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Agrodolce is the intriguing, unexpected sweet-sour combination in some classic Italian dishes and an aptly named neighborhood favorite in Germantown's Milestone Center. After almost a decade in business, owner-chef Phil Burleson says he recognizes 80 percent of his customers.
"We tried to keep the restaurant somewhat simple but different," he reflects. Customer and staff loyalty attest that he kept Agrodolce "simple, family friendly, fun and a good place to come to work" in his words.
Building on success, Burleson designed and opened Amada Amante, an upscale Mediterranean restaurant in Rockville, in 2003.
"It was everything I wanted in a restaurant before I realized that I already had everything I wanted," declares the chef who returned to Agrodolce a year ago and recently sold the Rockville restaurant.
What has changed at Agrodolce in 10 years? Food, utility costs and prices have risen. High-end wines are gone, the wine program has been downsized and a dozen small craft beers have been added.
On a busy weekend evening, Agrodolce's small bar is full, the open kitchen is bustling and the wait is 10 to 20 minutes. Nightly specials — alas, without prices — are noted on the board: chipotle shrimp, sautéed N.Y. strip, penne with shrimp and crabmeat, and sautéed rockfish.
An ocher-colored low wall divides the 75-seat dining room into two intimate spaces. Half is on the kitchen side; half looks out onto a patio that seats 40. While the hard surfaces — glass wall, terracotta floors and tile-topped tables — do little to temper noise, they do not impede conversation.
The menu changes four to six times a year, twice in summer.
"It keeps the guys in the kitchen from being in a rut," Burleson says.
Three or four dishes have survived since the restaurant opened, and he acknowledges that he'd "probably get murdered" if he took them off. Others, like duck three ways, made their debut at Amada Amante.
The chopped olive spread served with a round focaccia proves addictive. As the menu suggests, I order a hand-tossed, wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza as an appetizer. The Rocket, an herb-crusted white pizza with mozzarella, shallots, arugola and fontina, is one of five new additions.
As our other appetizers arrive, it becomes apparent that my order died somewhere between the table and the kitchen. It is just as well. We will have more food than we can consume.
Wasabi-panko (two great Japanese imports) fried oysters appear on a triangular white plate with frisée salad and sesame-rice wine vinaigrette. A few bites confirm they need more wasabi and less crust.
A half-pound of large mussels emerge Belgian-style, sautéed with stout beer, endive, smoked bacon, chévre and cream. The mussels are quite good and the broth enjoyably different.
Worth every penny, and not all that expensive considering, is the roasted New Zealand baby lamb rack, delivered as promised, medium rare, with red wine sauce and a tasty accompanying asparagus and pea risotto.
The kitchen goes over the top with its risotto with seared diver scallops. Three huge scallops, seared a moment too long, repose on plump, grains of rice enlivened with several kinds of wild mushrooms (bravo), asparagus, peas, sun-dried tomatoes, applewood-smoked bacon and Parmigiano Reggiano. It's an exuberant red, white and green Italian tribute.
Gemelli with sautéed sweet Italian sausage, rapini, pecorino and spicy olive oil sauce is cooked well, but served lukewarm and not very spicy. Veal marsala leaves another diner yearning for more mushrooms to go with the meat and plentiful linguine.
Dessert brings smiles all around. The classic crËme brulée and the mango, raspberry and passionfruit sorbet trio are outstanding and attractively presented. The sorbet is the only dessert not made in-house by Raul Bran.
One service peeve, by no means limited to Agrodolce, is the attempt to remove plates as soon as a diner is finished. This is disconcerting to diners still eating.
-Agrodolce Ristorante
21030J Frederick Ave., Germantown
301-528-6150, fax 301-528-6152
Hours: Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Dinner: Mon.-Thurs. 4-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 4-10 p.m., Sun. 4-9 p.m.
Style of cuisine: Eclectic Italian
Dinner Entrees: $15-$22
Appetizers: $8-$13
Credit cards: All major cards
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www.agrodolce.tv
