BLT Restaurants gives Washingtonians a taste of Grandma’s home cooked Italian meals!
By Roshan Farazad
Photo provided by Casa Nonna
Casa Nonna, the latest Italian restaurant to grace Dupont Circle, is apparently satisfying the palates of foodies all over the district.
Casa Nonna, “House of the Grandmother” in English, is a family-style Italian restaurant that offers moderately priced authentic Roman and Tuscan dishes that range from homemade pastas, pizzas, paninis, and salads.
Their wine list features 100% Italian wines.
The restaurant recently opened in September and is run by chef Amy Brandwein, former chef de cuisine at the Ritz Carlton Pentagon City’s Fyve; she also used her culinary skill at Galileo with owner and renowned D.C. chef, Robert Donna. Brandwein designed Nonna’s menu to include a wide variety of dishes to satisfy customers, whether you’re in the mood for proscuitto, apple, and port-viniagrette antipasti, risotto balls, eggplant caponata, or an insalada mista.
For larger entrees customers can order a traditional pasta, such as Spaghetti Pomodoro, or if they are in the mood for something different, Nonna offers Penne All’Arrabbiata, “Angry Style” spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce.
At lunchtime hearty paninis ranging from the braised beef short rib, caramelized onion, and horseradish sour cream mayonnaise to The Rocker: a salami, proscuitto, capicola, and sharp provolone panini.
The restaurant contains a marble pizza bar in which customers can see the wood-burning oven that is used to make Neopolitan-style pizzas that include unique ingredients.
The “Nonna” pizza is made up of zucchini flowers, fried egg, tomato, and mozzarella. If you’re not into the fancy pies, the menu offers simpler ones as well.
In addition to the menu, Nonna offers weekly specials. On Thursdays they serve Osso Bucco and on Tuesdays all wines are half-priced.
The new establishment is a part of the BLT Restaurant Group and an addition to their other DC restaurant, BLT Steak. The restaurant group is owned by Jimmy Haber and Keith Treyball and includes BLT Fish, BLT Burger, BLT Market, and more. They are planning to open GO Burger in D.C. in 2011. BLT Steak was picked as One of the Best 12 New Steakhouses in America in 2007, by Details magazine, amongst other awards.
Casa Nonna is located on 1250 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington D.C.
Telephone: 202.629.2505
