I Ricchi, Washington, D.C.

This weekend my friend Joe is in town from Florida, bringing with him one of his daughters and three of his grandsons to Washington so they can see the sights. They graciously invited me to join them for dinner tonight, and we had reservations at Christianne Ricchi's place, I Ricchi, just south of Dupont Circle. Ordinarily I don't think of the elegant I Ricchi as a "family" place, but tonight I noticed not only Joe's family, but two other tables with older children.

I Ricchi has taken a ground-floor office building space and converted it into an Italian trattoria, complete with open kitchen. Walls are painted stucco-yellow and the art and decor tastefully evoke a comfortable yet upscale Italian feel. Tables and chairs are big and comfortable, but closely spaced, as the restaurant is usually full and buzzing, as it was tonight.

After bringing the three of us legal adults glasses of wine, our obviously Italian waiter took everyone's orders, and I followed the family's lead in ordering an appetizer and a main course. It was a little hard to chat with five other people and take food notes at the same time, so I'll have to concentrate on my food and then try to recall what the others ate.

I started with the polenta tartufata ai funghi farciti, a nicely done timbale of polenta (think Italian cornmeal mush) scented with truffles and surrounded with sauteed sliced wild mushrooms brightened with splashes of balsamic vinegar. A bright strip of roasted red pepper lay across the top of the polenta as a garnish. Joe had the zuppa di fagioli bianchi, a thick, rich white bean soup, and the others shared a couple of caprese salads (slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella with fresh basil leaves and olive oil).

I chose the large veal t-bone steak as my main course. It was a very thick steak, nicely grilled to the requested medium rare. It came with some al dente green beans and mushrooms and a unique chunk of deep fried polenta. Joe had the risotto del giorno, which tonight was a shrimp risotto; his daughter had the spiedino di mare, a skewer of enormous grilled shrimp with peppers and onions; the middle grandson had the bistecca all'arrabbiata, which was a big thick New York strip steak; and I didn't hear exactly what the other two grandsons got, but they were both pastas.

We shared a bottle of Sant' Elena pinot grigio with the main course, and it was a nice wine with the food.

It was fun talking with the family, hearing their comments about the museums they'd seen, and trying to explain some of the additional important sights and locations of key restaurants. They are going to have a busy Sunday if they are going to hit all the highlights! Of course, with Washington, one can play tourist for weeks and never have to repeat a museum or monument.