The Room
Franco Nuschese opened Cafe Milano in Georgetown in 1992 — the Italian-American power-dining institution that became Washington's most-recognized political-class dining room. Thirty-three years later the room is one of DC's longest-running fine-dining institutions and a regular destination for senators, cabinet officials, and visiting heads of state.
The dining room is unchanged from the early-1990s renovation: white-tablecloth, leather banquettes, framed photographs of political-class regulars on the walls.
The Food
The menu runs Italian-American classic. The pasta programme — hand-rolled, seasonal-rotating — handles the menu's centre. The Italian-American secondi, the wood-grilled bistecca, and the seasonal Italian seafood handle the menu's wider draws.
Wine programme is heavily Italian. Cocktails are classic-Italian. Service is the long-running Italian-American family-restaurant brigade book.
Best Occasion Fit
Close a Deal: Cafe Milano is Washington's most-recognized political-class deal-dinner address.
Impress Clients: International visitors recognise Cafe Milano by the kind of name-recognition that does not need to be explained.
Birthday: Birthdays at Cafe Milano are warm, Italian-American, political-class affairs the room has hosted for over three decades.