Maialino Mare Brings Seafood’s Bounty to The Yards
By Nicole L. Gill, CouncilMag.com
Breakfast at Maialino Mare is a good way to start the day. In addition to the traditional fare that graces the menu – eggs and bacon with an Italian flair – there are a few twists. Ricotta pancakes, anyone?
The ricotta cheese inside the pancakes was a welcome surprise. There was a sweetness and airiness to the pancakes that was unexpected. And the apple-orange jam that accompanied the pancakes was a delight.
Ricotta Pancakes
Maialino Mare, which opened in January in The Yards in southeast Washington, D.C., is the latest restaurant from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. The New York-based group is no stranger to the DMV. It is behind the Shake Shack burger chain. But Maialino Mare is the company’s first fine-dining restaurant in the city.
Executive Chef Rose Noel first joined USHG in 2014 at the original Maialino in New York.
Photo courtesy of USHG
Executive Chef Rose Noel will guide the restaurant’s Roman-style cooking with a focus on seafood pastas and fish. According to its website, the restaurant will use local and seasonal ingredients. Noel joined the restaurant group in 2014, where she cooked at the original Maialino in New York.
“Now we’re excited to introduce Washingtonians to (Maialino’s) brand new cousin – Maialino Mare – which will express that same Roman spirit, but with an even greater selection of seafood on the menu,” said Meyer in a summer news release announcing the restaurant.
Maialino Mare is the new restaurant from Union Square Hospitality Group at 221 Tingey St., SE.
Maialino Mare is located on the ground floor of the new Thompson Washington D.C. hotel. In addition to the full-service restaurant, Union Square Hospitality Group also is operating Anchovy Social, the hotel’s rooftop bar.
Back inside Maialino Mare, the natural light from the large windows filled the dining room. The checkered tablecloths lend a quaint, old-world vibe to the interior with a mixture of booths and tables.
The food exudes a glorious bounty. The brodetto, seen at top, is a seafood stew with white wine and parsley. The copious amount of seafood visible in the dish is a welcome treat for seafood lovers.
The frittata bianca is topped with arugula and filled with mushrooms and pecorino cheese.
For breakfast, the frittata bianca is full of goodness – egg whites, spring onion, mushrooms, pecorino fulvi and topped with arugula. The pastries appear light and fluffy. Who wouldn’t enjoy some carb goodness?
In addition to the food, one other thing stands out – there’s no tipping. The menus let you know up front: “Our team participates in a revenue share. We are a non-tipping restaurant.” It can be a bit disarming, but wouldn’t it be nice to end all meals knowing you don’t have to pull out a calculator? We think so.
Maialino Mare
221 Tingey St., SE
Washington, DC 20003
