:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61864511/Grilled_Branzino.1540228496.jpg)
Osteria Costa, a casino-based Italian restaurant specializing in dishes from the Amalfi Coast, lands at MGM National Harbor this Wednesday, October 24. The newcomer in the glass-encased atrium level fills a gap left behind by the January closure of celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s attempted D.C. venture.
Osteria Costa, the opulent facility’s first foray into Italian fine dining, offers gamblers and guests a range of spirits, whole branzino, and an array of Neapolitan-style pizzas from its hearth oven.
Some of the more enticing-sounding starters ($12 to $19) are stracchino cheese-filled flat breads made from scratch, meatballs mixed with whipped ricotta, and a seafood salad that features squid and poached shrimp. Pastas ($21 to $28) include rigatoni alla norma — a best seller at Osteria’s existing branch at the Mirage in Las Vegas — with eggplant, garlic, and pomodoro sauce; fettuccine with Neapolitan beef ragu and shaved pecorino cheese; and lasagna with house-made Italian sausage. Limoncello made on-site is integrated into a spin on classic rum baba cake.
Here’s a first look at its opening menu:
Osteria Costa MGMNH Menu by Tierney Plumb on Scribd
Las Vegas cooking vet Beau Williams will lead the kitchen within the Oxon Hill, Maryland, casino (101 MGM National Avenue) . Williams was most recently the executive chef at the Michael Mina seafood spot inside the iconic Las Vegas Bellagio, another MGM property.
D.C. also got a Southern Italian-inspired destination this month with the debut of Officina’s second-floor restaurant by chef Nicholas Stefanelli on the Wharf.
Osteria Costa will open daily at 5 p.m. Eater will have exclusive photos of its design, which was renovated from a short-lived life as Marcus, later this week.
Samuelsson, who operates several eateries in Harlem, Sweden, and London, was one of a handful of celebrity chefs to open restaurants in tandem with MGM National Harbor’s splashy arrival nearly two years ago. The others include Voltaggio Brothers Steak House from Top Chef alumni and sibling chefs Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, and burgeoning chain Fish from restaurateur José Andrés.
