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Located on the corner of Shirlington Village’s “Restaurant Row”
Extra Virgin restaurant offers exquisite traditional Tuscan Cuisine with a modern flair. Extra Virgin boast a truly imaginative menu which is served in a unique environment of modern elegance.
As the name suggests, an olive oil theme is prevalent throughout the establishment, and their special blend of Kalamata infused olive oil.
Explore Extra Virgin if you haven’t already done so, or if it’s been a while, please come by and try their new menu and great service, as it will certainly make your dining experience a pleasure. Their 3 course pre-fixed meals are loaded with mouthwatering combinations of their premiere dishes.
Start off with the Lentil and Escarole Soup, with homemade sausage, and then delve into the scrumptious Ossobuco or amazing Lasagna everyone craves, once tried. Plus, save room for the decadent desserts, such as their signature Tiramisu. Don’t miss this opportunity to sample their world class cuisine at an amazing price!
Prices are $20.08 per person for lunch and $30.08 per person for dinner. Reservations are recommended but feel free to walk in anytime. Prices do not include beverage, tax or gratuity. Restaurant Week runs January 14th – 20th. Call 703-998-8474 for reservations today.
 OnTap
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR YOUR OFF TIME
JULY 2005 VOL. 7 ISSUE 9
F R E E !
New, notable, no longer
Extra Virgin
What better way to plot your future restaurant than by working as a realtor for restauranteurs? That’s just what Shary Thur did, and what led to Shirlington’s new Extra Virgin, a place where olives and their offspring are taken very seriously.
The upscale restaurant carries their olive oil theme throughout the modern Italian restaurant. Step inside off Shirlington’s main drag, and you’ll encounter a lush interior with luxe furnishings that soothe: high-backed banquettes, dark wood, rich earth-toned accents and fabrics, and large format original artwork. The space is the previous home of Toro Tapas, which closed earlier this year.
Executive chef Daniele Catalani, formerly at Galileo, prepares the culinary treats here, which include fresh pastas, stuffed focaccia sandwiches, pizzas, and contemporary takes on traditional Italian main courses like roasted veal and whole baked fish. Lunch, dinner and late night menus are available (no brunch plans here) anywhere in the restaurant: at the 60-seat lounger/bar area, in the 180-seat dining room, or on the 30-seat patio.
Bar manager Jerry Gatine comes to Extra Virgin from Café Milano and Oceanaire, and devised and exciting beverage menu that boasts wines from some 120 wineries, champagnes, and a playful array of unique martinis. Innocence, for example, is a blend of Grey Goose and rosewater topped with a rose petal: the Extra Virgin Dirty Martini, conversely, is a classic vodka and olive juice martini with six bleu cheese-stuffed olives. Mix with live jazz-on weekends-for full enjoyment.
(4053 S. 28th Street, Arlington, VA, 703-998-8474, extravirginva.com)
FRIDAYJULY 29, 2005
The Examiner
WASHINGTON
Dining Out
Virgin territory
Net critics way off base with Extra Virgin
BY MARTY HEGER
Especial to the Examiner
As they walked out of Extra Virgin, two women turned around to report that their lunch had been “good, really good.”
The lunch in question happened to be the sautéed lemon sole with almonds and mushrooms ($12) followed by a shared tiramisu, but after Extra Virgin had a rocky start with a few Web commentators, the spontaneous accolades must have been welcome.
They were also well-deserved.
True, then Internet complaints were mostly about service – “inat-tentive, wrong dishes arriving at the table, waits, etc,”- but any negative comments might have deterred prospective patrons from trying this attractive newcomer to Shirlington’s busy restaurant scene.
Extra Virgin’s menu is imaginatively, modern Italian, somewhat different at lunch and dinner in both choices and prices, and changes frequently.
The lunch menu features the lunch-only pizzas, with recent choices that included prosciutto, arugula, mozzarella and shaved parmesan ($12), tomato, pancetta, mushrooms and sausage ($15), and a vegetarian pizza topped with tomato, eggplant, zucchini, red onion and mushrooms ($12). The eventual selection was the quattro formaggi ($13), with mozzarella, gorgonzola grana padano and mentasio cheeses on a thin, crisp crust. The resulting pizza had an Alfredo-like topping decadent and good.
Among the pastas, garganelli pasta with bits of Swiss chard and pieces of walnut tossed in a gorgonzola sauce ($11) was also slightly decadent and almost - but not quite – too rich to finish. It, too was very good. Other temptations were linguini tossed with a tomato, grouper and swordfish ragu ($12) and fettuccine with veal and porcini mushroom ragu ($11).
IF YOU GO
EXTRA VIRGIN, 4053 S. 28th St., Arlington, Va. Phone: 703-998-8474. Hours: 11 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and 5 to 10:30 p.m. daily. Major credit cards accepted
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