If you want to leave Assaggi Mozzarella Bar with a smile, just say “cheese.” Order other starters—or stray into main courses—and you could end up with an Unhappy Meal. The 15 mostly mediocre entrees I tried left me downright grumpy.
Assaggi (pronounced Ah-SAH-gee), Which means “tastings” in Italian, occupies the old Centro restaurant space on Bethesda Avenue. Former Café Milano chef Domenico Cornacchia opened the place in May, after a renovation that made it more rustic and welcoming. Hand-painted Italian plates line one mustard-colored wall, beige drapes swoop like windblown sails from the ceiling, there’s an open kitchen, a handsome granite bar and the mozzarella is displayed in glass-enclosed shelving. Nice redo.
Here’s how it works: You have a choice of sampling either one type of mozzarella paired with two condiments or three types of mozzarella with four condiments. And for the upscale hamand- cheese eater, there’s also a selection of cured meats, such as sliced-to-order prosciutto di Parma. Assaggi’s tastings apply to the dessert menu, too—chunks of chocolate with varying percentages of cacao, flights of gelato or sorbet (from Dolcezza on Bethesda Lane) and homemade cookies. It’s an entertaining concept. Appetizers, salads, pastas, main course and desserts make up the bulk of the menu—and the bulk of the restaurant’s problems.
Here’s the good news and the bad:
The mozzarella bar works.
I’d gladly make a dinner out of mozzarella dressed with condiments and prosciutto, sip some wine, and end with biscotti or ricotta cheesecake.
Mozzarella is a mild and delicate cheese, varying in texture and flavor according to the region where it’s made, the diet of the animals that supply the milk and the type of milk used. One night, the fresh buffalo mozzarella from Italy was a creamy standout and an interesting contrast to a firmer California buffalo mozzarella and a more elastic cow’s-milk mozzarella from Virginia. The restaurant also serves fluffy, fresh ricotta, as well as rich burrata, made from mozzarella and cream.
The cheeses are enhanced by lovely vegetable condiments, my favorites being the green tomato marmalade and roasted peppers. Cured meats add a further punch, and you can’t go wrong with any of them: the rustic or fennel salamis, the spicy pork loin or the prosciutto, all sliced paper thin and fanned beautifully on a plate. With the parts in place, you assemble your own open-faced sandwiches on the chewy bread, shipped par-baked from TriBeCa Bakery in New York and finished off at the restaurant.
The cheese-tasting specials are worth trying, too.
Chef Cornacchia offers a changing array of cheeses other than mozzarella, and not surprisingly, these tend to have bolder flavors. Italian goat cheese was served five ways: plain or rolled in diced olives, black pepper, herbs or crushed pistachios. And one night, a trio of Camembert, dry ricotta Calabria and la tur cow’s-milk cheese—albeit in skimpy portions — made an interesting combo.
Bottom line: To eat happily, stick with the tasting items.
Keep in mind that those cheeses, cured meats and bread were all made elsewhere. Simply put, this kitchen is better at shopping than cooking.
Which brings up the unhappy news:
The salads are blah.
What gives? I had three salads, and not one had enough (or even any) dressing. Even the addition of dressing failed to perk up the limp and lackluster arrangements.
Many entrees are surprisingly unpolished.
Okay, so the dorade—on the spring and summer menu—was sweet, delicate and perfectly grilled, and the chicken cacciatore was full of flavor. But most of the pasta dishes and entrees I tried lacked spark, their sauces thin and vapid, their flavors more warmed over than distinct. A veal skirt steak was chewy and dull, a wild rockfish special was terribly overcooked, the summer skate dish was mushy and the pastas were forgettable. A lunch special of beef strips was so salty and unappetizing that I sent it back. The replacement, a roast lamb and vegetable panini, wasn’t much better.
On a busy night, the noise level can be deafening.
Try the tables near the door; they’re out of the thick of things.
The service is a mixed bag.
The wait staff means well, but when it’s crowded, things can get slow—or weird. One evening, the scallop and fava bean special inexplicably arrived with one lonely scallop—and a hunk of cod. After pointing this out to the waiter, he returned with the news that the kitchen had had only one scallop left, so it had substituted cod. Didn’t the kitchen think we would notice?
To be fair, the waiter did rectify the situation, sweeping away the cod and replacing it with the far better dorade. And, as a further apology, he brought two desserts on the house.
Highlights of Assaggi Mozzarella Bar
4838 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda
301-951-1988
www.assaggirestaurant.com
Open
Sunday through Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Prices
Lunch: Pasta $9 to $12; Entrees $14 to $17.
Dinner: Pasta $16 to $18; Entrees $19 to $29.
Mozzarella bar: One cheese and two condiments $12; three cheeses and four condiments $17.
Reservations
Strongly suggested for weekends.
Wine List
Mostly Italian and Californian. About 20 wines by the glass; bottles listed by price range ($30-$60 and higher).
Favorite Dishes
Mozzarella bar (cheese, condiments and cured meats), grilled dorade (seasonal), chicken cacciatore.
Favorite Desserts
Buffalo ricotta cheesecake, homemade cookies, Italian doughnuts.
Good Place to Go For
Wine and cheese, then head for entrees elsewhere.
Parking/Getting There
Valet parking $7 Tuesday through Saturday, street and lot parking, Bethesda Metro.
Carole Sugarman is a former food writer for The Washington Post.