2009 Fall Dining Guide

By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009

Walking through the narrow entrance, first-time visitors might wonder what the fuss is about. Obelisk's dining room is a spare study in beige, and only two servers appear to be in attendance. This is Washington's top Italian restaurant? The fixed-price menu suggests there's more to the story; it's handwritten and lovingly detailed by staff members, who describe pastas made in-house and pedigreed meats. "But first," one of the servers says, "we bombard you with antipasti." She's not kidding. Within minutes, the table is crowded with buttery burrata cheese, tomatoes in a rainbow of colors, fried squash blossoms filled with mozzarella, a breaded lamb sausage with two chunky sauces, and tender stuffed squid arranged on a little stack of crisp green beans. Did I mention the green Ligurian olives and the pencil-thin breadsticks? You swear you could leave happy at this point, but there are four courses to follow. The pastas are extraordinary, be they soft bites of gnocchi sprinkled with Iberico ham and ricotta cheese or see-through ravioli, brassy with their filling of watercress and splash of anchovy butter. Entrees -- winy squab, crisp fluke -- are good, but not the equal of what bookends them on the menu. (Enhanced with artichokes and olives, that fish is also overcooked.) Next comes a small plate of three cheeses with a dab of tomato jam, followed by a choice of desserts. Anything with fruit or ice cream (or both) is bound to please. At this point, it would be impossible to take one bite more, but with the check come tiny sweets. Of course, you eat them. When's the next time you'll get back to Italy?

Five-course menu: $70 Tuesday through Thursday, $75 Friday and Saturday.