Dinner with Legendary Chef Roberto Donna at his new Restaurant Roberto's Ristorante Italiano in Vienna/ Virginia

 

Back at Chef Roberto Donna's table.

Annette Schiller Maureen Kelly Fuad Issa and I spent a wonderful evening at Roberto's Ristorante Italiano in Vienna/ Virginia, a new venture of iconic Chef Roberto Donna. 

Chef Roberto Donna moved at about the same time (in the early 1980s) to the USA as Annette and I did, he from Northern Italy, we from the Frankfurt region in Germany. 

Picture: Christian Schiller and Chef Roberto Donna in 2014. See: Winemaker Sabrino Loffredo’s Pietracupa Wines and Chef Roberto Donna’s Food at a Winemaker Dinner at Alba Osteria in Washington DC, Italy/USA

Rather quickly Roberto became one of the leading chefs of the Washington DC area, owning restaurants like Galileo and I Matti and several others, with about 500 employees. But in 2004 Roberto's fortunes turned sour. Galileo's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Roberto had to struggle with financial and legal issues since then. Fortunately he did not go under. He is still cooking at the highest level. 

His latest adventure is Roberto's Ristorante Italiano on Church Street in Vienna/ Virginia, owned by Roberto's wife, Nancy Sabbagh, who also runs the service. 

Yesterday evening it was as it has always been at Roberto's restaurants: relaxed, exquisite food, top Italian wines and excellent service, like in a trattoria in Turino in the Piemonte area where Roberto spent the first 20 years of his life. 

Chef Roberto Donna (from wikipedia) 

Roberto Donna is an Italian chef and restaurateur in Washington D.C. 

Donna was born in Turin, Italy, where he enrolled in culinary school at the age of 13. He came to the United States at the age of 19, working in an Italian restaurant on K Street in Washington, D.C. In 1984, Donna opened Galileo in Dupont Circle, which was an immediate success. The restaurant only seated 50, and in the early days, even Vice-President George H.W. Bush could not secure a last-minute reservation. Donna and his partner Savino Recine opened more casual trattorias, Primi Piatti, and then I Matti, serving pizza and pasta. 

By the end of the 1990s, Donna's empire grew to 12 restaurants, including Il Radicchio, Pesce, and Barolo. In 1999, he expanded Galileo into a neighboring space and opened a restaurant-within-a-restaurant, Il Laboratorio del Galileo, serving multi-course meals in a small (25-30 seats) dining room, with a glass-walled "showcase" kitchen. 

Donna published a cookbook, Cooking in Piedmont, in 1996. 

Donna won the 1996 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. The next year, Galileo was named one of the "10 Best Italian Restaurants in America" by Wine Spectator. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington recognized Donna as the "Chef of the Year" in 1990, and the "Restaurateur of the Year" in 1995. Donna was invited to Rome in 1996 to receive the Insegna del Ristorante Italiano, awarded by the Italian Government in recognition of serving the best authentic Italian food outside Italy. 

In 2004, Donna's company declared bankruptcy and his restaurants began to close; Galileo closed in 2006, and he had no restaurants to his name when Bebo Trattoria closed in 2009. Donna was prosecuted for failing to pay taxes at Bebo, and in 2010, Donna pled guilty to felony embezzlement, receiving a five-year suspended sentence on condition of probation, good behavior, and restitution. Donna and his business partners still faced several civil lawsuits when he returned to the kitchen with the opening of Galileo III in October 2010. The restaurant closed abruptly after less than one year.

The Dinner at Roberto`s Ristaurante Italiano

Prosecco

 

 

Antipasti 

Caprese Salad Local heirloom tomato, buffalo mozzarella, compressed watermelon, basil pesto $20 

Fried Zucchini Blossoms Ricotta, parmesan, mint, tomato coulis, spring salad $19 

Yellowfin Tuna Crudo Thinly sliced tuna, burrata sauce, tomato jelly, sesame, pesto $24 

Octopus Black olive, capers, baby spinach, pesto, potato foam  $22 

Prosciutto & Figs Prosciutto di Parma, black figs, smoked burrata, honey $22 

Clams and Sausage Sautéed little neck clams with spicy pork sausage and turnip greens $20 

Summer Peach Soup Local peaches, diced local bell peppers, poached shrimp $22 

Chianti

Paste 

Black Ink Tagliolini Al’ Aragosta Maine lobster chunks, poached in tomato cream sauce $44 

Gnocchi con il Ragu Salsiccia Italian pork sausage, red wine tomato sauce, onion $27 

Beet Tortelloni Straciatella, yellow tomato sauce, parmesan $28 

Risotto Ai Gamberi Tomato, shrimp, smoked burrata, local farm herbs $36 

Fettuccine alla Parmigiana Semolina fettuccini tossed table-side in parmesan $30 

Pietanze 

Roasted Alaskan Halibut Fennel, confit tomato, tomato water, fennel pollen $38 

Mediterranean Whole Roasted Branzino Potato confit, tomato, basil, olives $38 

Roasted Mulard Duck Breast and Figs Swiss chard, fingerling potatoes, carrots, Vin Cotto sauce $40 

Veal Tenderloin Polenta, beets, spinach, wild mushroom cream sauce $44 

Demkota Ranch Beef Rib Eye (For 2) Seared Rib Eye, roasted turnips, baked sliced potato, garlic Swiss chard $125 

Soft Shell Crab Squid ink fettuccine, broccolini, garlic, tempura fried soft shell crab. $38 

Dolce 

Baked Lemon Ricotta Cake Tomato marmalade, tomato cookie, tomato ice cream $12 

Hazelnut Chocolate Bar Lemon Mousse, vanilla gelato, milk chocolate crémeux $12 

Warm Seasonal Fruit Tart White chocolate Cremoso, caramel sauce $12 

Semifreddo Al Miele Honey semifreddo, fig sauce, fresh fig, lemon crisp $12 

Espresso $4 

schiller-wine: Related Postings 

Invitation: Annual Riesling Party 2022 at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA

Announcement: Ombiasy WineTours in 2022 Summer and Fall  

Announcement: 3 Ombiasy Wine Tours in 2022 - Rhône Valley Tour: June 20 - June 29, Germany South - Alsace: July 01 - July 10, Bordeaux: September 20 - September 29 

Christian Schiller`s SCHILLER-WINE Blog on Corking Wines` Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 List

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The Wines of Germany: Presentation by Annette Schiller at the German Embassy in Washington DC/ Consular Conference December 2021

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Dinner at 1-star Michelin Restaurant Steins Traube in Mainz, with Philipp and Alina Stein, Germany, 2022

Annette and I had dinner at Steins Traube, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Mainz-Finthen, in June 2022, with friends.

Chef Philipp Stein 

Philipp Stein was borne in Mainz, where his parents were the fifth generation to own and run the Steins Traube restaurant. In 2019, at the age of 29, Philipp and his wife Alina took over the family restaurant, after a period of renovation. Alina Stein manages the service in the Steins Traube restaurant. 

After working with Dirk Maus, at the Ente in Wiesbaden, with Dieter Müller and at Waldhotel Sonnora, in 2014, Philipp Srein took up his first position as head chef at the Favorite restaurant in Mainz. In the same year, he was awarded a Michelin star and became the youngest Michelin-starred chef in Germany in that year. Philipp and Alina Stein met at the Favorite restaurant, where Alina holding the position of restaurant manager. Since 2017 Philipp Stein he has been a regular television chef on the ARD program ARD-Buffet.

Michelin Guide Deutschland

Michelin Guide Deutschland: Philipp Stein represents the sixth generation at the helm of this restaurant. His ambitious cooking attaches great importance to the changing seasons. An example from the menu is the lukewarm-marinated cured veal tongue with cream of chives, pumpkin and toasted seeds. Smart, modern interior, a lovely courtyard and a really friendly junior chef at your service. 

Dinner 

You have a choice between à la carte, Menü Légère (Euro 80) and Menü Prestige (Euro 125). We all took the Menü Prestige and had 12 bottles of wine. There were 8 of us.

Dinner was outside, in the lovely courtyard of the restaurant. Because of noise restrictions, we moved inside to finish the dinner.

Menü Prestige

Fine de claire oysters #3

Baked curry prawn croustillant in kataifa dough

Carpaccio of dried water melon, imperial caviar, dill mayonnaise, olive, tomato, smoled almond

Ceviche of lake trout, coconut vinegar, coriander, shallot, sweet potatoe, coconut

Wild red prawns, marinated fennel, chanterelles, lovage, lobster jus

Crispy pork belly, octopus curry, dried apricot, pistachio, pepper

Sweetbreads, morel, wild mushroom, cream peas

Saddle of venison, macadamia crust, green asparagus, medlar, parsley root puree, pepper laurel jus, sauche riche

Blackberry mousse, biscuit base, violet, Bodenheimer milk ice cream, meringue, hibiscus

Food and Wine 

Outside

 

Inside

Bye-bye

schiller-wine: Related Postings 

Invitation: Annual Riesling Party 2022 at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA

Announcement: Ombiasy WineTours in 2022 Summer and Fall  

Announcement: 3 Ombiasy Wine Tours in 2022 - Rhône Valley Tour: June 20 - June 29, Germany South - Alsace: July 01 - July 10, Bordeaux: September 20 - September 29 

Christian Schiller`s SCHILLER-WINE Blog on Corking Wines` Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 List

German Wine Society Capital Chapter Membership Meeting 2022: Carl Willner Re-elected President and Christian Schiller Re-elected Vice-president, USA/ Germany Washington DC Downtown, USA/ Germany

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All Sorts of Sparklers: How do the Bubbles get into that Bottle - Presentation by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, at the 2021 American Wine Society National Conference in Atlantic City

Upcoming: Total Immersion in Bordeaux: World Class Wines and Exquisite French Gourmet Cuisine - Bordeaux Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours, France - One Room Available (Single/ Double)

Pictures: The 2019 Group at Château Canon-La-Gaffelière, Appellation Saint-Émilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé B, with Proprietor Count Stephan von Neipperg, at Château Bouscaut, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Cru Classé de Graves, with Owner Sophie Cogombles-Lurton and her Husband Laurent Cogombles and at Château Lafite-Rothschild, Appellation Pauillac, 1ière Grand Cru Class.

Dear wine friends,

It is just six weeks until the wine tour to the Bordeaux wine region starts. 

Hotel reservations for these tours need to be made well in advance - more than 6 months earlier. Since I never know how many singles and how many couples join the tours I always reserve enough rooms to accommodate every possibility. 

At this point I have one room left (single or double occupancy). I do have to cancel this room by August 17th to avoid penalty charges.

I would like to let my wine friends know about this fantastic tour. There might be someone out there who would like to jump on the unexpected opportunity to explore the Bordeaux wine region at the end of September. 

The tour starts in Bordeaux city. Our first day takes us to Château Haut-Bailly in the Graves region where we can look at the brand new chai finished during the Covid years, and to a merchant house where we learn about the system of the “place de Bordeaux”. After the first day, we move around to get the feel for the different subregions of Bordeaux. We stay two nights in breathtakingly beautiful Saint-Emilion, then visit a Château in the Entre-Deux-Mers region where the owner/winemaker - Marc Lurton - will giver us a thorough lecture on winemaking in Bordeaux; we head across the Garonne river to explore Sauterne, and go back to Bordeaux city for Friday and Saturday night. The Saturday we will spend in Puisseguin Saint-Émilion, one of the Saint-Émilion satellite regions, with a winemaker family and learn about biodynamic winemaking. Sunday we head out to the Bassin d’Arcachon where we learn about oyster breeding and harvesting, and of course we will have an oyster feast with some crisp Bordeaux white wines. After that we spend three nights in the Médoc area to explore Saint-Éstèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, and Margaux. We will have three exceptional wine pairing lunches and dinners at famous Châteaux with the owners/winemakers/general managers, and will also visit a barrel production facility to learn how important it is to produce the right barrel with the right wood, and correct toasting to perfectly age the Bordeaux wine.

Don’t hesitate to call me at my US cell phone (I am currently home in McLean, VA) or send me an email with all questions who may have. If you are interested in the tour, I will send you the updated itinerary for the 2022 tour.

To sign up, and to register, simply go to the following website:  https://ombiasypr.com/index.php/wine-tours/bordeaux/bordeaux-registration

Cheers

Annette

Wine Tours - Wine Events - Wine Education

Annette Schiller, Diplom-Volkswirt

Washington DC - Frankfurt am Main

USA: +1 703 459 7513

GER: +49 -177 337 0281

schiller-wine: Related Postings 

Invitation: Annual Riesling Party 2022 at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA

Announcement: Ombiasy WineTours in 2022 Summer and Fall  

Announcement: 3 Ombiasy Wine Tours in 2022 - Rhône Valley Tour: June 20 - June 29, Germany South - Alsace: July 01 - July 10, Bordeaux: September 20 - September 29 

Christian Schiller`s SCHILLER-WINE Blog on Corking Wines` Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 List

German Wine Society Capital Chapter Membership Meeting 2022: Carl Willner Re-elected President and Christian Schiller Re-elected Vice-president, USA/ Germany Washington DC Downtown, USA/ Germany

Christian Stahl, Winzerhof Stahl, Franken, Germany back in the USA - Winemaker Dinner at the Schiller Residence in McLean, Northern Virginia

The Wines of Germany: Presentation by Annette Schiller at the German Embassy in Washington DC/ Consular Conference December 2021

All Sorts of Sparklers: How do the Bubbles get into that Bottle - Presentation by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, at the 2021 American Wine Society National Conference in Atlantic City

Invitation: Annual Riesling Party 2022 at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA

Pictures: Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA (2019)

Dear wine friends,

Good news! Many of you enquired about our yearly Riesling Party, which we have been unable to hold for the past two years due to the pandemic. 

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to this year’s Riesling Party at our home in McLean, VA.

Covid has not disappeared but we all have been vaccinated, or had Covid, and the current strain is much less harmful than the first strains. Besides: the event is outside!

 

We expect you to be vaccinated and boosted and free of any symptoms.

Please join us for the Riesling Party on August 28th at 5 PM at 6404 Woodsong Court, McLean. 

Entrance fee: 1 bottle of Riesling (another grape variety is fine too should you prefer to bring another wine) per person.

You won’t go hungry: I will prepare typical German food.

Christian and I are very much looking forward to sharing some great wines with our wine friends whom we have not seen for a long time!

 

Please RSVP at aschiller@ombiasypr.com or cschiller@schiller-wine.com

Cheers

Annette & Christian

Wine Tours - Wine Events - Wine Education

Annette Schiller, Diplom-Volkswirt

Washington DC - Frankfurt am Main

USA: +1 703 459 7513

GER: +49 -177 337 0281

schiller-wine: Related Postings

Announcement: Ombiasy WineTours in 2022 Summer and Fall  

Announcement: 3 Ombiasy Wine Tours in 2022 - Rhône Valley Tour: June 20 - June 29, Germany South - Alsace: July 01 - July 10, Bordeaux: September 20 - September 29 

Christian Schiller`s SCHILLER-WINE Blog on Corking Wines` Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 List

German Wine Society Capital Chapter Membership Meeting 2022: Carl Willner Re-elected President and Christian Schiller Re-elected Vice-president, USA/ Germany Washington DC Downtown, USA/ Germany

Christian Stahl, Winzerhof Stahl, Franken, Germany back in the USA - Winemaker Dinner at the Schiller Residence in McLean, Northern Virginia

The Wines of Germany: Presentation by Annette Schiller at the German Embassy in Washington DC/ Consular Conference December 2021

All Sorts of Sparklers: How do the Bubbles get into that Bottle - Presentation by Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, at the 2021 American Wine Society National Conference in Atlantic City