Osteria Morini Gets a Refreshed Menu
Chef Matt Adler returned to Osteria Morini, 301 Water St. SE, a restaurant he helped open in 2013, with a dinner menu refresh that debuted last Thursday.
Osteria Morini’s gnudi (Photo: Nina Palazzo)
The Italian restaurant in Navy Yard introduced a new cicchetti section with nine small bites, reinvented pasta dishes and Northern Italian entrees.
Adler reconnected with Ahmass Fakahany, CEO of New York City-based Altamarea Group, last year during Osteria’s 10 year anniversary, leading to the year-old Cucina Morini in the group’s former Nicoletta Italian Kitchen and adjoining Brew’d cafe space. Now, with Cucina Morini serving Southern Italian food, Adler is reinvigorating Osteria Morini’s northern dishes and Caruso’s Grocery Italian American classics. The revamped menu reflects that divide and allows Adler to exercise more creative freedom.
He will introduce some new dishes and bring back some old ones that were fan favorites. Rome is as far south as the new menu goes, pulling dishes from northern regions that are not commonly seen in D.C. including a lighter version of chicken cacciatore.
The restaurant’s Roman version uses rosemary and anchovy, different kinds of olives and potatoes and more natural cooking juice from the chicken.
New pasta options include a ravioli filled with braised veal shank and tossed in saffron butter served in a sauce made with Barolo, the acidic wine that tender ossobuco is traditionally cooked, and topped with zesty gremolata.
There’s also a pasta tasting menu option ($55) that comes with four smaller servings of different pastas and dessert.
Adler said he is having some fun with the new menu and the refresh will help the Italian restaurant continue to stand out in a saturated market for upscale red sauce eateries.
Dishes on the cicchetti menu are each priced less than $20. The featured gnudi dish is made with ricotta dumplings cooked in brown butter and sage, then sprinkled with crumbled amaretti cookies. Another dish combines crispy zucchini and cacio e pepe.
Blue Duck Tavern opened a fire garden on its patio with fire pits, blankets and exclusive bites and cocktails. (Photo: Blue Duck Tavern)
Blue Duck Tavern Adds Outdoor Fire Garden
Blue Duck Tavern, 1201 24th St. NW, debuted its fire garden, a new outdoor area in its sunken garden with working firepits and blankets.
There are new small bites ideal for sharing, to complement new winter cocktails served in the fire garden and at Blue Duck Tavern Lounge. Dishes include shaved Virginia ham with pickled vegetables, toast and melted raclette; BDT fries with toum; a charcuterie board with pickled vegetables, house mustard and local cheeses; roasted bone marrow with onion bordelaise, pink peppercorn and caraway crumble; and apple pie for two. Dishes are priced from $15-$44 each.
New handcrafted winter cocktails available exclusively at the fire garden include a gingerbread martini with vanilla vodka, Irish cream and ginger; chai white Russian with chai spiced cream, spiced rum and cinnamon; and a hot toddy with cognac, honey from the restaurant’s rooftop, lemon and cloves. Cocktails are $22 each.
The fire garden menu also has exclusive after dinner libations including Château Montfort, Château de Laubade Bas Armagnac 1976, 25-Year Macallan, Willett Reserve Eight-Year Bourbon and Clase Azul Reposado Tequila. After dinner drinks are $32-$500. The full beer and wine list is also available with free roasted chestnuts on cold nights.
The fire garden is open from 4:30-10 p.m. seven nights a week, weather permitting, on a first come, first served basis.
dLeña will serve its bottomless brunch from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Black Friday and New Year’s Day. (Photo: dLeña)
dLeña Serving Black Friday, New Year’s Day Brunch
dLeña, 476 K St. NW, will serve expanded brunch on Black Friday and New Year’s Day by with a special prix fixe menu on New Year’s Eve.
The modern Mexican restaurant will offer its bottomless brunch service from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Nov. 29 and Jan. 1. Diner can choose between ordering bottomless food and drinks for $69 or bottomless food for $45 with a la carte drinks. Individual dishes will also be available a la cart. The last seating for bottomless brunch is 2p.m.
On New Year’s Eve, the restaurant will serve a five-course, prix fixe menu for $159 per person with an optional $100 beverage pairing. The menu includes wagyu empanadas with almonds, truffle cheese, guajillo cream sauce and chimichurri; and ostiones a la leña with grilled oysters, celery root, bacon morita jam, chipotle mignonette and smoked trout caviar, as well as a variety of salads and soups. Entrées include the choice of wagyu filete mignon with lobster mashed potatoes, grilled broccolini, bone marrow butter and dried chili gastrique; grilled Pacific halibut with grilled bok choy, ponzu achiote, warm bacon relish, smoked trout caviar and toasted hazelnuts; and coliflor a la leña with charred cauliflower, chimichurri, red pipian and truffle cheese fondue, along with other choices straight from dLeña’s wood burning grill. Finish the meal with a choice of desserts like honey vanilla cheesecake with honeycomb and citrus berry blend; creme brûlée with espresso, agave gooseberries and orange butter cookie; or a selection of ice creams and sorbets.
Reservations are required for the New Year’s Even prix fixe meal. Upstairs and downstairs bar seats will be available first come, first served with items ordered a la carte.
Annabelle will hold a wine tasting on the second Saturday of each month. (Photo: Jonnis Scott Photography)
Annabelle Hosts Second Saturday Wine Program
Annabelle, 2132 Florida Ave. NW, has a new wine program the second Saturday of every month at noon. Each month will focus on a different wine theme paired with appetizer-size tastings.
Wine director Gary Russell leads the informative and festive gatherings, held in the restaurants private events space, 2107 R St. NW.
On Dec. 14, the Second Saturday Food & Wine Pairing Event focuses on sparkling wines. Participants will enjoy a holiday-themed cocktail, followed by the guided tasting of wine-paired dishes while exploring sparkling wines from Spain, Italy, France and the U.S. The menu, planned to complement the sparkling wines, includes chilled poached Maine lobster with whipped verjus and yuzu; cod “schnitzel” with fermented cabbage, braised mustard seeds and beurre blanc; chicken liver mousse with sour cherry preserve and seeded rye; and roasted poussin with herbs de Provence and local lettuce salad with herbs.
The Jan. 11 theme is “Can You Taste ‘Expensive?’” Participants will enjoy a glass of Champagne followed by two blind tastings of two wines side by side, for a total of four wines. One wine will be two to three times more expensive than its competitor in each tasting.
During each Second Saturday tasting one participant will win a raffle to take home their favorite bottle from those tasted.
Tickets for December or January, which are $125 per person, can be purchased online.
The Duck Donuts in Fairfax City was closed for three days for not paying state taxes. (Photo: Jared Serre)
Fairfax Duck Donuts Reopens After Tax Closure
Duck Donuts, 10694 Fairfax Blvd., Fairfax, reopened last Thursday after the Virginia Department of Taxation, which had placed multiple tax liens on the business, shut it down on Nov. 18.
Franchise owner Keith Kirkland told FFXnow, “We had an issue, we fixed it, and we moved on.”
According to a notice on the store’s door, parent company CuriousParrot LLC failed to pay roughly $230,000 in Virginia state taxes. Five liens were placed on the business, according to the notice, including two in Fairfax County Circuit Court and one in Fairfax City Circuit Court. The other two liens had been filed in Arlington County Circuit Court.
Liens can be placed on a business if taxes are not paid within 30 days of the due date, according to Virginia law.
Since 2019, Kirkland owned both the Fairfax City and Herndon locations of Duck Donuts, a North Carolina-based chain. The Fairfax City store opened in 2015.
The shop offers made-to-order donuts that can be customized with eight different icings, 12 toppings — including bacon — and 13 drizzles to top them off. The menu also includes an assortment of breakfast sandwiches made with donuts, ice creams, coffee and other drinks.
There are currently two other locations in Fairfax County, located in Centreville and Springfield. A spokesperson confirmed plans for a Vienna store earlier this year, although there have been no updates.
