Centrolina: Italian Restaurant in the City Center, Washington DC

sunamakeup Eylül 30, 2022

974 Palmer Alley NW, Washington, DC 20001; tel. +1 (202) 898-2426

https://www.centrolinadc.com/

By J.P.

Chef and Owner Amy Brandwein opened Centrolina in June 2015, at CityCenterDC. Amy Brandwein attended L'Academie de Cuisine in Montgomery County, Maryland. She started her career in 2000 at the iconic Galileo Restaurant led by Chef Roberto Donna. Chef Amy Brandwein remained at Galileo until its closing in 2006. She then followed Chef Roberto Donna to his new venture, the more informal Bebo Trattoria in Crystal City, Virginia, where she stayed until early 2009. After working at several other DC area restaurants, Chef Amy Brandwein worked again side by side with Chef Roberto Donna, jointly leading the kitchen at Alba Osteria, between November 2013 and November 2014.

Centrolina, entrance

Chef Amy Brandwein has been nominated for the James Beard Award, Best Chef Mid-Atlantic, in 2017 through 2020. In addition, she received the 2018 Chef of the Year RAMMY Award from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. Also, Centrolina has been nominated for Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year RAMMY Award, in 2018 through 2020. Centrolina was included in The Michelin Guide, Washington DC, for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021, without any stars.

Bar and dining room

As you enter Centrolina, you have a bar to your right. There are a few tables along the wall to your left, as well as along the glass wall at the front of the restaurant. If you walk by the bar towards the back of the restaurant, you find another dining area and the kitchen in the far back. Further right in the back, there is another small dining area. Finally, if you turn right as you enter the restaurant and go beyond the bar, you end up in a small market, which is also accessible directly from the alley. More recently, Centrolina has been offering outdoor seating.

Outdoor seating

Mercato

Our first visit to Centrolina was in 2018. We have gone back to the restaurant a few times and our most recent visit happened in November 2021. We focus here on this November 2021 visit.

Bar

Bar and dining room

We had reservations for 1:30 pm on a Saturday and were very happy to see that several of the indoor tables were occupied. It looked like more people were returning to restaurants after the absence caused by the pandemics. We got a table by the window and could therefore appreciate people passing by along the alley.

The lunch menu included three sections: antipasti, paste, and “a legna” (from the wood fired oven), in addition to a dessert menu. The list of options within each section was not very extensive. We started with appetizers:

Pera (Asian pear, truffle honey, walnut) (J.P.)

Asian pear

Minestrone (Butternut squash, kale, chicken broth, pesto) (A.M.). Minestrone is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice.

Minestrone

We both liked our appetizers. I was afraid that mine might be too sweet as an appetizer, but it did strike the right balance in this respect. It was very good.

My main course selection was from the wood fired oven section:

Paillard (Charred chicken breast, field greens, orzo, fresh herbs, lemon vinaigrette). Paillard refers to a boneless piece of meat that has been pounded thin. Orzo is a pasta that is shaped like a grain of rice. The paillard came in a generous portion as the thin chicken layer covered the whole plate. However, it was not at the same level as the appetizer.

Paillard

A.M. chose from the pasta section of the menu:

Ravioli (Burrata and ricotta, roasted shitake, pesto, Parmigiano). Parmigiano Reggiano has a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) granted by the European Union and, legally, the name refers exclusively to the cheese manufactured in a limited area in northern Italy. Generic Parmesan is a family of hard grating cheeses made from cow-milk and inspired by the original Italian cheese. Pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa, Italy, generally including crushed garlic, pine nuts, basil leaves, and hard cheese.

Ravioli

We then moved to dessert. Our choices were:

Torta di Mele (Apple cake, Calvados, caramel, vanilla whipped cream) (J.P.). Calvados is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or, sometimes, from apples and pears.

Torta di mele

Tenerina (Chocolate cake, mascarpone, figs, raspberries) (A.M.). Tenerina is an Italian chocolate cake, originally from the town of Ferrara, in the Emilia Romagna region.

Tenerina

To accompany the meal, we had an Italian red wine. Prices were generally high, and we picked a bottle from the lower price range of the Centrolina wine list: Chianti Classico, Pogggio Scalette, 2019 ($55). It turned out to be very good. Chianti Classico is a DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita - Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin) associated with an area in Tuscany, which is the central portion of the DOCG Chianti area. Chianti Classico wine must contain at least 80 percent Sangiovese and a maximum of 20 percent of other red grapes, like Canaiolo Nero, Colorino, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. White grapes, which are allowed in DOCG Chianti wines, are not allowed in Chianti Classico. This wine is produced by Podere Poggio Scalette, a winery in Greve in Chianti, owned by Vittorio Fiore since 1992. The Italian word “podere” here means farm. Wine Spectator rates the 2019 Chianti Classico, Pogggio Scalette, at 89 and describes the wine as having “cherry, raspberry, earth and tobacco flavors”.

Poggio Scalette Chianti Classico

At this November 2021 visit to Centrolina, service was very friendly and, overall, we had a great experience.

During previous visits to Centrolina, we had the opportunity to try different appetizers, main courses, and desserts. I am going to highlight here three appetizers, which were particularly impressive:

Agrumi (Blood orange, grapefruit, honey, radicchio). Agrume is the Italian word to designate a citrus fruit.

Agrumi

Torta (Chef’s crab cake, creamed and shaved salsify). Salsify is a plant with an edible root. This appetizer consists of several crepe layers with a filling of crab, which also includes Gruyère, cream cheese, and Cayenne pepper, which is a "moderately hot" pepper. This detailed description of the appetizer is not included in the menu and was provided to us by our waiter at the time we had it. This appetizer was outstanding.

Chef´s crab cake

Melanzane (Fried eggplant, honey and almond). Melanzane is the Italian word for eggplant. Actually, this item used to appear in the Centrolina menu in the section of contorni (side dishes). During a visit we made to the restaurant in April 2021, it took some time for a waiter to be assigned to our table. Because of the pandemics, service was still struggling to get back to normal. To compensate for the misstep, we were offered the Melanzane on the house, as an additional appetizer. This deep-fried eggplant was also outstanding.

Deep fried eggplant

As an additional example of pasta, I would mention a delicate pappardelle that we had in one of our visits:

Pappardelle (Scallion, wood roasted mushrooms, Parmigiano). Pappardelle are large, very broad, flat pasta noodles, originating from the Tuscany region.

Papardelle

Finally, from the sea, I give as an example:

Tonno (Rare yellowfin tuna, broccoli rabe, roasted tomato, Sicilian herb vinaigrette). The name ahi tuna usually refers to both bigeye (dark tails) and yellowfin (yellow-golden tails). Broccoli rabe, also known as rapini, has florets that are much smaller than those of broccoli. Its stalks are not as thick and tough as those of broccoli.

Rare yellowfin tuna

In July 2019, Chef Brandwein opened Piccolina, across Palmer Alley from Centrolina. Piccolina, the Italian word for “little one”, is an all-day café featuring a menu cooked over wood fire.