Renato, Italian in Potomac Village on River and Falls Road - Owned by River Falls Seafood

[porcupine]

A blurb in today's Washington Post says that Renato has been aquired by River Falls Market.

[porcupine]

Spoke with one of the guys in River Falls Market today. They did indeed aquire Renato next door, retaining most of the staff under River Falls own chefs. They "upgraded the pasta", and now provide all perishable food for the restaurant (produce, meat, seafood). They added daily specials based on what they find at the fish markets. They seem to be aiming to quietly upgrade the place without upsetting Renato's longtime, loyal clients.

Anyone up for an exploratory lunch or dinner?

[DanielK]

Did you get to see the menu? Are the prices any different? The last time I took a peek, the prices were upper-$20s for entrees - I could have gotten a cheaper meal at Tosca.

[porcupine]

Did you get to see the menu? Are the prices any different? The last time I took a peek, the prices were upper-$20s for entrees - I could have gotten a cheaper meal at Tosca.

No, and I don't know. Later this week I'll try to have a look.

[porcupine]

Mr P picked up a flier for Tuesday night pizza special at Renato - $5 off, carryout only. The pizzas are normally priced at $17 and $18. The high price is offset somewhat by the fact that the pies are very large. However, they aren't very good.

Average, boring, insipid crust gets soggy under the weight of the oregano-spiked sauce in the "traditional", which also promises handmade mozzarella and fresh basil. I'm not sure if the cheese was mozzarella or not; it certainly was more evenly melted than mozzarella usually is.

The bianca (fontina, ricotta, spinach) isn't really helped by the spinach. It would be better with a generous amount of garlic and a tastier fontina.

We were hoping that Renato's pizza would give Tally Ho some competition, but nope. In this sector of Potomac, at least, the choices remain delivery from Tally Ho or carryout from the soon-to-close Ledo next to Montgomery Mall.

I'm not giving up on Renato yet. Sometime in the next week or two I'll head over for lunch or dinner and see if the River Falls people have really improved things (and Daniel, I'll report about prices).

Still hoping for a decent neighborhood restaurant at decent neighborhood prices,

[Kibbee Nayee]

Hmmmm....four and a half years since anyone posted about this place? It's in a nice plaza in Potomac, it's connected to a well-sourced seafood market next door, and it advertizes an ambitious Italian menu. What could possibly be wrong with this picture? We went for dinner with high expectations and really wanted to like this place.

I'll start with River Falls Seafood, which is next door and run by someone who knows a thing or two about seafood. It is neat and clean, but at 6:30 on a Saturday night, with only 3-4 customers in the place, the service was slooooowww....but they made up for the slow service with their obscenely criminal prices. Jeesh! I was hoping to score some rockfish for my cooler, but at $25 a pound, that wasn't going to happen. And the tuna, salmon and sea bass all approached $30 a pound. I bought four tuna burgers at $5.99 a pound, and left with a thought that I should open something, anything, in Potomac and charge outrageous prices. I know the locals rave about this place and swear by the crab cakes, but I would understand it better if I walked in the door with my hands over my head and a gun in my face.

Next we went to Renato next door for dinner. A small basket of bread came to the table with about six pieces of bread. I only mention this because the basket emptied quickly and then sat on the table, empty, throughout the course of the meal. No offer was made to refill it, and even when other dishes and plates crowded the table to overflow, that empty basket stayed on the table to the end. But, as with the service next door at River Falls, the service Renato was even slower.....and that allowed us to tuck into the glass full of breadsticks in the middle of the table, two-thirds of which were stale. And not even a drop of olive oil or a scoop of tapenade in sight anywhere.

On to the food....this is a somewhat confusing menu. The associated seafood market has access to ostensibly the best seafood available, but the seafood section of this menu was relatively slim. There were, however, many pasta selections that included seafood, along with plenty of veal and chicken dishes. I ordered the gazpacho with crab meat, and the table shared a mussels appetizer. My main course was the Linguini Tia Teresa, which was listed as a house special. It came with a choice of red or white sauce, and I chose red. One of our companions chose white. Lady Kibbee went with the trout topped with crab meat. I have to admit that the gazpacho was very satisfying, one of the best cold soup dishes I've had this year. And the quality of the mussels, shrimp, scallops, clams and squid in the Linguini Tia Teresa was quite good, albeit a bit overcooked. My only complaints about the main dish was the apparently packaged pasta and the $27 price point. Lady Kibbee's trout dish was also well executed, but trout topped with crab does not require extensive calisthenics by a professional kitchen. All I can say about the food is that it is good, or above average, or not bad. I can't find a superlative to offer, as much as I would like to.

Again, I really wanted to like this place and I was looking for reasons to like it. And I have to report that it was packed at 8:00 on a Saturday night. But this is not elevated Italian cooking like anything from Roberto Donna or Fabio Trabocchi, and it might not be as good as Pasta Plus in Laurel, but its elevated Potomac prices puts it in CityZen or 2941 territory. Why be the 50th best Italian restaurant in the Maryland suburbs when you are connected to the kind of seafood pipeline that could make you the PassionFish of the Maryland suburbs? (Nonetheless, I counted a good 50-60 covers as I walked out the door, at a solid $60 per cover, multiplied by at least two seatings on a Saturday night....you can do the math.)

Maybe I can open a shop in Potomac and sell pet rocks or mood rings for $100 each....?

[porcupine]

Hmmmm....four and a half years since anyone posted about this place?

<snip>

this is not elevated Italian cooking like anything from Roberto Donna or Fabio Trabocchi, and it might not be as good as Pasta Plus in Laurel, but its elevated Potomac prices puts it in CityZen or 2941 territory.

Yep.

[hm212]

they made up for the slow service with their obscenely criminal prices. Jeesh! I was hoping to score some rockfish for my cooler, but at $25 a pound, that wasn't going to happen. And the tuna, salmon and sea bass all approached $30 a pound. I bought four tuna burgers at $5.99 a pound, and left with a thought that I should open something, anything, in Potomac and charge outrageous prices. I know the locals rave about this place and swear by the crab cakes, but I would understand it better if I walked in the door with my hands over my head and a gun in my face.

This was why I stopped going there years ago - I remember when River Falls opened ten years ago salmon @ $20 a pound - Even Balducci's was cheaper for similar quality.

[stockwatch_1999]

Potomac = Expensive

Renato is expensive, but they make up for it with poor food. Next door's sister River Falls Seafood is criminally expensive, but they make up for it with poor service.

I disagree. While the tavern had the usual bumps that are to be expected when a restaurant opens, the service has evened out and is fine. I agree prices are high but can you blame them if the market will bear the price. I would do the same thing if I owned the place.