Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital
This Foggy Bottom hotel restaurant offers solid food in a relaxing setting
During our trip to DC, we stayed at the River Inn in Foggy Bottom. The hotel has its own restaurant, Matera, which serves breakfast and dinner daily. It wasn’t particularly busy during our stay, but I imagine that is different during more touristy times and when there are events at the Kennedy Center, given that it’s one of the closest restaurants to the venue. Of course, it’s unclear that the Kennedy Center will continue existing as anything but a center for Neo-nazi rallies now that Trump has taken it over.
We dined at Matera twice. We had breakfast one morning with our friend Maximilian, who was in DC for work. And we had dinner another night when I was craving Italian (after an amazing pasta dish at The Hamilton) and we were too tired to go out.
The restaurant has a smallish dining room, and a pretty casual vibe. There are some interesting posters on the walls, and the candle and rose on the table give it a somewhat romantic atmosphere, but the tables are bare and the place is more utilitarian than special occasion. Service was attentive and friendly, but it’s what we experienced almost universally in DC.
I’m not usually much of a breakfast eater, so I only had a coffee that morning (perfectly acceptable), but Maximillian and Mike ordered food. I didn’t pay attention to what Max had, and we were too busy talking about politics (it’s Washington, after all) to discuss the food, but Mike had the western omelet ($22). It came with ham, onions, green and red bell peppers and American cheese and Mike pronounced it to be “just fine”. It wasn’t remarkable or something he’d order again.
Dinner the following night was tasty and relaxing. We skipped appetizers, but had plenty of bread before our main dishes arrived.
I had the gnocchi with Italian sausage ($28) and was very happy with it. The gnocchi were soft, airy and pillowy, the sausage was tasty, the grilled peppers soft enough and the whole thing came together with a nice tomato basil sauce. I wished there were more gnocchi, the other elements sort of overwhelmed them and I absolutely loved the texture the gnocchi provided, but overall I loved the dish. People (ahem, my daughter) who prefer hardier pasta might not be as enthusiastic, however.
My daughter’s dish, unfortunately, wasn’t as successful. She had the mushroom ravioli ($28) which came in a creamy pesto sauce and she was disappointed both with the flavor and the quantity. There were only four or five ravioli in the dish, and the sauce just wasn’t that tasty. She wouldn’t have it again.
Mike had the calamari ($22), as he felt he wasn’t hungry enough for a main dish and nobody would want to share this. It cam with both a cocktail sauce and an herb aioli. The calamari was perfectly acceptable, with good flavor and texture. The herb aioli, however, was out of this world delicious. I was sad we’d eaten all our bread and couldn’t dip it in it.
I had read in reviews that Matera had a great tiramisu ($12), and we just had to try it. I’m happy to say that the reviewers were right. It featured a very light and airy cake, and thick layers of light and flavorful creams. Even the chocolate was tasty – no Hershey syrup here. We’d definitely get this again.
In all, it was a nice dinner made better by the convenience of it being at our hotel. We’d eat there again.
Matera
the River Inn
924 25th ST NW
Washington, D.C.
(202) 301 5401
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