Midday dining in Washington just got more interesting. Two very different restaurants are betting that a proper lunch can be both a treat and a bargain, and they’re doing it with menus that change with the seasons.
Rosselli Brings Back the Power Lunch
At Rosselli, the Italian spot that recently opened in City Center, a new Power Lunch menu delivers three courses for $32 per person, before tax and tip. Diners pick one dish each from the antipasti, primi and dolce sections, and the whole lineup rotates weekly, so regulars won’t get bored.
The menu comes from Executive Chef Carlos Cardona, a Bogotá, Colombia native with more than 15 years cooking in celebrated kitchens across Asia, Europe and the Americas, including one restaurant on the World’s 50 Best list. His Italian fluency shows.
Start with the arancini al limone, crisp Carnaroli rice fritters loaded with mascarpone and brightened by lemon zest, or a baby gem salad with herbed ricotta balls, avocado and focaccia. For the main event, the rigatoni al forno stacks petite meatballs, pomodoro and buffalo mozzarella into pure comfort, while the gnocchi al prezzemolo leans lighter with a parsley emulsion, pine nuts and a pepperoncino crumble. There’s also a grilled fish of the day and a vegetable panino if you want to keep it easy.
Save room for dolce. House-made gelato comes in chocolate, vanilla or olive oil, or you can go all in on the crostata di frutti bosco with frangipane, diplomat cream and mixed berries. Add a glass of Friulano or Dolcetto for $8 more.
The Power Lunch runs Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., for the rest of the year. Rosselli is at 1100 New York Ave. NW, steps from Metro Center.
Blue Duck Tavern Keeps It Local
Across town in the West End, Blue Duck Tavern is going hyper-seasonal with its new Fare & Balanced Prix Fixe Lunch. Tucked inside the Park Hyatt Washington D.C. at 24th and M streets NW, the restaurant offers a starter and a main for $44 per person, plus tax and tip, available Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine-in only, so no sneaking it into a takeout bag.
Chef Cleverdon’s kitchen reads like a map of the mid-Atlantic. Greens come from Earth N Eats in Pennsylvania and turn up in a harvest salad with strawberries, radish, pickled onion and honey-balsamic vinaigrette. The marinated cucumber dish pairs the same farm’s produce with hung buttermilk, Vidalia onions and dill.
Mains lean on regional sourcing, too. The wood-oven roasted chicken, an airline breast from Sullivan County, New York, arrives with Parisian gnocchi, mushrooms and veloute. House-made garganelli, built on Anson Mills grain from South Carolina, gets house-cured guanciale, kale and ricotta. Or try the Roanoke, Virginia, trout with preserved lemon, cornbread, hen of the woods and hazelnut.
Both menus prove a weekday lunch can still feel like an occasion. Whether you want Italian comfort near Metro Center or farm-driven plates in the West End, D.C.’s midday scene is looking a lot more appetizing.
