
3

"In the midst of the Capital One Center's glass-and-metal towers, I found a warm little piece of Italy with the debut of Stellina Pizzeria's newest and largest DMV outpost on Tuesday, April 30 at 1610 Capital One Drive in Tysons. The 5,000-square-foot restaurant centers on a 2,000-square-foot commissary kitchen that will supply fresh pizza, pasta, and sauces to all five Stellina locations; prep begins at 6 a.m. to make dough for 200 pies per day for each locale, and the commissary produces hundreds of bags of pasta as well as meatballs and arancini so chef Matteo Venini can remain hands-on with the food even as the group grows. I appreciated the owners' intentional, hospitality-focused approach — Antonio Matarazzo says he and Venini often visit tables — and the site feels family-friendly, with a patio and fountain where kids can play while parents watch. The location also includes a Stellina Bottega marketplace selling the olive oil, fresh pastas, and sauces used in the kitchens (so you can buy the tonnarelli, cacio e pepe sauce, and pecorino Romano and make their cacio e pepe at home in under 10 minutes). Menu highlights that I wouldn't miss in-house include the Paccheri All’Avellinese (a beef-and-veal ragu adapted from Matarazzo's grandmother’s recipe), the Chitarra di Pesce with homemade squid-ink chitarra pasta and mixed seafood, the Amatriciana pie cooked in a custom Marra Forni oven, and the Carciofo all Romana — fried artichokes with smoked mayo; dinner service starts at 4 p.m. and runs to 10 p.m." - Lulu Chang