“We are committed to zero food waste, so we accept imperfections in our produce and try to use all the parts of our animals and vegetables. For example, our animal fat gets completely repurposed and used, and we use no plastic anywhere in the restaurant to encourage and instill good environmental practices.”

Ramp linguine “carbonara“ with woodgrilled maitake mushrooms, mint, fava beans, and pecorino; burrata and baby carrots with figs, blue basil, pistachio duqqa, and chamomile; barbecued lamb shoulder with black garlic, rhubarb molasses, bread and butter pickles, spring greens salad, lamb bacon lardons, and lamb fat sherry vinaigrette.

The cooking is inventive and whimsical at 14th Street’s Bresca, whose name is Spanish for “honeycomb“. Ratino has worked in wide-ranging kitchens from the Playboy Mansion to a Todd English property in Orlando to Virginia’s elegant L’Auberge Provençale, and his menu is delightfully quirky as a result.

The Asian-inflected scallop crudo bathed in duck dashi shares space with an Italian-accented yellowfin tuna and green garlic tonnato, while the foie gras cake pop for dessert may as well be from outer space. It’s all built on a foundation of top-notch seasonal ingredients, often plucked straight from the rooftop garden.

“If decadence were a crime, Ratino would get at least a few years.” The Washington Post