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Dino

 3435 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC
 

Dino: For Excellent Italian Fare

Sitting outside on Dino’s outdoor patio, along Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park, on a sunny warm Saturday a few weeks ago, my husband and I enjoyed the evening in the best way possible – sipping a fabulous Pinot Noir and eating excellent fresh seasonal Italian fare.

Dino offers several menu options including their “Restaurant Week” menu of three courses of select menu items for $39. The “Menu della Sera” also offers 3 courses for just $25! One caveat – orders must be placed by 7 p.m. Diners may choose from a selection of antipasti, selected pasta & entrees & dolci. Still a great deal, especially in today’s economy.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Dino and can’t wait to go back! The service was excellent and I will never forget that it was because of our waitor that recommended the Adelsheim Vineyards Pinot Noir from the Williamette Valley, Orgeon that now I have a favorite Pinot Noir! Dean Gold and Kay Zimmerman have done a superb job keeping the menu authentic with very good quality ingredients. If you don’t already subscribe to the e-newsletter, you should! I look forward to hearing about his travels, mostly to Italy and all of the new seasonal dishes that they are trying out on the menu.

Asparagi in Camicia - Prosciutto wrapped asparagus

Our favorite dish of the evening was the very fresh and seasonal Asparagi in Camicia – Prosciutto wrapped asparagus – described on the menu as local ‘grass, Pio Tosini prosciutto, grilled; drizzled with saba (see photo above). This was quite memorable. Saba, according to our server, is a sweet balsamic vinegar reduction. It was delicious. I would be willing to put some energy into trying to recreate this dish at home. Dean informed his e-newsletter subscribers on Friday that he snagged a batch of local organic asparagus – most likely the last of the summer. This is a hint to get it while you can, folks.

Tagliolini al Asparagi “Felicietta"

For my main course I ordered the Tagliolini al Asparagi “Felicietta”, which is offered on the regular menau as half or whole portion. The dish was made with fresh seasonal asparagus in cream and grana cheese served atop of house made thin fettuccini. I thought that the cream sauce wasn’t too heavy for a summer dish, but I think that I would have liked it better as a side dish along side of some chicken piccata.

SO GOOD - Linguine alla Pescatore at Dino

Linguine alla Pescatore

I also tried the Linguine alla Pescatore, described on the menu as
Mussels & Mahogany Clams – house made pasta, garlic, tomatoes, wine & parsley. The dish is beautifully presented as natural as it can be – with the mussels and clams still in their shells. The house-made pasta was delicious with the tomato based sauce. I only had a few bites of this dish as it was not my main course; however, I thought it was delicious and I usually don’t care for seafood pasta dishes.

Manodori Balsamico con Gelato

The desserts were just as interesting as the other dishes on the menu. Because I enjoyed the saba so much with the Prosciutto wrapped asparagus, I decided to try the Manodori Balsamico con Gelato which was desribed on the menu as a very rich, sweet and naturally thick Villa Manodori Aged Balsamico atop house made vanilla gelato. The gelato was delicious yet after a full meal, it’s hard to eat more than just a few bites with the sweet syrup.

Gianduia Nico

The Nico is one of their most popular desserts which has bittersweet chocolate gelato with chopped chocolate atop hazelnut gelato, with toasted hazelnuts. Atop, chocolate sauce whipped cream. I thought that the chocolate sauce that spelled at D-I-N-O was pretty neat.

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