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Tosca reopens in Downtown DC after a long pandemic closure with a new look and menu. Photography courtesy of Tosca
One of DC’s veteran Italian restaurants is ready for a comeback. Ristorante Tosca will reopen downtown on Tuesday, May 25 after being closed for much of the past pandemic year. Owner Paolo Sacco used the pause to redesign his 20 year-old restaurant and hire a new chef, Phil Marzelli, a second-generation Italian-American who previously served as the executive chef at Fabio Trabocchi’s Casa Luca and Sfoglina Downtown.
Dark chocolate and rum mousse with berries.
Tosca built a reputation as a classic DC power spot, especially at lunch, where lobbyists, lawyers, and politicos would meet over short-rib agnolotti at white-clothed tables. But the days when the Obamas would drop by for date night are long past, and Sacco observed that much of the nighttime energy—and younger clientele—were drawn to booming restaurant neighborhoods like 14th Street and Shaw. Sacco says he wanted to “lighten up” the typically hushed dining room, and give it a more relaxed feel with Italian tiles, an expanded white marble bar and lounge, and walnut tables (tablecloths TBD).