After opening a few weeks ago, Josephine’s Italian Kitchen is helping elevate a once-sleepy dining strip on Columbia Pike with an array of pizzas, pastas, gelato, and New York strip steaks.
With Josephine’s (2501 Columbia Pike, Arlington, Virginia), co-owner Tony Wagner has added to a growing restaurant portfolio in the area. He also runs 1-year-old German beer garden BrickHaus and Twisted Vines Bistro & Bottleshop, which recently converted its entire dinner menu to small plates.
His new 90-seat restaurant is named after his Sicilian grandmother, with a bolognese based on her original recipe. Additional offerings from chef Tom Crenshaw, who was most recently cooking at Paolo’s in Georgetown (now High Street Cafe), include crispy goat cheese-stuffed eggplant, tuna tartare, braised lamb shank, wild mushroom and shrimp risottos, and swordfish. A 12-seat private dining room will be dedicated to future tasting dinners.
There’s also six Italian wines on draft and a gamut of Italian spirits, including amaro and limoncello.
Here’s a look at the opening menu at Josephine’s, which is open daily for dinner service starting at 4 p.m.:
Dinner by Tierney Plumb on Scribd