roasted branzino, and she thought it was similarly good (though she was surprised to find a chickpea among her fish. Despite the description given, it almost seemed to have the same sauce as the octopus appetizer). Others around the table had the stuffed squash, the lasagna, and the wild boar pasta. All plates seemed to be empty at the end of the course. (The wild boar pasta was not a raving success as our friend thought it was too dry, but still good. I caught him splashing a bit of olive oil into his pasta.)

For dessert, I had the aged balsamic vinegar over vanilla gelato. I'll admit I've always heard about this combination, but never actually tried it. I'd definitely try it again. The rustic fruit tart met with similar success. Unfortunately, the kitchen had run out of the warm chocolate torta just as we were ordering dessert, so a few around the table were mildly disappointed.

Despite a few small hiccups (e.g., a forgotten espresso), service was generally quite good and friendly. Dean was seen visiting every table without bothering any tables. We brought a couple of '97 barollos with us. Dean predicted beforehand that they might be a bit young for drinking, and he was spot on (though they still were very, very good).

All in all, a very nice evening. We were four couples all with young children simply looking for a nice, relaxing, affordable, all-too-infrequent night out. Dino delivered.

(One small frustration: no valet parking. Finding parking at 8:30 on a Saturday night in Cleveland Park is, to say the least, challenging. We wound up using the valet at Indique. Perhaps this goes with the neighborhood concept: neighborhood restaurants don't have valet parking.)

[deangold]

Collemattoni Wine Dinner
With Marcello Bucci, Owner of Collemattoni
Dino Tatawi, Owner Vignaioli Selections

Monday November 13 7:00pm

Collemattoni is a little known Brunello producer located just outside Sant'Angelo in Colle, south of the town of Montalcino. Here Marcello Bucci makes wonderful Brunello of power in an earthy, spicy style. He uses a long, slow fermentation, and then ages his wines in large oak botte. His 2001 Brunello was just awarded Tre Bicchiere by Gambero Rosso, one of Italy's most prestigious wine awards. His wines are nearly impossible to find, and we bought the last case of the '99 vintage in the country. Importer Dino Tatawi will share a few of his other wines since S. Bucci does not make white wines or dessert wine.

Chef Daniel Amaya proposes the following menu:

House Made Seafood Sausage
-Prosecco Cima di Conigliano
Seared Sea Scallop with Caviar & Tocai Friulano Sauce
-Tocai Friulano Ronco del Gnemiz 2004
Quail in Rosso di Montalcino Sauce with Mushrooms & Pearl Onions
-Rosso di Montalcino Collemattoni 2003
Veal Cheeks braised in Brunello
-Brunello di Montalcino Collemattoni 1999
-Brunello di Montalcino Collemattoni 2000
-Brunello di Montalcino Collemattoni 2001
Little Cheese Tarts
-Vin Santo

Cost per person is $125 plus tax & gratuity
Reservations held with credit card only. Reservation by phone only.

[JLK]

I mourned the loss of the crostini. "Oh, my favorite salsa asiago...what will I do, Chris??" Whiny. Annoying. And silly too now that I have tasted the new trio of bruschetta. I almost feel a little guilty saying it, but the new tasty bites might just kick the old tasty bites' asses.

Tonight I sampled bruschetta with caramelized onions with a very pungent blue cheese (erbotinati), mushrooms, and my very favorite, oven-roasted tomatoes with goat cheese and a dab of pesto. My dining companion deemed the last worthy of seconds. Made a meal of it, actually, with some lupini beans in harissa, several glasses of wine.

Mushrooms are seldom my favorite thing, but I did enjoy a few bites of these. The erbotinati - fantastic. But the oven-roasted tomato bruschetta was, for me, head and shoulders about the rest. Juicy, tangy, addictive.

I should have had thirds.

Oh, and the wine was great too. I *think* the wine I have had during my last two visits was called Fattoria Paradiso "Strabismo di Venere" (Sauvignon, Albana). But happyguy can set me straight if I'm wrong.

[Cmmp]

The new crostini are definitely worth the trip alone. My favorite was the carmelized onions with that heavenly cheese. Would have considered seconds if we'd not already ordered more food that necessary. Our excuse? Demonstrating to my visiting father that DC had something really special to offer that was both Italian and unexpected. Came through with flying colors. Thanks, Dean.

[joncephine]

We celebrated the defeat of the GRE at Dino a few weeks back. At some point in the meal, I looked at my friends and thought how far we had come - we had clearly moved into our Young, Urban, Professional stage and out of the Tequila Grill post-bac happy hour stage.

We went in, on a Saturday night, with no reservation, to see if they had anything available for 5 (!). Needless to say, the staff told us not to bother, and we walked out to contemplate our next options. When we were about to go, one of the staff comes out to tell us that we could get full service, not to mention olives, at the bar. We sat around it and ordered a bottle of wine and munched on the balsalmic onions. I can only comment on the food that E and I ordered, but what we had was pretty good.

-The roasted garlic small plate was what we were looking for, and the tomato mostarda on the side was a great accompaniment.

-The trio of bruscetta was also great, though not too conducive to sharing since breaking the bread apart was quite difficult.

-the Pappardelle ai Cinghiale was a little dry, but a good size to split between us (luckily, we had skipped lunch)!

The highlight of the evening (aside from the waitstaff who went out of their way to let us know we could eat at the bar) was sitting at the bar and sampling both from the end of the summer mixed drink menu (the mixed drink with Thyme in it was especially refreshing and a geat bellini) and previewing the fall menu (we liked the pisco sour and the bartender gave me a sample of the Proseco with prickly pear juice that I particularly liked).

Overall, thanks for a good time!

[edited: also, big plus for being non-smoking! at that point, I was on day 4 of the quitting, and now I'm at 3 weeks!]

[JLK]

I second that thought re: the bruschetta, joncephine. Even if you're eating it all yourself (as I have contemplated), the size of the bruschetta is a little unwieldy. Two smaller pieces of each - the current size cut in half by the kitchen - would be much easier to eat. Tasty stuff though.

[treznor]

I've been impressed with the cocktails at Dino as well. The last time we went (two weeks ago?) I had the Margarita made with limoncello and was quite impressed. PJASchultz hated it, but then she hates tequila, so what can you do? I've never had limoncello so it was tough for me to attribute what of the drink was due to the limoncello and what to the other ingredients, but it was nice and tart but with a bit of a kick, just the way I like my margaritas. I'm interested in the Pisco Sour. I had one the last time I was at Cafe Atlantico, which was the only time I'd tried one. I didn't see it on the menu at the time or I probably would have ordered one. Guess that means I'll have to go back to try it out :-)

[synaesthesia]

The $20 Tuesday was wonderful. Everything was great, and we got to try out some special things. Well worth it. Dean really pulled out all the stops for us. Thanks Dean!

[cgarden]

I just wanted to add my thanks for a really delicious dinner last night!

[cucas87]

Thanks to Dean, Chef Amaya, Chris, our servers and all the planners for the great, good fun last night. First there were drink specials at the bar. I had the Bourbon Fizz (aka Porcupine's Elixir) which was a new taste sensation for me. Thank you to Chris and Porcupine for expanding my drinking horizons. I also had a Scorpino (Hangar 1 vodka, triple sec, pomegranate sorbet, cream and prosecco and probably other stuff). This was delicious and creamy. In the interest of giving everyone a full report today, I also tasted the Cucumber Thyme Refresher which was true to its name and very refreshing, the Winter Caipirinha, which features a brown sugar syrup and was very soothing, the Apple Jax, a lovely slushy of sorts and the Titian's Dream, the prickly pear concoction. Stop worrying, I took metro last night.

Then we moved on to dinner, where we all chose from the $20 menu (and for us, another entree option was added: pan roasted pork ribs). I started with the culatella (I cannot pass up prosciutto) and then the pork ribs (wonderful). We ordered wine with dinner; I seem to recall the wine was something like a 2004 Ciacci Rosso Di Montalcino which I enjoyed. Dean later brought another wine for us to try but I cannot recall what it was (it was heavier/more tannin-y than the wine we had ordered so it was a good little study of sorts for me). When it was time for dessert, Dean brought Limoncello and Grappa for everyone. Since this was a $20 Tuesday, it's worth noting that pre-tip and pre-drinks, the bill was $22/person for 3 courses.

[Xochitl10]

Loading on the thanks to everyone for a great evening yesterday. Mmm, Godfathers and banana-y bread pudding...

[deangold]

A few announcements:

Our gelato and Sorbetti are now all made in house.

Joe Gelchion formerlyu of the Majestic in Old Town is our new general manager.

We still have a few spaces left for our Monday November 13 Brunello dinner. I just recently had some chances to retaste the 1999 Collematone Brunello and it is one of the top wines of the vintage. We will have their 2000 and 2001 as well as thei Rosso and some other treats. $125 per person inlcluding tip and tax.

[TinDC]

Dean, can you give us an idea of what gelato flavors you might be offering? I am always intrigued by homemade gelato.