Dino in DC….Now That’s Amore.

Welcome to Dino in Washington DC..

Proprietor Dean Gold is and I have known each other since 2005.  He came from a background as a buyer for Whole Foods, specifically wine and cheese, but before that he was in the restaurant biz in California.

This is Andrew Shapiro, @ShapsinDC for those of you who Tweet.  He’s a fun guy and gave us great service the night we were in.  He’s got some serious opinions about the NCAA.

Andrew had just been featured in Washingtonian Magazine for his  Il Consigliere, which won him the #1 spot on the list of Manhattans to try in the DC area.  I have to say, it was pretty tasty.  I like a Manhattan that doesn’t burn you, but doesn’t taste like someone dropped raw maraschino cherry juice in it either.

Just FYI, Dean has assembled a very eclectic wine list and runs all kinds of specials. Check his website or get on his mailing list for updates.

My guest and I put ourselves at Andrew and Dean’s mercies and asked them to keep the food coming until we cried uncle. They did a stupendous job.

You’ll note lots of interesting items around the restaurant if you take the time to look.  Note the line on the menu about cell phones.  Inventive.

Shhh….artist at work.

One of the things I really liked about the bar…there were little bowls of olives and pickled veggies…the string beans were particularly good.  They had a touch of anise that made them very light & fresh tasting.

This is a bowl of fried artichoke hearts.  They aren’t battered or breaded, just a little spice rub, lemon and salt.

There are bottles of concoctions and potions all over the walls by the bar.  I’m sure that they make it into the cocktails from time to time.

This is the beet salad with citrus and ricotta salata.  I haven’t had ricotta salata since my days at Papa Razzi!

This is the stuffed duck neck made in-house with duck sausage, cardamom, ginger, allspice, orange and honey.  Nice.

This is the pork steak.  This dish brought me right back to sitting at my grandfather’s table when I was about 5 years old.   He was a butcher at A&P (for those of you who might remember that store) for 40 years and he used to bring home cuts like this, and prepare them like this.  Amazing.

This is the duck over a leek and cardamom reduction.  Very tender.

This is the fruitti di mare.  The pasta was done just right and the dish tastes like fresh ocean.  Nicely played.

As I was saying about the potions….

The drinks aren’t all alcoholic here…this was a watermelon spritzer-type thingy that Andrew whipped up for my designated driver.  I should have tried it but I was too enthralled with my Il Consigliere.

Until next time…..keep it shakin’!
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Thank you for reading.