Sometimes big expectations can be dangerous. However, in looking over Dino’s menu, I couldn’t help being excited for an upcoming first-time visit. The restaurant has won numerous awards, including #1 Italian and #3 Best Restaurant in the Washingtonian’s Reader Poll.
I visited Dino on a Saturday night, with a group of four friends. We arrived on time for our reservation and were seated promptly in a cozy nook. We were presented with a warm bread basket and ordered a bottle of Grenache to start. On the menu, the wine was described as “explosive”. The wine was pleasant enough, but hardly what I would call explosive. Because the wine didn’t live up to its description, we were feeling a bit disappointed with what would otherwise have been a decent bottle.
The five of us ordered three appetizers to split. First, the Aglio – Baked Garlic ~ gorgonzola cheese ~ traditional Jewish Tuscan spiced onion & tomato agrodolce ~ crostini. This is not something I would ever have chosen myself, but I am so glad someone in my party did. The garlic was soft and rich and the gorgonzola blended perfectly. A potent and extremely delicious combination. Next was my selection, the Burrata - Bufala Cheese ~ air freighted from Puglia, Sundays & Thursdays ~ fresh mozzarella outside ~ fresh curds & cream inside ~ olive tapenade ~ red pepper tapenade ~ oven roasted tomato ~ olio & basil. This was absolutely incredible. It tasted richly creamy and extremely fresh. We all agreed it was actually just perfect enough to be eaten alone. And finally the Pio Tosini 500 Giorni Prosciutto di Parma Crudo Prosciutto – made in the old fashioned manner by in the small Tosini family prosciuttificio ~ they age these hand salted gems a full 500 days ~ setting the world of prosciutto back 100 years! ~ house pickle. I generally don’t enjoy prosciutto but this version definitely changed my mind about that. The thin salty slices made a nice variable to our Bufala Cheese dish.
And then it was time for dinner. After reading the description, the majority of our table including myself opted for the Lasagnette al Ragu – Free Form Lasagna ~ a very non-traditional, over-the-top version ~ fonduta ~ crispy bacon ~ rich pork & veal puree ~ grana cheese ~ house-made pasta sheets. Sadly, this dish didn’t deliver the way I had imagined it would. Although good, it resembled nothing more than a messy lasagna – not as over-the-top as I had anticipated. Also, after our tasty round of starters the flavors in this lasagna weren’t all there.
With dinner we ordered a second bottle of red, this one a Primitivo described as “rustic”. This was an earthy bottle and in this case certainly matched the description. However, my table still agreed that this bottle lacked the complexity we’d hoped for.
In some aspects Dino did not deliver and in others I feel the restaurant surpassed expectation. I only wish the wines and main course had the same wow-factor as our appetizer course. I think that much of the disappointment there could have been avoided with more accurate menu descriptions. With a warm, cozy, cave-like interior and friendly, efficient service, Dino has a lot to offer. With a few tweaks I feel this restaurant could be stand-out in DC dining.
