Chef Enzo Fargione has been busy since the culinary talent parted ways with Teatro Goldoni, and the popular fashion glossy Elle Magazine has taken notice. In the March issue, the mag makes mention of Fargione’s plans to open his own “power-lunch-appropriate Italian bistro,” ELISIR in the District’s Penn Quarter. “I’m itching to open because I haven’t been behind the stove in over a year,” Fargione told Yeas & Nays. The tasting-menu-style restaurant will feature a bar that will seat 20 to 25 people, three glass-enclosed wine cellars, a semi-private event room, a regular dining room with a semi-open kitchen and an observation deck equipped with HD cameras for live streaming of his dinner services. It’s a unique concept and one that Fargione hopes people will like.
“There is a boom across the country in tasting menus and I believe now is the time to hammer on it,” he said.
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After a much-needed break from restaurant ownership, the chef says it’s time to get back in the game. “I needed to feel the freedom to really express myself and express what I felt inside. And after the success we had at Teatro, it would have been just a pity to let it go,” he said. Which is why he decided not to.
Fargione tells us ELISIR will be his personal interpretation of Italian cuisine and a true “showcase of his culinary journey” and with the mixture of three different tasting menus (averaging about $80 for six to eight courses, $100 for 10 to 12 courses and $145 for 14 or 15) there will be options for everyone. ELISIR is slated to open in June.
