Floriana
Italian restaurant · Dupont Circle ·
Lasagna, pastas, and weekly specials in an intimate bistro
Lasagna, pastas, and weekly specials in an intimate bistro
"Dupont’s spaghetti stalwart loves a good holiday theme (its “Kamala la-la-la-la la-la-la-la” one got a visit from the then-VP elect back in 2021). This year is all about Sophia Loren. A massive evergreen positioned prominently near its streetery is adorned with images of the Italian actress over the years, along with cheese graters, Italian flags, and dough rollers. Its friends from nearby Little Gay Pub, which is also all dolled up for the holidays, designed the tree for Floriana." - Tierney Plumb
"This white-tableclothed standby in Dupont has refined pastas like pappardelle with ragu, burrata ravioli with mushrooms and spinach, lamb gnocchi, and a tortelloni with tenderloin. Floriana has a fan in the White House, too: Vice President Kamala Harris famously swung by right before Inauguration in 2021." - Tierney Plumb, Mekita Rivas
"Dupont’s longstanding Italian restaurant went all in on a “Kamala la-la-la-la la-la-la-la” Christmas theme in November 2019, decking out its pandemic-era outdoor dining tents with cut-outs and posters of the VP-elect. In January, Harris made a real-life visit with the soon-to-be Second Gentleman for takeout." - Tierney Plumb
"Looking for something plain and carb-y? This basic pasta dish, prepared with just garlic and olive oil, is available via delivery through Floriana’s website." - Missy Frederick
"I find Floriana to be a long-running Dupont Circle Italian pasta place that has decorated its outdoor dining tents and a 17th Street NW Christmas tree with photos and cutouts of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris since November; on January 4 Harris and Doug Emhoff arrived in plain black masks to support the 41-year-old restaurant, take a selfie with the still-standing tree festooned with American flags, blue ornaments, and cutouts of Harris and President-elect Joe Biden, and urge support for small businesses. The restaurant embraced a “Kamala la-la-la-la la-la-la-la” theme—with a Harris cutout in the star position of the tree and seven posters hung from the sides of the expanded streetside dining tents—and owner Jamie Branda says bar manager Dito Sevilla “was the genius behind this and all Floriana trees.” Branda wrote that the Vice President-elect specifically asked after the staff, discussed cooking and how families’ mealtimes have shifted, and that the second gentleman “makes a good chicken” (Branda even offered him shifts in the kitchen); she also said Harris’s visit was given less than an hour’s notice. Several posters were briefly removed after heavy rainstorms destroyed tents, and the photos went back up when new tents arrived; the tree also included ornaments with Melania Trump’s “Be Best” slogan." - Gabe Hiatt
