DINING
BY CANDY SAGON
Eola’s goat’s milk panna cotta includes fiery brittle.
★ ★
(Good)
Palio of Leesburg
2 W. Market St., Leesburg. 703-779-0060. www.
palioofleesburg. com.
scallops come wrapped in pancetta.
An old hand’s
O
popular new spot
Palio struggles to handle avid patrons
ne quick way to test the mettle of a restaurant staff is to see what happens when a key employee fails to show up for work. Do things rapidly cascade into disaster? Or can the rest of the staff shift into overdrive and keep customers reasonably happy?
At Palio, a new Italian restaurant in a two-story historic
building in downtown Leesburg, such a test occurred on a recent Saturday night when the bartender was a no-show. That meant no one to pour drinks and serve food for the 24 seats in the cozy first- floor bar area on a night when the upstairs dining staff was already stretched thin with several large parties. An upstairs waiter was eventually recruited to handle the bar food, but there was still no one to pour wine or mix cocktails. Do you have any idea how cranky a crowd can get when denied
alcohol? Fortunately, owner-manager Antonio Pino has good friends living
nearby. One of them, called at home, quickly came over and began doing the only thing he could do in the situation: Pour lots of wine. The crabby crowd, many kept waiting for an hour despite
reservations, mellowed out with generous servings of Chianti. And once diners were upstairs, Joe Cicala’s polished menu — this is the
Find more restaurant reviews at
goingoutguide.com/ dining. Tom sietsema, who is on assignment, chats live at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays at
washingtonpost.com/tomsietsema.
Italy-trained Cicala’s first job as executive chef — came close to making up for the long wait. It’s hard to remain grumpy as you munch a lovely salad of peppery arugula, sweet pear and aged Parmesan, followed by perfectly seared scallops wrapped in smoky pancetta, and house- made fennel sausage lounging on a cushion of buttery polenta. By the time I got my big bowl of mussels and clams in a spicy white wine broth, I couldn’t remember what I had been so irritated about. It also helped that Pino
made the rounds, apologizing and thanking everyone for their patience. A courtly, well- mannered host, he exudes old-school hospitality and makes an effort to chat warmly with every customer. Still, I was surprised that
someone with Pino’s experience — he has helped run Zeffirelli in Herndon and Primi Piatti in the District — seems to be struggling at times with his restaurant’s overnight popularity. Open just
(Continued on Page 28)
OPen: Lunch:
11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday brunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Bar open for tapas 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Prices: Lunch
entrees $13 to $17, dinner entrees $16 to $28, brunch entrees $9 to $17.
sOund check:
81 decibels/ Extremely loud.
The BAck sTOrY
Palio is the name of the famous horse race held twice a year in Siena, Italy. Jockeys
ride bareback (and often
fall off). Even
without a rider, a horse can win the race for the neighborhood it represents.
May 16, 2010 | ThE WashingTon PosT MagazinE
27
PHOTOGRAPH BY STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166