Ristorante Tosca

http://www.toscadc.com/index.shtml

I am glad I decided to add restaurants to this blog because I went out to dinner again just last night! It is Restaurant Week here in Washington, D.C. and I went to Ristorante Tosca with five of my friends. I have always wanted to try this restaurant and it exceeded my expectations. The meal was incredible. Tosca is truly fine Italian dining. The dining room is stylish and contemporary but comfortable. The food is elegant and sophisticated. All of their pasta is homemade daily. Lucky for us Tosca offered their entire menu for Restaurant Week (most places have a limited menu). However this made ordering that much more difficult! I decided to take advantage of the options (i.e. be a piggy) and forgo the traditional first course appetizer. Instead I went right to the good stuff and ordered a pasta dish, a fish, and then dessert. Excellent decision!

My selections:

• Tortelli di zucca alla Pavese con burro nocciolato, salvia e amaretti sbriciolati
• Tortelli filled with roasted butternut squash, sautéed with brown butter, sage and amaretto cookies

• Rana pescatrice arrosto in crosta di melanzane e timo su peperoni scottatie olio alle mandorle siciliane
• Roasted monk fish in a eggplant and thyme crust with sautéed peppers and almond olive oil

• Tortino tiepido al cioccolato bianco cpn gelato al cioccolato amaro e marmellata di arancini cinesi
• White warm chocolate cake with bittersweet chocolate ice cream and kumquat compote

The tortelli was my favorite. Since it was my first course, there were only four delicate tortelli, plump with butternut squash, served in a rich brown butter sage sauce. I could not imagine ordering an entire entrée of this dish. However I was VERY tempted to lick the plate when I was finished…

The monk fish was served with a thick crust of eggplant puree on top of sautéed peppers and oil. It was a simple dish, but quite rich.

I barely had room for dessert so it was a good thing I wasn’t crazy about the warm chocolate cake. I failed to notice the first word in the dish was “white” so I was surprised when a yellow cake with a custard filling was set in front of me. I despise all custard-like food so I was disappointed when a thick creamy filling oozed out of an otherwise tasty cake. So I essentially just ate the (delicious!) homemade ice cream with the kumquat compote (which would have made an excellent dessert in its own right without the cake!).

Overall it was a fabulous three hour dining experience with good friends, conversation, wine, and of course food :)