Ristorante Bunorotti, Vienna, VA

428 Maple Avenue, Vienna, VA 22180

703.281.7550

There are Porsches, Camrys, and Civics on the road.  There are Porsches, Camrys, and Civics in the dining world as well.  Ristorante Bunorotti is certainly a Porsche.  Its kitchen is the Porsche’s engine—revving up some amazing dishes.  The wait staff and hosts serves diners with the sleek lines expected of fine motorcars.  The establishment itself is very traditional Italian style reminiscent of the style of the Porsche itself (meaning it is what you expect a high-end Italian restaurant to be).  That said, Ristorante Bunorotti, located in a small strip mall perpendicular to Vienna’s Main St (yes, we drove right by the place before realizing we had passed it), is all one can expect from a high-end dining experience.  Approaching the place is a bit like parking your Porsche at a 7-11 (if you’re keeping up with the analogy).  But once inside, your eyes are drawn to the collection of photos with various sports and local celebrities intertwined with Italian “kitsch.”  While waiting we were able to identify a variety of players and other local celebs including Chris Cooley, Tony Siragusa, Mike Shanahan, and (sad to see) the late NBC-TV Sports Director George Michael (what??? No hockey players?).  Even though we had reservations, there was a bit of a wait for a table.  Picking out the celebrities helped us endure the wait.  The time had come for Sergio Domestici the host and owner to give us the keys to the Porsche (still riding that metaphor) and take us to our seats.

We were seated in the main dining area along the back wall.  A great seat considering we were out of the way from diner congestion.  We had the customary basket of fresh breads, but to our surprise were servings of an olive tapenade and a tomato mixture to accompany the butter for the breads—a delightful accompaniment.   Our waiter Charlie rattled off a novella of house specialties for the evening and we decided to go with what was on the menu.  We started off the meal with the Swordfish Carpacio and a Caprese salad for appetizers.  Both were fresh and excellent.  While the specialties were enough to choose from, we went with a Puttanesca pasta and the Veal Cotoletta Parmigiano.   Even though the Puttanesca pasta was not on the menu, the chef and staff were more than willing to prepare the dish which was a wonderful medley of anchovies and olives over angel hair pasta.  The Cotoletta came with a polenta puree and roasted vegetables.  Very well done.  We shared the raspberries in Chambord cream sauce for dessert.  

This is fine Italian dining and unless you have an endless food budget we recommend Ristorante Bunorotti for when a very nice meal will complement a very special occasion. 

Rocco's Italian Restaurant, McLean VA

Rocco’s Italian Restaurant

1357 Chain Bridge Rd
McLean, VA 22101

(703) 821-3736

 

We have driven past Rocco’s many times, but never had a reason to try it.  On a hunch*--not really, it was a suggestion from Vicky (see her comments on our Pulcinella blog entry) -- we decided to try Rocco’s Italian Restaurant in McLean on a cold post-snow Saturday evening.  And it was COLD.  28^o  and a wind that howled through you no matter how many layers you have on.  But the warmth of this family restaurant quickly thawed the chill we experienced coming in from the parking lot.  

Everything about Rocco’s is typical and all you’d expect from this neighborhoody establishment.  The place is friendly, no frills, Chianti bottles and plastic grapes hanging off the ceiling, football game on a large flat screen TV, bumper stickers (especially the one that said, “Caps Country”) and hockey sticks on the walls overhanging the open kitchen.  The menu is standard Italian fare: appetizers from fried calamari to onion rings (they look almost alike except one is bigger than the other); entrees are a mix of New York and Chicago-style pizzas, pastas (macaroni) with sauce (gravy), and hot and cold sandwiches.  We had the cheese garlic bread appetizer that came with a ramekin of thick marinara sauce, Fettuccine Alfredo and Chicken Parmigiana entrees.  All entrees come with a generous, though mundane, garden salad.  The Mrs. J’s Rum Cake looked appetizing but we did not have room for dessert.

Service was excellent.  Camila (from Brazil) was very attentive and treated us well.  John (the young owner) was also very friendly.  

If you go here and have a few minutes, please take time to read the history of the owners’ family at the entrance.  It relays a touching story about growing up Italian in America; about family bonds; and about how immigrants can keep – or lose -- their heritage over time. 

A word to adults – this is a “family restaurant” - read: a kid-friendly place.  VERY kid-friendly (i.e.  there were A LOT of kids).   

All in all it was a great evening.  Nothing pretentious about this place, just good local Italian chow.

* "On a hunch, I took it upon myself to check out if there was any information on a '63 Pontiac Tempest stolen or abandoned recently. This computer readout confirms that two boys, who fit the defendants' description, were arrested two days ago by Sheriff Tillman in Jasper County, Georgia, for driving a stolen metallic mint green 1963 Pontiac Tempest, with a white convertible top, Michelin Model XGV tires, size 75-R-14."
                                                                      --Sheriff Farley, quoted from My Cousin Vinny