Stellina Pizzeria opens in Shirlington. Photograph by Rey Lopez
Stellina Pizzeria, the popular DC restaurant run by Italian natives Antonio Matarazzo and chef Matteo Venini, is ready for a big expansion. The second location in the Village at Shirlington opens Friday with a familiar menu of neo-Neapolitan pizzas, pastas, frittura (fried snacks), paninis, and desserts plus a new Italian market and vending machine stocked with pastas, sauces, and tiramisu. A third Stellina is poised to open in Mt. Vernon Triangle this spring.
A deli case holds antipasti and homemade pastas. Photograph by Rey Lopez.
Matarazzo, who lives in Arlington, and Venini have designed their second Stellina to fit in with pandemic-era trends for dining out (and in). What was once going to be a sit-down bar area is now a deli counter and market stocked with fresh pastas, homemade sauces, pizza dough, meats and cheeses, antipasti, and pantry goods. For desserts, look for rum baba, bomboloni doughnuts, and cannoli
D.C. Issues 12-Hour Curfew as Pro-Trump Mob Breaches Capitol
Mayor Muriel Bowser is clearing the streets after demonstrators overwhelmed security
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Shortly after pro-Trump protesters toppled barricades, scaled walls, and overwhelmed security to break into the U.S. Capitol, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a curfew effective from 6 p.m. Wednesday, January 6, through 6 a.m. Thursday morning. Capitol Police locked down the building while protesters, mostly maskless and egged on by Trump’s suggestion at a rally, interrupted the proceedings. Police deployed tear gas inside and shot and killed one of the extremists, a 35-year-old woman from California.
A boarded-up shop in Adams Morgan. Photo by Anna Spiegel.
A number of restaurants in downtown DC are closing their doors on Tuesday and Wednesday because of extensive road restrictions and safety concerns prompted by pro-Trump rallies. The impassibility of downtown combined with the mayor’s recommendation to avoid the area is a hard hit for restaurants already struggling in the depths of an indoor dining ban.
Safety from potential chaos plays a starring role in the list of reasons to shutter. Amy Brandwein, owner of Centrolina and Piccolina, will close her restaurants on January 6 out of concern for staff well-being. Shutting down to protect bodies and boarding up to preserve buildings can mean losses of over $10,000 a day, but Brandwein sees no way to safely open after witnessing violence that has occurred around CityCenter.