Friday, August 28, 2009

Cooking Classes with Chef Roberto Donna

Chef Donna has just released his cooking class schedule for September, so we're posting it here with all the details if anyone's interested.

ALL CLASSES INCLUDE: Apron, Recipes, 5-Course Lunch/Dinner & Wine

FRIDAY & SATURDAY EVENING CLASSES:
Weekend Dinner Date @ 7:30pm - $160/person

Evening menu topic is "Five-Course Regional": each course featuring cuisines from a different region in Italy

Friday: September 11th, September 18th
Saturday: September 12th, September 19th

SATURDAY & SUNDAY AFTERNOON CLASSES:
12:00pm - $140 per person

Saturday: September 12th - A Taste of Rome & Tuscany - New Recipes!
Sunday: September 20th - Sicily & Southern Italy - New Recipes!

RESERVATIONS are Mandatory:
Please call Nancy at 202-257-0168, Mon - Sat. 11AM-8PM, or Email requests to rdclasses@aol.com
*All reservations are final; payment is due upon registering and space is limited so cancellations will result in charge of the full amount of the class.
*Classes are held at Chef Donna's private residence in Virginia and may be canceled if an insufficient number of reservations are made, or at the Chef's sole discretion.


**If there's a menu topic that you are interested in and do not see above, please call Nancy to arrange your request.**


Sunday, August 23, 2009

New Ristoranti

Just wanted to alert everyone to 2 new Italian restaurants that have opened in the last few weeks.

The first one is Kora, on Crystal Dr. in Crystal City, in the former Roberto Donna's Bebo space. Run by Morou and Heather Ouattara who brought us Farrah Olivia, Kora bills itself as serving "trattoria style Italian fare." I don't know about anyone else, but I always found some of the best food in Italy at trattorias, or trattorie, as the Italians would say.

The second new spot is Toscana Cafe at 2nd and F Sts. NE, just around the corner from Union Station. Right around the corner from the national headquarters of the Sons of Italy, Toscana Cafe is in the old Banducci's space and seems to be following a similar model - freshly made Italian favorites to go or eat in if you're lucky enough to get one of the few tables.

I'll be checking them both out soon and reporting back on their authenticity promptly.

A presto!