Sfoglina Van Ness — Restaurant in Washington

I was hoping to like this restaurant, the food was good, but the other failures far outweighed the taste of the food. I made a reservation about a week in advance for a table for 5 in the dining room. It was a birthday celebration for my son and my brother whose bdays are the 9th and the 11th, the day of the dinner. When we arrived things immediately went down hill. We were led to a table that was not in the dining room, the table is probably the worst table at Sfoglina, at the nexus of the kichen and the main server station. Very busy and loud! I asked for another table but was told this was all they had even though I reserved way in advance. I considered leaving then and should have! We ordered drinks, mine was a glass of Barbaresco, The server broughtthe bottle of wine and asked if I wanted a 6 or 9 ounce pour, I said 9. She reached over the waiter station and started to pour, and continued to pour until the bottle was comepletly vertical and walked away. The pour was short and no attempt was made to fill the glass to the 9 ounce line. When you pay $30 for a glass of wine at least you should get a full pour that does not include the sediment. Then we ordered some apps and salads, and a few minutes later we ordered our pasta dishes. After we finished the slads and apps my wife asked for another iced tea, but she was told they were out and if she wanted one it would be hot. Hot? She said she would drink water for the rest of the meal. When the entrees were served my wife's water glass was empty. It wasn't refilled until she was almost done with her dish. After the entrees were cleared we were waiting a bit. Earlier I had noticed a cockroach or two crawling on the wall near the serving sileverware rack near the kitchen. well to my surprise about 10-15 minutes later another crawled up the wall about 2 inches from my wrist and within a 1/4 inch of our table. Even though we did not have desert yet we I decided enough was enough. We asked for a check and waited, and waited. I did not want to continue sitting where I was to see if another roach would make an appearence so I got up and asked to speak to a manager near the bar. When the manager came he had a tin "of very special things from the kitchen'. I said the table was bad, but the cockroaches was the last straw and I did not want his gooddie tin. He did not engage me beyond that.

I went to the bathroom and back to the table where my brother and son were eating a dester they provided, but I just wanted to leave. The roach incident really turned me off. To make things worse is after providing feedback on Resy on Friday morning and calling at 4 that day to speak to a manager I was told it was during 'service' and he could not speak to me. But the reservation person took a message for the manager to call me. I am still waiting for the call for the manager 2 days...

Excellent al dente pasta - $300 well spent! I love the variety of vegetarian dishes, I couldn't decide so I ordered the Pasta Tasting. I got the Pesto wide noodles with artichokes and pine nuts "Neapolitan Maccheroni", the oversize ravioli shaped like a Tootsie Roll "Butternut Squash Pansotti" and the marinara curly pasta "Mafalde Frilled Ribbons". All the decadent pasta dishes were unique, cooked al dente with a generous amount of sauce to my delight.

To my surprise, the simplest dish, the Mafalde Frilled Ribbons, was my favorite! I love the Scamorza Cheese. The other dishes weren't bad, but I would save my appetite just for the frilled ribbons.

My husband enjoyed his veal and the 20 month aged proscuitto app. The complementary artisan bread with olive oil as tasty, we got a refill!

I was impressed that there was a Sommelier especially on Sunday night. The Sommelier helped me pick out a nice glass of Pino Noir (Brachetoo d' Acqui) that paired well with the different pasta dishes.

The bubbly Sfogolina cocktail was refreshing and delicious. My husband didn't like his dirty martini, it was too dirty and tasted sour.

We both enjoyed the Tiramisu with spongy ladyfingers sandwiched between rich layers of cream. It was a sweet ending to a scrumptious meal.

The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the Grilled Provolone cheese with Eggplant and Tomato. It's exactly how it sounds - a solid block of cheese with chunks of eggplant and tomato and not at all like the Grilled Eggplant Parmesean that I was hoping for. Even as someone who can't live a day without cheese, I wouldn't recommend it and save my appetite for the pasta.

The servers were attentive and polite. The hostess was a bit snooty. I walked in Sunday night without a reservation (I had called earlier and there were many open tables). Although the restaurant was packed, I saw a few small open tables for couples. When the hostess told me that the bar was available, I pointed to the open tables in the front. She took a minute to respond and reluctantly sat me down. Little did she know that I was Yelp Elite and willing to fork out big bucks for a thorough review. I highly recommend making a reservation, which I will do next time!

As I had more pasta dishes than I can count on my fingers and toes in Italy, Sfogolina is hands down the best and most authentic Italian restaurant in DC. Hearty meal that satisfied my insatiable appetite and perfect...

My vote hovers between 3.5 to 4 stars. I was looking forward to Sfoglina because after all, Fiola is one of my top five restaurants in D.C. Furthermore, I adore both Fiola Mare and Casa Luca as well. So when I heard about Sfoglina, I had high hopes for this more casual pasta-focused restaurant.

We came on a Sunday around 3pm, so there was plenty of seating. The interior is very homey and while more casual than its older restaurant siblings, also very well-decorated. The theme seems to be red and white (perfect for the winter holidays or for any romantic setting), and I love the appropriately themed banquettes, customized throw pillows, and lighting fixtures.

We ordered a pasta tasting of three ($68) to share family style. For our three, we chose: Spaghetti chitarra with pancetta, escarola in a carbonara style Paccheri all'Amatriciana with roasted tomatoes, pancetta, spicy Calabrian chili, and pecorino Squid ink and paprika cannelloni curl with baccala, lobster, and peperoncino

My favorite dish was the paccheri all'Amatriciana. The Calabrian chili gave it a nice kick to the dish. The spaghetti chitarra was also pretty good, especially since it was a Carbonara style with egg, pancetta, and cheese. Although the squid ink cannelloni curl is one of Sfoglina's most popular dishes, I personally did not care for it. It is quite creative though since the cannelloni curls (aptly named) around the lobster, so it looks like it's a sea cucumber or some kind of fish.

All in all, dishes were decent but I think my expectations for a Fabio Trabocchi restaurant were very high. I wasn't blown away by Sfoglina's dishes as I was by Fiola et al. Service was on point and overall, it's a nice restaurant to treat yourself, friends, or significant others. But for me, I rather spend just a little more on Chef Fabio's other...