Aperto Restaurant serves contemporary Italian Fare featuring homemade food by an authentic Italian chef, Luigi Diotaiuti. At a recent event, he offered up passed antipasti including tiny focaccia sandwiches, sun-dried tomato and ricotta on a cracker, steak tartare with salsa, lamb curry risotto balls, lamb chop lollipops, mussels, and the ever elusive tortellini on a silver spoon.
As the food was great, the atmosphere was really engaging and conversation flowed. The bar area was decorated with all the homemade sauces, and limoncello touches a patron would expect of this downtown bar near George Washington University and the Foggy Bottom crowd. The waiters passed around the plates and ever-hungry patrons swarmed the trays.
The drink of the night was the “Riding the Vespa” (Earl Grey-infused Tito’s vodka/Cocchi Americano/ ginger/lime/soda water). The non-alcoholic version was delicious as well.
The bartender who sported the ever popular handlebar mustache was in a very excited state when dipping the punch from the silver punch bowl; he served the drink with a traditional “Salute”! Peroni Beer paired well with the Blue Cheese Polenta, served on a cracker with sun-dried tomato and ricotta.
Chef Luigi Diotaiuti was decked out in a bowtie pasta inspired chef Jacket that was made especially for him in Naples, Italy. Chef Luigi was happy to speak to each of the patrons about his excited adventures though Italy.
Happy Eating,
Crystal (CLF)
I am not a fan of kale salad. I know it’s a superfood and quite the trendy green, but it’s just not my cup of tea. When the plate of Warm Kale Salad was set in front of me, I’ll admit, I turned my nose. But being the type to try anything at least once that’s set in front of me, I dug my fork in and gave myself a hearty helping. Let’s let’s start with this first…this salad was warm. Not a straight out of the icebox salad, toss some toppings and dressing on top kind of salad. The kale was warmed up which made it more tolerable for a non-kale lover to endure. But the best part of this salad was tossing in of the roasted Brussels sprouts. I love a salad that crunches and the Brussels sprout’s crunchy saltiness really brought this dish to life. This salad was everything that I’ve ever wanted in a salad: salty, sweet and crunch. The baby potatoes were roasted until the skin was crispy; the brown butter vinaigrette gave them a light sweetness. I won’t go as far to say that this salad changed my opinion of kale but I will go as far to say that I will not hesitate to order this salad from this particular restaurant again.
A new twist on surf n’ turf. Earls’ version of surf n’ turf is sushi and steak which is fine by me! I love sushi and I love steak so it’s an incredible combination. The steak comes out on a sizzling pan with great sushi flavors. I felt that the marinated steak was a tad salty but had a great citrus flavor. Two rolls are available: a California roll with pacific crab and a classic dynamite roll. Most sushi connoisseurs turn their noses at a California Roll as not being “true sushi” but this is made with real lump crab with a tempura crunch. The Dynamite Roll is probably not best judged by me since I am not very tolerant of spicy foods, but there was a nice chunk of pineapple in the roll that helped cool down the heat.
The next 3 dishes are not new to their menu but a reminder of some of their classic menu items.
Have I expressed that I enjoy crispiness? The Earls Bigger, Better Burger was crispy! How they got that onion ring on the burger to be so crispy is beyond my understanding. This burger had no need for extra condiments such as ketchup because what seemed to be some kind of pico de gallo concoction of sweet tomatoes and onions gave the burger a powerful flavor.
