Centrolina

Centrolina sits inside CityCenter's polished shell and somehow avoids feeling like a hotel restaurant playing dress-up. Marble, a fireplace, buttery light — the room is built for the neighborhood's money, but it doesn't coast on the design. The kitchen backs it up.

The pastas are the reason to book. Squid ink bucatini comes coated in a tomato-eggplant ragu rich enough to stop conversation mid-sentence, the kind of dish that makes you close your eyes for a second. Roasted porcini mushrooms sit in a rosemary butter broth that does the same work in a quieter register. The menu turns with the seasons, so what's on it now won't be there in three months, and that restlessness reads as a kitchen still paying attention rather than repeating itself.

It also works both ways: dress up for the five-course dinner, or post at the bar in jeans for a cocktail and focaccia light enough to float off the table. Not every restaurant survives that split personality. This one does.

The chef has been a James Beard finalist and semifinalist across nearly a decade, with Michelin recognition twice logged and a steady place on Washingtonian's list. The plates explain why.