Tuscana West

Last Friday a couple friends of ours were in town from Boston so we met up with them for dinner in DC. Not sure exactly where to go in DC, we left it up to the other two friends of theirs they were visiting who were a bit more familiar with the area. With two vegetarians in the group and some naysayers of Asian cuisine, we weren't left with too many options for cuisine and decided on Italian.


Apart from delivery pizza, I never seem to end up going out for Italian. Certainly its not that I don't like Italian food, perhaps it's just that Italian often seems like something I could cook fine for myself at home without even having to get that many different ingredients--certainly not having to go shopping anywhere out of the ordinary which isn't the case with a lot of other foods I go out for. Kym's often complains that her problem with Italian food for vegetarians is that you usually end up with a pasta dish where virtually every bite is the same. Personally I'm okay with that if each bite is a good bite, but I can see her point.

Tuscana West has a convenient location near the McPherson Square metro as well as a pleasant view out onto Franklin Park. The dining area is a very elegant setting. Our party of six was able to get a perfectly-sized round table which is always preferable to a rectangular set-ups when it comes to conversations. I was most pleased of all to find live jazz piano music right next to our table for the entire evening which I absolutely love during a meal at a restaurant.

The service was particularly attentive throughout the night--although this might have been due to the very small number of diners there that night even though it was a Friday. There's also something funny about having a waiter pronounce the Italian dishes using Spanish pronunciation rules, but I'm sure most people don't pick up on that.

Kym had a fresh pasta and mushroom dish that flew in the face of her worries and was delicious. I went with an Italian sausage and onions pizza that was in the style of classic Italian pizza but didn't quite hit the mark of what real Italian pizza tastes like. It was still very good though. The rest of the party seemed very happy with their dishes as well.

Considering the location in downtown DC, elegant atmosphere and sophistication of some of the dishes, I think the prices were definitely fair. Not a bargain, but fair, and we all had an enjoyable meal which at the end of the day is of course what you are going for!