Fiola, DC

Chef Fabio Trabocchi was one of the first chef's names I ever learned.  I stayed one night at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner years ago and stumbled on a dinner reservation at their restaurant called "Maestro".  It was not until after the evening was over that I realized I had eaten at one of the best restaurants in DC (I believe it was ranked #2 at the time).  Needless to say that this was the first Michelin-level dining experience of my life and it absolutely changed me forever.  Sadly, Trabocchi left DC before I ever had a chance to go back to Maestro but..... he's back!

Trabocchi had retreated to NYC for years before returning to DC to open... Fiola!  And in a short time, Fiola is already rated #4 in Washingtonian Magazine.  I was super excited to head there for drinks and dinner and with a fun group of people to enjoy it with.

The bar scene is very DC yuppy with lobbyists hanging around decompressing after a day on Capital Hill.  However, the bar itself is fairly large and the service is great. It's so nice to not have to fight through a wall of drunks to get a drink at Happy Hour. After drinks, we were finally seated.  An adjustment to the size of our party meant we had to wait 30 minutes longer but the hostess team was very kind.  The ambience of the dining room is classy but not overly pretentious.  We are seeing the food in newer restaurants in DC be more of the focus than the ambience.  I never like leaving a restaurant feeling like they spent more money on the decor than they did on the ingredients and service. An example of this is while the food at Sax isn't "bad", I feel the food is well below the ambience and decor.

Our waiter was pretty much what you would expect when you are paying the prices they charge at Fiola.  He assisted with our selections with some recommendations and did not miss a beat the entire meal.  Nothing but positive things to say about the service.  We had a group of 5 so we opted to go family style with our orders so we could try more dishes.  My favorite way of eating!

Here is a run-down of what we ordered:

Appetizers:

Heaven = Fois Gras

Tuna Carpaccio - I apologize for the lack of a photo but the picture turned out terrible and already had a bite taken out of it.  This dish is remarkably colorful and not for people who judge food by appearance because there are a million things going on.  However, it had many subtle flavors that did not take away from the taste of the raw fish.  The dish was VERY busy.

Hudson Valley Fois Gras - A couple of people in our group had never had Fois Gras before so I had to do a little convincing that we would need two servings of this to avoid a riot.  It's such a satisfying feeling to make such a recommendation and then see everyone's face light up when they try something new. My friend next to me literally moaned and said "Oh god" after tasting the first bite of Fois Gras in her life.  If you visit Fiola without getting the Fois Gras, it would be a crime.  At Fiola, it's a piece of perfectly cooked deliciousness. 

 

The Bucatini with really tasty prawns

Bucatini - I have very little memory of this dish except that one of the people in our group was expecting actual sea urchin, not just sea urchin flavor.  I do remember the prawns were well cooked and the fresh pasta was perfectly cooked.  It's just so hard to eat Italian food at normal restaurants after having it at places like this...
















Lobster Ravioli - This is one of my favorite dishes, in general, so it's tough to impress me, however Fiola's lobster ravioli was exactly what I would expect from a 38 dollar dish.  Big chunks of lobster, homemade fresh pasta and a great flavor.

An excellent Lobster Ravioli

The tortellinis

Tortellini -  I don't really recall what was inside the tortellini as the menu appears to have changed since I went but wow, the pasta is so fresh.

Such a big difference between really good, fresh pasta and what a local Italian chain eatery serves.  Not that I eat at local Italian chain eateries any more :)  Ok, that sounds pretentious but the best way to get me to dip out of a Friday night outing is to tell me that we are going to Olive Garden.

It's hard to say "cockles" without chuckling

Branzino - A perfectly cooked piece of fish alongside some freshwater "cockles" which are like a small clam.  The chef used a liberal amount of foam in this dish.  Flavored foams are pretty cool for me but I can see how some people are a little grossed out by it.  The first time I had foam was actually at Maestro so it was interesting to see that while the rest of the culinary world has moved away from foams, Trabocchi still enjoys cooking with them.











 
For dessert, we enjoyed a mix of a delicious marscapone custard underneath a scoop of rhubarb lemoncello shaved ice which Italian restaurants call "granita". 


The meal was overall worthy of its #4 ranking in the DC area and I hope to return.  Let's just hope Fois Gras is still legal to be served before my next visit!


Rating - 5 out of 5 stars.  Great for a date or for foodies.  Although the food is a reasonable value compared to the top restaurants in DC hosted by a James Beard award-winning chef in the kitchen, it will set you back a pretty penny.