Lured from his five-diamond (AAA) cocoon at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, new chef-partner Fabio Trabocchi delivers complex dazzle at Stephen Hanson’s Fiamma. Movie-star handsome, he reinterprets Italian classics, sights set high above the honky-tonk of Spring Street. A roly-poly tumbler of tomato water paired with tuna tartare wrapped and tied in a sorrel leaf on bacalao deliciously heralds the complicated stuff ahead. Dover sole comes as a truly taste-stirring layering of red pepper, olives, lemon zest, and the flesh of the lemon itself with powerful sprigs of tarragon and baby basil. Voluptuous Burrata is accessorized with tomato, three ways, arranged like jewels. Agnolotti of red-wine-braised oxtail and foie gras tossed with chunks of sweetbread and celery root arrives in an intense brodo. This high-wire act is backed with sommelier Ania Zawieja, lured from Robuchon, a $400,000 rehab, a fortune in tricky cutlery, and the latest tabletop, including sumptuous china bowls and dramatically asymmetric plates. Impressed as I am, so much intricacy is not my favorite way to eat. And at times a too-intense sauce sabotages an otherwise brilliant notion, as it does the veal two ways with silken potato purée and hazelnut tuile. Roasted turbot with cipollini and housemade pancetta showily draped in thin slices of raw mushroom would be splendid rescued from the nuggety swamp it sits in. Once he relaxes, I suspect Trabocchi will be fine.
Skip to content, or skip to search.
Skip to content, or skip to search.
Email
PrintAdvertising
Most Popular Stories
Most Commented
Last 24 Hours
- The President Who Cried ‘Unprecedented’
- Gossip Girl Caption Contest
- Things to Be Thankful For This Year: No Marauding Monkeys
- Democrats Prove They Too Can Fight Among Themselves
- Italian Group Asks MTV to Yank Jersey Shore
- Michelle Obama Wears Naeem Khan and Desirée Rogers Wears Comme des Garçons to State Dinner
- Leaked 9/11 Texts a Gold Mine for Historians, Truthers, Voyeurs
- Glee to Take a Four-Month Vacation
- Roman Polanski’s Bail Approved
- Judge Tells ‘Vexatious’ Bank to Shove It
Most Viewed
Last 24 Hours
- Daul Kim IMed With a Friend About a Physically Abusive Boyfriend Hours Before Her Death
- Daul Kim Said to Have Left a Suicide Note
- Conspiracy Theorists Suggest W Photoshopped Demi Moore’s Head Onto Anja Rubik’s Body for the December Cover
- Michelle Obama Wears Naeem Khan and Desirée Rogers Wears Comme des Garçons to State Dinner
- Leaked 9/11 Texts a Gold Mine for Historians, Truthers, Voyeurs
- Eric Ripert, Costco War Correspondent
- Chace Crawford Supposedly Had Sex With Lorenzo Lamas’s Wife
- The City Treats Us to Food Fights and Catfights!
- Eminent Victorian
- Flowchart Helps You Determine What Crap to Eat
Most Emailed
Last 24 Hours
- Eric Ripert, Costco War Correspondent
- Glee to Take a Four-Month Vacation
- Many People Are Reading Sarah Palin’s Book
- Roberto Passon Leaves Namesake Restaurant
- Show Me the Money
- Cranky Science
- Family Feud at Café Regular
- Another Kind of AIDS Crisis
- Christmas Won’t Come to Greenwich This Year
- Marcus Samuelsson May Make Rare White House Kitchen Cameo
Advertising
- Very Expensive
- Expensive
- Moderate
- Inexpensive
- Almost Perfect
- Exceptional
- Generally excellent
- Very good
- Good
Todd Oldham Creates Art Nerds With New Book
Cruz Is Irresistible in Broken Embraces
Emily Blunt Trades Prada for Prudery
Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room Is Pure Pleasure
Quality Design Mixed With Pop-Culture Wit 
Look Book: The Singer and Dancer 
The Best Neighborhoods for Real-Estate Deals 
Inconsistent Food, Impersonal Feel at SD26
Tantrums Erupt Over Wall Street Pay
What's Bill Bratton's Next Career Move?
The Political Fictions Project
Smith on the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Trial Copyright © 2009, New York Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
