Teatro Goldoni October 2009

Dinner on Saturday was my favorite meal of the weekend.  I chose Teatro Goldoni due to Washingtonian’s 100 Best Restaurants list and Art’s love of Italian food.  As an unexpected benefit, Teatro Goldoni was also within easy walking distance from our hotel, which is always a bonus!

Teatro Goldoni pretty much nailed it just by seating us.  For all five of the restaurants we ate in I requested a table with nice lighting.  The host at this restaurant was the only person who acknowledged this request and seated us at the table with “the best lighting in the house.”  It was a simple thing, but it meant a lot to me.  

The restaurant had a pleasant noise level and we were seated near the front window which is always an enjoyable experience in the city.  The service was attentive and friendly, I was never out of water.  

Our meal started with a nice bread basket and small plates of flavorful olive oil.  The darkest bread was an olive bread that Art enjoyed.  I’m not a fan of olives.  Then we got foccacia and rosemary bread.

Striscia di mozzarella di bufala Deconstructed buffalo mozzarella with cherry tomatoes mix, black olives, crispy capers, micro basil, balsamic vinegar gelatin cubes, extra virgin olive oil

This was a fascinating take on a tomato and mozzarella salad.  Yes, tomatoes are my favorite food during the summer so I tend to order them a lot in restaurants.  Have you noticed?  Buffalo mozzarella has such a different flavor profile from the regular stuff and I could really notice that in this salad.  The capers were cooked somehow, perhaps roasted?  They had a crisp and smoky flavor that was very unique.  The balsamic gelatin cubes were genius.  I picked out the olives.

Composta di melanzane e Pomodoro Roasted eggplant, farm raised goat cheese, organic yellow and red tomato terrine with Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, cracked black peppercorns crystallized salt, basil gelatin

Art ordered this terrine dish and I think his only complaint was that he would have preferred more basil.  He enjoyed all of the ingredients and felt that it came together nicely but probably isn’t something he’d order again.

Tonno in crosta con carciofi Seared Ahi tuna with a black pepper and anise dust and served over a ragu of artichoke hearts, black olives and tempura style zucchini blossoms stuffed with a foam of sweet fava beans

Lance teases me for always ordering fish in restaurants.  Art doesn’t like fish so I was never able to cook it at home until he started traveling for work which only started in the past year.  As a result, I’d tend to order fish often in restaurants because I love it and wasn’t getting it often enough otherwise!  

Lance should be proud of me, though, since this was the first time I had fish the entire trip and boy did I pick the right restaurant!  It was perfectly seared and rare in the middle.  The crust was very spicy and the anise was not at all overwhelming although it was noticeable.  The artichokes were tender and flavorful.  The zucchini blossoms were crispy and filled with a fantastic fava bean puree.  This was a scrumptious dish.

Risotto con funghi misti Italian rice with fresh mix mushrooms, tomato fillets and tempura like stuffed zucchini blossoms with fava beans puree

Art loves risotto and he had never had the pleasure of ordering it in a restaurant.  He, like me, has also always wanted to try zucchini blossoms.  He was pleased with the flavors and loved the zucchini blossoms but he found the rice to be a bit too al dente and chewy, almost crunchy at times.  This seems to be a common problem with restaurant risottos which is unfortunate.  He still polished off the dish so it couldn’t have been all bad!

Uova finte al Tegamino Vanilla pannacotta with orange gel yolks sunny side up with cocoa nibs, pistachio, and crispy tulip virtual bacon

I’m not sure what I can say about this dessert.  It was phenomenal.  The presentation was simply awesome.  The gel was great, the pannacotta was rich, and everything just worked perfectly together.  I am so glad I ordered this since I had some trepidation!

Torre di cioccolato all’ arancia Orange Gianduja chocolate tower in orange glaze and hazelnut spikes

Art’s dessert was yet another “Chocolate Thing” and, again, with citrus flavors.  He felt that the chocolate was very good quality but that the gel topping the tower was a bit unnecessary.

Sorbetti and Gelati Basil, lemon mascarpone, and peanut butter jam

We’re not usually in the habit of ordering an extra dessert but we were just so curious!  Both of us were most pleased with the lemon mascarpone sorbetti.  From there Art went for the basil and I just ate my pannacotta.  The peanut butter jam was lacking a pronounced peanut butter flavor and the jam flavor was sort of strange.

Clearly I was much more impressed with this meal than Art was, although he tried all of my dishes and did think they were great, so he thinks it was just his dishes that weren’t prepared quite perfectly.  He’s interested in going back some day which is a relief since I loved my meal.  I was surprised by the amount of molecular gastronomy going on since I was sort of expecting traditional Italian cuisine.  Instead, this was all new age and I think it worked very well!

Total price, no alcohol, including tip: $167.37

Teatro Goldoni
1989 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Reservations: 202.955.9494