Centrolina - Review - Downtown - Washington DC - The Infatuation

"Smack dab in the hyperluxury of CityCenter, Centrolina delivers Italian cooking with enough polish to fit in with its well-heeled neighbors. With a fireplace and buttery light surrounded by lots of marble and right angles, it manages to feel luxurious yet welcoming. Come here dressed to the nines for a five-course dinner, or post up at the bar in your best blue jeans for a cocktail and focaccia so light it might float off the table. There’s lots of loveliness across the seasonally-rotating menu, like the roasted porcini mushrooms drenched in rosemary-infused butter broth, but the real reason to come to Centrolina are the pastas. Springy squid ink bucatini arrives coated in a lush tomato-eggplant ragu that demands you pause your dinner conversation, no matter how lively, in order to close your eyes and sigh contentedly. Do your best to save room for something sweet off the seasonal dessert menu—with any luck they’ll be serving amata—and don’t be shy if you’re tempted to order more than one. You wouldn’t be the first. photo credit: Scott Suchman" - Allison Robicelli