Last Saturday, Amy and I returned to Spezie with my parents. My parents love Spezie (as do Amy and I). We wanted to celebrate the release of the new Washingtonian issue with the DCFoodies.com plug as well as some other positive things that have happened for me at work lately. Lots of times when my parents come, we'll just go to Cafe Ole or Two Amys, but we wanted to have a special night out.

As usual, we didn't need reservations (even though they do take them). Spezie is located downtown, and most restaurants downtown don't get that crowded on the weekend. For starters I ordered a half portion of the porcini mushroom and ricotta ravioli with pistacio creme sauce. I can't express how much I love this pasta dish! Amy had the watercress caeser salad which she enjoyed as usual. One thing worth noting is that the dressing has changed slightly for the better and tastes more like an authentic caeser dressing now (You could taste the anchovy flavor). For entrees, I had one of the specials which was a ribeye in a red wine reduction sauce. The cut of meat was tender and cooked just as I ordered it - medium rare. I found the reduction sauce a bit salty, but that was the only thing remotely bad about it. Amy had a full order of the bucatini my father had for an appetizer and she enjoyed it as well. I had a taste of it, and I thought it was a bit salty as well. I think it was the pancetta which is a pretty salty meat to begin with. My mother had the same thing as Amy minus the pancetta and it was not salty at all. The spicy tomato sauce is excellent at Spezie.

For dessert Amy and I ordered the creme brule with Gran Marnier which I have now nicknamed "sex on a plate". My parents had the fourless chocolate cake which was pretty good, but not as good as our creme brule in my opinion. After we had eaten dessert, owner and executive chef Enzo Livia came by to say hi and we discussed food and the DC dining scene. He brought us out some limoncello for an after dinner drink. I usually don't like after dinner drinks because they are too sweet, but the limoncello really hit the spot. To say the least, we'll be ordering some on our own the next time we eat at an Italian restaurant.

Once again, Spezie was everything that we've come to expect over the years - great food, impeccable, friendly service and an overall wonderful night out. Spezie always provides a spotless dining experience. It's still an semi-expensive night out for us. For the four of us, the total bill came to about $220 before tip. We did however order a $50 bottle of wine which is not typical of us, but hey...we were celebrating!

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