Menu
Chef & Owner: Dean Gold
Chefs di Cucina: Taurino Chavez & Robert Frank
Dino supports artisan producers & traditional foods.
We prefer organically & locally grown heirloom varieties.
Dino strives to serve meat & fish from sustainable farms & fisheries
Menu at Dino?
Updated Friday June 13, 2008
Ramps - Gone! Asparagus - Gone! Rhubarb - Gone! What a traumatic week it has been in the Dino kitchen. We are down to our last few orders of each of these items and now planning what to replace them with. The good news is that we are awash in all new stuff: Local Organic Zucchini {green and Romanesco varieties}, Squash Blossoms & Cavalo Nero all have made their return this week!
Veggies: West Coast Porcini are finally in supply, but on an in and out basis. The shipment we got on Thursday is incredible. Small and fat 'shrrom with incredible flavor! We slice them thinly, dress them with lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper, then top them with some arugula. This dish, while not cheap, is simply spectacular! This is the most common way these wild mushrooms are served in Italy, but to most Americans this amazing preparation remain a mystery. Early next week we sould be changing our risottto over to porcini: we will grill the porcini, then marinate it with olive oil and herbs. The risotto itself will be made with a dried porcini broth, garlic & plenty of Grana cheese, then topped with a shroom.
When we an get early heirloom tomatoes, we will offer Caprese. We have it today but it won't last the weekend
We get a lot of local organic produce from Tuscarora Organic Coop from Pennsylvania. I love their concept: nearly 30 farms which band together to bring their produce to the DC market. Each week they send out two listings of what should be available and you find out what you are getting the day AFTER you place your order! While I can chose from a huge list of product, only one truck will make the trip from their shipping point in Pennsylvania to DC where I gets loaded on a truck from our everyday produce company and delivered to our door. This results in a smaller carbon footprint for the delivery than if I was ordering from 10-20 farms directly. And with 30 member farms, there is always something new! Plus the quality they provide is incredible.
This week's new items are already on the menu at Dino. Squash Blossoms are stuffed with mozzarella and a sliver of anchovy, coated with a touch of flour and deep fried. They come with a spicy, garlicky tomato sauce. Cavalo Nero is a long, very flavorful variety of kale or cabbage. It has a rich earthy flavor. We are using it to accompany the Duroc Pork Chop with a Marsala & Exotic Mushroom Sauce. Zucchini makes its appearance on the Antipasto di Verdure and the Grilled Veggie plate as well as in the filling of our Veggie Timbale entree.
Sometimes Tuscarora offers us something and I buy it, not knowing what I am going to do with it. Case in point was the Green Bulbing Garlic & Garlic Scapes. The green bulbing garlic I have used as a flavoring in our mushroom pasta and in the morel topping for our porcini flan. But I wanted a dish to show it off as a main ingredient. The garlic scapes were just too strong a flavor for me to figure out what to do. We finally blanched them, and put them on the grilled veggie plate, but again, I wanted to make them a main item. Finally, after several attempts, I thought of a classic vichyssoise: leek and potato soup. What if I replaced the leeks with green bulbing garlic & garlic scapes? So we are now serving a Cold Green Garlic & Summer Greens Soup! It has a kick of garlic, but it is not a hit you over the head with garlic kind of soup.
Seafood: When Taurino was today's Ivory Salmon, you could see the oils oozing from the flesh as he cut the fillets. It was incredible! This fish takes on the smokiness from the grilling. Given the hot weather, we are serving it with a light summery horseradish mousse and grilled radicchio.
Alaskan Halibut is in peak supply and when it is air shipped to us, cutting a week off its usual arrival date. It is quite a different fish from what you are probably used to. While mild and delicate, they have quite a complex, lightly meaty flavor. The halibut comes in an orange juice & Campari reduction that we finish with sherry vinegar, cream & a touch of butter atop a bed of baby Asian greens.
All of our Alaskan fish are Marine Stewardship Council Certified sustainable fisheries and air freighted to us twice a week for amazing freshness. We sell out of these fish by the time they would arrive to us if we bought them trucked in and from a local seafood distributor.
Soft Shells are in season and we are offering the largest size available: whales. We simply sauté these beauties with salt & pepper, then sit them atop a baby greens salad and serve with a lemon, white wine garlic butter. I loved it when a customer insisted that we had a secret spice mix that we were using on the crabs! You get two to an order.
Local Fruit: We have our first local berries: Strawberries! You can have your local organic strawberries in 4 ways: as a sauce atop vanilla gelato; as berries topped with balsamico; in an amazing fresh strawberry sorbetto; and Chris Cunningham is also offering them in the Korabella- muddled strawberries and basil, fresh lemon sour & a prosecco float. This was our drink entry in the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington cocktail competition where we finished second. {Did you know that Dino is up for a Rammy Award for our wine & beverage program? Just being nominated puts us in this year’s top 5!}
All of these offerings are subject to availability.
Every Monday & Tuesday is
"Restaurant Week"at Dino:
3 courses - $30.08
Choose any antipasto, contorno or salad, or a 2 cheese combo for your starter,
Any dish for your entree& any dessert {*= upcharges apply}.
You may substitute a starter up to $8, or a 2 cheese combo, for dessert
Menu changes with market availability of seasonal ingredients
Menu current as of May 20, 2008
Today's menu may vary due to market conditions or whim of the chef
Antipasti Freddi: Cold Starters
Olive - imported olives 4
Carciofi sott’Olio - imported grilled stem artichokes 5
Zuppa d'Aglio Verde 7
Green Garlic Soup - green bulbing garlic, garlic scapes, garlic, potato, herbs
Misticanza 8
Baby Greens - garlic, lemon & olio dressing, grana
+crisp pancetta 3 +mozzarella di bufala 4 +rotisserie chicken 6
Insalata Forte 8
"Strong" Salad - our mix of strongly flavored green, honey mustard dressing
Barbabietole Arrosto 10
Roasted Beet Salad - baby mizuna, tomino fresco cheese, ginger, lemon & olio dressing, pine nuts
Antipasto di Verdure {Add Today’s Salumi +4} 10
Veggie Antipasto - with imported stem artichoke, mozzarella di bufala, pecorino cheese
Farro con Tartufo Nero e Porcini 11
Traditional Tuscan Grain - garbanzos, cannellini & borlotti beans, chopped veggies, fresh herbs, olio, black truffle & porcini condimento with a radish salad with orange & olio dressing
Insalata di Porcini 12
Porcini Salad - wild porcini, pecorino, lemon olio dressing
Burrata 12
Bufala Cheese - fresh mozzarella outside, fresh curds & cream inside, air freighted from Campania every Sunday & Thursday: olive & red pepper tapenades, oven roasted tomato, olio, basil
Pio Tosini 500 Giorni Prosciutto di Parma Crudo {* +3} 14
Prosciutto - made in the old fashioned manner by a small family prosciuttificio where they age these hand salted gems a full 500 days. Setting the world of prosciutto back 100 years!
Prosciutto e Melone {* +3} 14
Prosciutto & Charntais Melon - brushed with Saba {Modena’s amazing balsamico “molasses”}
Salumi “Biellese” {* +3} 14
Cured Meats - Genoa, Petit Jesu, FInochiona, Caciatorini from Salumeria Biellese in New York
Saltimbocca 7
Braised Meatballs - traditional Venetian snack: braised veal & pork meatballs with ricotta, garlic, herbs, egg & bread crumb in a light tomato sauce
Verdure alla Griglia 8
Grilled Veggies - asparagus & spring onions, wild ramps, eggplant, baby fennel, olio
Carciofi “Purple Tulip” Fritti 10
Fried Artichokes - flown in weekly from the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market - when they’re gone, they’re gone ‘til next Friday!!! - served with Hawaiian black salt & lemon wedge
Asparagi Verdi alla Griglia 10
Grilled Asparagus - wrapped in prosciutto, crisped on the griddle, with olio, balsamico & saba
Polenta ai Tre Formaggi con Funghi 10
Soft 3 Cheese Polenta {Asiago, Fontal & Gorgonzola} with assorted roasted mushrooms
Calamari Fritti 10
Fried Squid - spicy roasted red pepper sauce
Capesante “Fiaschetteria Toscana” 11
Scallops Gratinee - Taylor Bay Scallops on the half shell with garlic-herb butter & bread crumbs
Fritto Misto Di Mare 12
Fried Shellfish - bay scallops,sea scallops, wild pink shrimp, calamari, fish, lemon caper aioli
Sformato di Pecorino con Morels {* +3} 14
Pecorino Flan - sauteed fresh morels, intense veal cream, green garlic
Verdure alla Griglia - grilled veggies 8
Fagioli Marinati - fresh shelled cramberry beans marinated in lime & olio 6
Saltati - sauteed organic baby greens 5
Carciofi sott'Olio - grille marinated imported stem artichokes
Borlotti - Tuscan brown beans stewed with onions & garlic 5
Patate Toscane - roasted with onions, sage &thyme 5
Rigatoni ai Funghi 13 half / 19 whole
Wild & Exotic ‘Shrooms - tube pasta, roasted ‘shrooms, green garlic, garlic,rosemary, olio
Pappardelle ai Cinghiale 13 half / 20 whole
Wild Boar - ribbon pasta, chunks of wild boar, crushed tomato, onions, golden raisins, celery, carrots, red wine, garlic, herbs & spices, grana cheese
Gramigna con Agnello 13 half / 19 whole
Lamb - braised in red wine with olives & lots of herbs, shredded, served with pan juice, cherry tomato, onion, herbs on thick, chewy tubular pasta, grana cheese
Risotto Primavera 14 half / 21 whole
Spring Risotto - ramps, asparagus & royal trumpet mushrooms, grana cheese
Lasagnette al Ragu 19
Free Form Lasagna - pasta, pork & veal ragu, fonduta, crispy bacon, grana cheese
Linguini con Vongole 21
Clams - pasta neck clams, white wine, garlic, herbs
Tris di Verdure 17
Veggie Trio - portobello mushroom stack with squash & zucchini, organic baby spinach & pesto; Sicilian flavored couscous & saffron aioli; Pugliese style fava beans & garlicky pureed greens
Insalata di Capesante e Gamberi 17
Shrimp & Scallop Salad - marinated grilled scallops & poached shrimp, herbs, citrus dressing, hard boiled eggs, baby greens
Pollo al’Girarrosto con Aglio e Olive 19
Rotisserie Half Chicken - all natural, air chilled bird with olives & garlic, with organic greens
Zuppa di Pesce 23
Shellfish Stew - Taylor Bay scallops in the shell, pasta neck clams, mussels, wild pink shrimp, sea scallops, fish, calamari & beans in a light limoncello tomato broth with grilled garlic crostone
Cima di Vitello 24
Braised Veal Breast - horseradish jus, turnip & parsnip hash, garlicky bitter greens puree
Maiale 24
Duroc Pork Chop - Heritage breed pork, grilled with Marsala sauce, roasted exotic & wild mushrooms
triple citrus pesto, roasted mushrooms
Halibut Selvaggio {* +2} 26
Halibut - wild caught Alaskan, grilled rare, orange juice & Campari reduction finished with sherry vinegar, butter & cream, topped with baby greens, roasted tomato & caper vinaigrette
Moeche {* +3} 27
Soft Shell Crabs - 2 crabs {whales} sauteed with lemon caper, garlic & white wine sauce
atop baby greens
Branzino Arrosto {* +3} 27
Whole Mediterranean Bass - pan-roasted, drizzled with spiced olive oil, capers, herbs
Costolette d’Agnello {* +3} 27
Lamb Chops - 2 thick all-natural Australian chops, anchovy salsa verde {parsley, rosemary, capers, garlic, olio, lemon}, roasted gold potatoes, onion, sage & thyme
Salmone Bianca Selvaggia
Alaskan Wild White Salmon - with a light horseradish cream
Bistecca alla Fiorentina {* +16} 38
Full Bone Cut Rib eye {1+ Kg.} - all natural Meyer Angus, roasted potatoes & organic PA greens
Formaggi di Dino: Our Cheese Selections
Minimum Three SelectionsLongo Tomino Fresco {cow - very fresh} Torino 4
A fresh button of cow’s milk cheese with a tangy, almost lemony flavor. Flown in every 2 weeks from Italy
Longo Pagliarino {cow - ripening} Torino 4
Soft ripening cheese aged in straw for a nutty flavor
Pecorino Olive {sheep milk, tender} Roma, Lazio 4
Sheps milk cheese aged with green olives
Il Pastore {sheep - tender}
Mild sheep's milk cheeeese with a spicy tang
Caprino “Semistagionato” {goat - lightly aged} 4
Aged wheel with a very lovely grassy/herbal flavor & firm texture
Branzi {cow - raw tender} Lombardia 4
Very intensely flavored cheese with a pungent {OK, stinky!} nose
Guffanti Ragusano {cow - raw aged} Ragusa, Sicilia 5
Hard to find, wonderful to taste: grassy, tangy, aged & sharp
Guffanti Pecorino di Grotte Sulferia {sheep - raw} 5
Pecorino di Pienza aged in sulfurous caves resulting in a sharp, strong flavor and piquant aroma
Guffanti Gorgonzola Piccante {cow} Lombardia 4
Not your typical Gorgonzola: cave aged for extra tang & flavor
At Dino, we take our cheese seriously
Many of our cheese are air freighted to us from Italy
We love small farm production & old fashioned cheeses
Per I Giovani: Kids Menu
Polenta or Spaghetti - tomato sauce, cheese, butter, combination or plain 6
Kid's Calamari - with pomodoro 7
Spaghetti & Meatballs 8
Ringing cell phones will be cooked on our Girarrosto
Corkage: $20.00 per bottle
or: free corkage for one bottle for every bottle you buy from our list.
Free corkage Tuesday & Thursday
Wine Madness: 33% off wines over $50 Sunday & Monday