Dinner at Pinzimini
Just over a week ago my wife and I had dinner at Pinzimini which is the restaurant attached to the brand new Westin hotel in Ballston. It was a spur of the moment thing but we had reasonably high expectations. The chef (Jeffrey Haight) previously worked at Kinkead's as a sous chef. If you live in the DC area and haven't yet been to Kinkead's, you should immediately open a new browser window, head to OpenTable and make a reservation. All done? Alright then let's continue with the Pinzimini review.
For some reason they're billing this as a steak house, but "not your usual steak house". While they do have steak on the menu (and the waiter said it was very good) there are a multitude of other tempting choices. Since this was our first visit we went a bit overboard on the ordering - appetizer, main course, side dish and desert. Oh, and of course a bottle of wine.
I picked out a 2004 Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir. Gloria Ferrer is well-known for their sparkling wines* which are quite good. They also have what I feel is the best property in Sonoma. If you ever make it to the Valley of the Moon you owe it to yourself to enjoy a mid-morning glass of Blanc de Noirs while watching the Chardonnay grapes ripen. Since I admire the bubbly so much I was willing to give the Pinot a try based merely on the name on the bottle. For the appetizer we picked the prosciutto; for the main course my wife had the white pizza and I had gnocchi; I also ordered a side of spinach (I always think you can tell a restaurant's true character by how they cook the veggies and how they make the coffee); for desert tiramisu and a chocolate cake of some sort.
The prosciutto was razor-thin and served in jumbled stacks with melon. It was excellent, far better than the chewy gunk you'll get in the grocery store. The quantity of meat was a bit overwhelming at first but we bravely carried on to the main course. My gnocchi was pleasant and well-prepared with a suprising spicy kick, something like Cayenne pepper. My wife was very impressed with her pizza - it was not the traditional American white pizza but rather a crisp thin crust sparingly spread with soft garlicky cheese, almost a cheese spread. To quote her directly - "I will crave this." My spinach was fresh and properly cooked with a hint of lemon and I enjoyed it very much. After-dinner coffee was also a nice suprise, my espresso tasted like espresso should. The only serious disappointment was the deserts, which were not worth it.
The service was friendly and knowledgable but they seemed a bit under-staffed. It took some time before our order was taken. A couple near us got fed up and left before anyone could arrive to take their drink order. Hopefully they'll hire a few extra wait-staff to fix these problems. The atmosphere could best be described as suburban chic, or what folks in the suburbs tend to think of as modern. It had some round lights and lots of beige. (For urban modern try the 'W' hotel in Times Square). The television at the bar was a bit distracting if you were seated facing it since the bar is separated from the restaurant only by a low wall. We enjoyed ourselves, and I recommend the place.
The wine? It was pretty good. In hindsight I would have picked something else to go with pizza and gnocchi. If I saw it in the store I'd certainly pick up a few bottles for the cellar, but it seems to be a restaurant only release.
*Only sparkling wine that originates in the Champagne region of France can be called Champagne. Everything else is sparkling wine.
For some reason they're billing this as a steak house, but "not your usual steak house". While they do have steak on the menu (and the waiter said it was very good) there are a multitude of other tempting choices. Since this was our first visit we went a bit overboard on the ordering - appetizer, main course, side dish and desert. Oh, and of course a bottle of wine.
I picked out a 2004 Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir. Gloria Ferrer is well-known for their sparkling wines* which are quite good. They also have what I feel is the best property in Sonoma. If you ever make it to the Valley of the Moon you owe it to yourself to enjoy a mid-morning glass of Blanc de Noirs while watching the Chardonnay grapes ripen. Since I admire the bubbly so much I was willing to give the Pinot a try based merely on the name on the bottle. For the appetizer we picked the prosciutto; for the main course my wife had the white pizza and I had gnocchi; I also ordered a side of spinach (I always think you can tell a restaurant's true character by how they cook the veggies and how they make the coffee); for desert tiramisu and a chocolate cake of some sort.
The prosciutto was razor-thin and served in jumbled stacks with melon. It was excellent, far better than the chewy gunk you'll get in the grocery store. The quantity of meat was a bit overwhelming at first but we bravely carried on to the main course. My gnocchi was pleasant and well-prepared with a suprising spicy kick, something like Cayenne pepper. My wife was very impressed with her pizza - it was not the traditional American white pizza but rather a crisp thin crust sparingly spread with soft garlicky cheese, almost a cheese spread. To quote her directly - "I will crave this." My spinach was fresh and properly cooked with a hint of lemon and I enjoyed it very much. After-dinner coffee was also a nice suprise, my espresso tasted like espresso should. The only serious disappointment was the deserts, which were not worth it.
The service was friendly and knowledgable but they seemed a bit under-staffed. It took some time before our order was taken. A couple near us got fed up and left before anyone could arrive to take their drink order. Hopefully they'll hire a few extra wait-staff to fix these problems. The atmosphere could best be described as suburban chic, or what folks in the suburbs tend to think of as modern. It had some round lights and lots of beige. (For urban modern try the 'W' hotel in Times Square). The television at the bar was a bit distracting if you were seated facing it since the bar is separated from the restaurant only by a low wall. We enjoyed ourselves, and I recommend the place.
The wine? It was pretty good. In hindsight I would have picked something else to go with pizza and gnocchi. If I saw it in the store I'd certainly pick up a few bottles for the cellar, but it seems to be a restaurant only release.
*Only sparkling wine that originates in the Champagne region of France can be called Champagne. Everything else is sparkling wine.
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