Travel, golf & leisure » Restaurants » Famoso Italian Restaurant, A Taste So Authentic, to Get Any Closer You Would Have to Buy a Ticket to Italy
Famoso Italian Restaurant, A Taste So Authentic, to Get Any Closer You Would Have to Buy a Ticket to Italy
Story by: Sol tucker
Photos by: Sol tucker
Chevy Chase , MD --
After reviewing the M Café at The Collection at Chevy Chase and finding the menu more than delectable, our staff decided to give Famoso, its partner upstairs a try and see if it could match. Wow, were we amazed at the quality that Gabriele has put into these menu items.
Famoso again features the excellence of Gabriele Paganelli and the menu items are Northern Italian. If you are looking for authentic with no twists whatsoever, this is your place. We liked it so much it was tough to leave.
Your dining experience starts with the demand of excellence by Joseph Giannino, Famoso’s General Manager. Giannino knows what it takes to make a high-end restaurant run from his experience at Cafe Milano in Georgetown. Just like a 5:30 express train people can count on, Giannino can also be counted on ensuring a great menu combined with excellent service for an Italian dining experience that is not found anywhere else in the Metro Washington area.
We started our evening as you should yours by enjoying a few cocktails at Famoso’s amazing bar, which includes a hand carved marble bar and a wine selection that would make most sommeliers in the world jealous. This is a great place to enjoy a drink while waiting for friends or colleagues to join you for dinner. It’s a great place for a first date. If you can’t turn her on with Famoso’s relaxing interior, the food certainly will.
Our first suggested item comes from the Risotti section of the menu. While most food connoisseurs would love to be able to produce the Risotto con Fagiano e Tarttufo Mantecato Forma di Parmigiano at home, Famoso does it to perfection. With a name like that you know it is going to be good. What makes it good is the presentation. Forget making a Caesar salad tableside, how about lighting grain alcohol on fire and flavoring the Italian “Baldo Superfino Aborio” rice and setting it in freshly graded $1500 per pound black truffle paste and then creaming it in a Parmigiano-Reggiano wheel. The presentation is superb; the serving is large and can not be missed for $26.00.
With the amount of truffle shredded on the risotto, this alone was worth the price of the appetizer itself and definitely a head turner as it is served tableside. This is quickly becoming a favorite with patrons, as we watched at least three tables with the rolling cart.
Following the amazing serving of Risotto, have one of their salads. The Insalata Americana e Verdure alla Griglia Salad made with Romaine hearts tossed with Famoso`s dressing topped with grilled seasonal vegetables, crostini and Parmigiano-Reggiano flakes. Finally a salad that has croutons that do not cut the roof of your mouth. They are small pieces of bread that you would break off and enjoy with the salad, but saving the crumbs from your lap. Famoso has five salads on the menu and the quality and quantity of food reflects the affordable pricing of $9-12, all for an amazing flavor you will not find anywhere else.
If you like pasta, then you came to the right place. Famoso, like its name is going to be famous for pasta done right. They actually know the meaning of tastypasta. It is not a bunch of cheese and sauce throw over vegetables, these are handmade and the flavor pops with each bite.
Our first pasta dish, referred to as “Strangle the Priest” is as good as its name. The priest is handmade pasta set in a sausage ragout with baby spinach, topped with crisped Parma Prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano flakes. With quality like this and the amount of pasta you are going to see on your plate, it won’t strangle your bankroll either at a great price of $16.00.
While ravioli has been an Italian favorite since the Coliseum in Rome had all of its rocks in place, the Raviolo alla Piacentina con Asparagi al Buro e Salvia is something new to the area or maybe the entire East Coast. This Piacenza-style ravioli filled with ricotta and Swiss-chard is set in a butter sage sauce with asparagus and Parmigiano-Reggiano flakes. It is packed with flavor and the pasta shells of the ravioli have that fresh cut taste. If your are looking for chewy watered down pasta, then we would suggest you go elsewhere in the area, because fresh is the only word Famoso knows.
If you really like fish, then Famoso serves up some of the best Pesce, with four different options, all of which are prepared with the Northern Italian presence. At the recommendation of Mr. Brian Mulholland, the Media Director for Famoso and M Café, we decided to give three of the four a whirl to see why fish is making its mark in Chevy Chase.
While many people enjoy the pasta dishes when ordering Italian food, nothing says Italian like a great piece of fish that is prepared with plenty of herbs, butter and pesto.
The first selection we sampled and highly recommend from the Pesce portion of the menu is the Filetto di Tomno in Crosta di Salmoriglio con Caponatina Rivisitata. Or plainly put, a huge piece of tuna. Baked and seared to medium rare then coated with Salmoriglio flavored bread crust and served aside sweet and sour ratatouille then dressed with a balsamic vinegar reduction and Salmorigilo sauce. It’s a lot of fish with a great combination of Northern Italian flavor. The sauce is also as fresh as they come, prepared fresh with herbs, anchovies and capers. Another great value at $30.00.
If you like Cod, then Famoso’s Alaskan Black Cod is some of the freshest fish found in the Washington D.C area. The cod has a striking flavor that is uniquely Italian and is coated with black olives, seared and baked served a top wild Italian rice, tomato confit and sautéed spinach with pine nuts and drizzled with light basil pesto sauce. What the chef does with this dish that others miss is give it a unique flavor. A lot the flavor burst comes from the spinach that almost makes you forget you are eating fish. This is a steal of a value for $30.00. You could expect to pay at least $40.00 at some local seafood restaurants and not receive anywhere near the quality we found at Famoso.
After such as great dinner, what could possibly make it any better? How about what Famoso calls their Temptations. The temptations are so strong, we are not sure that anyone would want to order just one.
Their Paradiso di Cioccolato would put a chocolate addict behind bars along time with the hot molten center. The warm center along with the chocolate almond cookies, hazelnuts, gelato served with berries and a grappa flavored crème anglaise are like two desserts all on on plate. Order one of these to take home, you will want more tomorrow.
If there was icing that we could put on this review it would be in the form of the Cassata all`Italiana, which is a house made ice cream cake with caramelized hazel nuts, pistachios and candied fruit served with a chocolate sauce.
Famoso offers five different unique desserts all ranging from $9-12. These desserts put plenty we have tried to shame.
If you’re looking for a great evening with that will leave you looking for a map of Rome, then Famoso has everything an Italian dining connoisseur demands. It’s so close to Italy, that don’t be surprised if you have to check where you really are before leaving for the night.
Famoso is located directly above the M Café at the Collection at Chevy Chase. Famoso seats 50 people at the bar and 120 persons in the restaurant. There is a private dining section available which will give you the best view of the immense wine selection they have to offer.
Famoso Restaurant Is located at the Collection at Chevy Chase
5471 Wisconsin Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
301 986-8785
Famoso Is open from 5PM until closing, 7 days a week.
