Graffiato in DC

I'm curious how people name restaurants.  Mike Isabella, the chef/owner, probably has a story behind the name but now I know this restaurant means scratched in Italian (or at least that is what the internet tells me).  This is Mike Isabella's restaurant in DC and it's one of my favorites.  It's consistently delicious and the staff is always friendly.  Our waitress actually hugged Phor and I after one of our visit to the restaurant.

I have been a fan of Mike since he was the chef at Zaytinya.  And it was fun to see him on Top Chef.  His personality may not be for everyone but he still makes great food.

This is a place that I look forward to every time I'm in DC.

Brussel Sprouts (of course) - with pancetta, maple and egg.  It has the perfect amount of sweetness with the maple.

Roasted Cauliflower with pecorino and mint.

This dish was my favorite - Tortellini with butternut squash, goat cheese and walnuts.  Perfect comfort food.  This whole meal is my comfort food.

I wanted to try the pizza because I hadn't had it yet.  Phor warned me against it saying it's her least favorite thing on the menu and now I agree.  This was the Goodfellas with meatballs and it was uninspiring apart from the meatballs.  I would love to eat an entire dish of the meatballs.

Dessert was blood orange cheesecake.  Phor insisted the consistency was off and it was.  I was more disappointed when I found out that the color is from food coloring and not actual blood oranges.  I love peeling blood oranges just to see the colors.  But the dish still tasted good.

The best dessert of the two was the panna cotta with pretzels, chocolate and something else.  All good desserts have elements of sweet and savory.