Roberto's Italiano Ristorante

[lion]

Roberto Donna is coming to Church Street in Vienna. Tysonsreporter article.

Earlier in the week, I drove by and saw him in the window seat working on something. As this is within our local area, wondering what the form the menu and restaurant, will eventually end up taking. 

We never made it to Red Galanga, we regularly visit the Sandwich Shoppe and The Pure Pasty Company, and their fusion style wasn't attractive to us. As I've thought for a long time Church Street is a prime location for small independently owned restaurants in NOVA. I think he can be very successful there, if it is drama free. 

[Keithstg]

Interesting. When did Roberto leave Al Dente?

[Ericandblueboy]

Not sure but it was awhile ago.  For awhile, Roberto was running a cooking school out of his house via Zoom.

[Kibbee Nayee]

For what little it's worth, my kibbeh nayyeh picture was a birthday gift to Roberto Donna from the Abi-Najm family a few years ago. He *loves* kibbeh nayyeh! 

[jpbloom]

Got an email from Roberto's mailing list that it is available for reservations by email for opening tonight.  Assume it's at least a modified soft opening since there does not appear to be any other notice of opening.

[yeah]

Seem to still kinda be in soft open mode.  Let's say I needed a table for two this Saturday, any tips on getting a reservation? 

[Keithstg]

8 hours ago, yeah said:

Seem to still kinda be in soft open mode.  Let's say I needed a table for two this Saturday, any tips on getting a reservation? 

Not sure, but maybe either call directly, stop in one day this week, or message Roberto via his website?

[Bart]

I was cleaning up some stuff recently and found this menu from Roberto's 4.  This happened to be the last day/night of the 2013 government shutdown, and I had to go back to work the next day  ;-(

I'm still amazed by the number of courses.

 

[yeah]

Bit of persistence paid off here, though I do see they now have a site: https://www.robertosva.com/  Thanks for the encouragement, Keithstg! Heading there on Saturday.

[Escoffier]

Grover and I celebrated a friends birthday there Friday before last.  As usual, the greetings were convivial, Roberto was his usual out-going personality and the service was impeccable.  We did our normal, three courses and dessert with paired wines.  I'd describe the food, but was in a total food coma when we left.  Suffice it to say, the food was the same, as in excellent.  We liked it so well, we're going back next Friday with two other friends to do the same thing all over once again, I'll make sure to grab a menu this time, I promise.

[Ericandblueboy]

Is the online menu not accurate?  

[lotus125]

Any outdoor seating?

[DonRocks]

Last Friday, I had the best gnocchi I’ve ever had at Roberto’s. Every dish was good, but the gnocchi was extraordinary - it’s enough for a meal by itself.

[Keithstg]

Was the restaurant busy?

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Keithstg said:

Was the restaurant busy?

Packed (although there were reservations available the day before - they turn the tables twice). Roberto came out and said Mondays and Tuesdays are the best nights to come.

[RaisaB]

We were there tonight. Packed house. 😊

[reedm]

On 12/15/2022 at 4:47 PM, DonRocks said:

Last Friday, I had the best gnocchi I’ve ever had at Roberto’s. Every dish was good, but the gnocchi was extraordinary - it’s enough for a meal by itself.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Our friends are taking us there to celebrate my birthday in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the experience even more now. Grazie

[reedm]

Our experience at Roberto's was wonderful. The staff was warm and welcoming, and the food and drinks impressed us all. The restaurant was full the entire evening (it was a Saturday), but it was not hectic or overly noisy. 

Between four of us, we were able to try several dishes, and they were all absolutely great. (Looking forward to trying the gnocchi next time, Don.) There is something for everyone's taste on the menu, and it making decisions was difficult, only because everything looked so good.

Surprise hit: Onion-potato soup. 

We will certainly be back. 

 

[Rhone1998]

On 12/15/2022 at 4:47 PM, DonRocks said:

Last Friday, I had the best gnocchi I’ve ever had at Roberto’s. Every dish was good, but the gnocchi was extraordinary - it’s enough for a meal by itself.

Don, curious if you paired a wine from their list with the gnocchi? I would be at a loss to make a good match especially as I really don’t know Italian wines. 

[DonRocks]

7 hours ago, Rhone1998 said:

Don, curious if you paired a wine from their list with the gnocchi? I would be at a loss to make a good match especially as I really don’t know Italian wines. 

Hmm … you’re testing my memory here. I know we had a glass of Prosecco to start with (don’t ignore the grissini), but I’m also sure I didn’t pair any wines with any dishes - we had a bottle of white, and I think it was a Soave (don’t hold me to this), and it carried us to the end.

We also returned on Jan 3, and had some first-rate dishes including some memorable octopus and a whole branzino that was fileted tableside. I remember the wine list here as being really well done and fairly priced - I would trust the florid descriptions for the wines.

BTW, that isn’t something floating in my wine glass; it’s the tip of a grissino at the other end! And that swirl bread (which you can also see) is evil.

[Escoffier]

I guess we'll have to go and look at the menu for the first time.We were regulars at Al Dente until Roberto left and when we went, he just served us whatever he thought we'd enjoy. It wasn't perfect all the time, it was just always right.  😊

[Ericandblueboy]

Went to Roberto's last night because they now feature some interesting apps.

We started with (i) sauteed shad roe served on top of fried polenta cake with lemon, parsley and capers and (ii) seared scallops served with chanterelle mushrooms, porcini mushroom lattice and some creamy potatoes.  I'm not sure I ever had shad roe before but I've eaten plenty of cooked fish roe.  I thought these were pretty good, not particularly fishy.  The scallops were really good though - perfectly seared and sweet tasting.

Those were followed by (iii) pastry cigars filled with wild mushrooms and chicken liver mousse (from the tasting menu but you can order it a la carte), and (iv) jumbo lump crab cake (no filler!).  The mushroom cigar looked more or less like a spring roll.  It was good but I wasn't in love with the dish.  The crab meat in the cake was of the highest quality and the dish was about as good as it gets.

The last dish is (v) the roasted duck breast.  Great flavor, cooked medium rare.  Parts of the duck breast was rather chewy though.  The carrots on the side were really quite good.  The potato pave rather salty.  

Quality ingredients and generally excellent execution with prices to match.

[DonRocks]

Is there a better restaurant in the DC area right now? 
 

[DonRocks]

We had a great meal at Roberto’s on Mother’s Day.

[Bart]

YOU went out to dinner on MOTHER's DAY?!?!?!

Brave!

🤣

[KeithA]

On 7/9/2024 at 3:28 PM, DonRocks said:

Who knew that mtureck would be The One to issue the first credible review of Alfreda?!

Yes, the price is a problem, but right now, the prices are crazy across-the-board ... for perspective, please look at the Pizza al Padellino I had a couple weeks ago for €9.

But there is a solution. I'm going to post about a pizza that I've found that's just about as good as the Pizza al Tegamino (or Padellino, take your pick) I had in Italy. And it costs only $8. And it's in the DC area.

Don - did I miss the post somewhere on the board - where is this magical delicious cheap DC area pizza?

[DonRocks]

52 minutes ago, KeithA said:

Don - did I miss the post somewhere on the board - where is this magical delicious cheap DC area pizza?

Roberto’s. Only available 4:30-6 PM Mon-Thu in the bar area. This is some of the best pizza I’ve ever had in the area which is remarkable because he doesn’t even have a wood-burning oven.

I won’t say it’s “as good” as what I had in Torino, but it was a noteworthy imitation (Roberto is Torinese, and he captured the soul of the pizza - the texture of the crust is remarkable).