There’s something almost mythical about a restaurant that survives 50 years in New York City. In a landscape where trendy spots flicker like neon signs—burning bright one season, dark the next—Café Fiorello has been holding court across from Lincoln Center since 1974. Now, like a well-traveled friend sharing secrets from the road, it’s brought its Italian-American soul to Washington, D.C.
The magic begins with what founder Shelly Fireman calls his “signature touch“—an antipasti bar inspired by displays he encountered in Italy decades ago. Think of it as edible theater: cauliflower Milanese glistening under soft lights, fire-roasted peppers curled like autumn leaves, Sicilian eggplant caponata that tastes like summer concentrated into velvet.
“It’s the most similar thing we’ve found to where we are in New York,” says Ben Grossman, CEO of Fireman Hospitality Group. That familiarity translates into something deeper—the same recipes that have fed pre-theater crowds and late-night dreamers now serve a city built on ambition and compromise.
Executive Chef Brando De Oliveira, who’s been crafting these culinary stories for over 20 years, flat-out challenges anyone to make a better meatball. His version—a work of art made with veal, short rib, and bone marrow, sautéed to achieve perfect caramelization—arrives like a love letter written in meat and flame.
The menu reads like a greatest hits album of Italian-American comfort. Rigatoni alla vodka studded with smoky bacon, chicken parm that could make you weep, thin-crust pizzas that crackle like vinyl records. Each dish carries the weight of tradition but doesn’t feel museum-precious—this is food meant to be savored while making plans and breaking hearts.
Nestled between the White House and Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue, right in the heart of one of the East Coast’s best vacation spots—the 6,500-square-foot space feels like a secret worth keeping. Rich emerald green booths, handcrafted furniture from Italy, and artwork from Fireman’s collection create an atmosphere where political whispers and romantic confessions carry equal weight. Reservations are recommended for dinner service, which runs Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on weekends from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
This isn’t just a restaurant expansion; it’s cultural migration, bringing five decades of New York stories to write new chapters in the capital.
