Yahoo! - washingtonian

Very Best Restaurants: Goldoni Ristorante

Very Best Listing | Very Best by Cuisine | Very Best by Location

Goldoni Ristorante ***
Washington, $$

Bright as a terrazza by day, romantically accented with the flickering light of ornate Venetian candelabra at night, Goldoni is a gallery for Fabrizio Aielli's culinary art. What makes Aielli the brightest of Italian chefs since Roberto Donna's 1984 debut is the equal talent that he shows in preparing the traditional specialties of his native Venice and his inspired version of Modern Italian cuisine.

At its simplest, a representative regional meal at Goldoni might begin with a shared risotto garnished with fresh scampi and artichokes; move to a main course of a whole fish baked in parchment paper, its sauce a commingling of the fish's natural juices, butter, and black olives; and finish with sharp Montasio cheese, its surface traced with a scribble of honey, presented atop a handful of baby chicory salad.

Aielli's modern creations are as impressive for their sharply focused flavors as they are for their painterly presentations. On his constantly evolving seasonal menu, memorable past examples have included scallops fried in spinach-leaf wrappings and served over oxtail sauce, and a "tower" of alternating slices of monkfish and grilled vegetables, garnished with salsify-stuffed half-moon pasta and moistened with a truffled duck broth. Dessertswhether a quince tart with orange sauce and mascarpone ice cream or a warm pear "soup" with vanilla ice cream and Chianti-blackberry sherbetprovide an impressive conclusion to Aielli's edible Modern Venetian art.

Goldoni Ristorante , 1113 23rd St. NW, Washington; 202-293-1521. Open Monday through Friday for lunch, daily for dinner. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

Return to Restaurant & Entertaining Directory