Nearly three years after D.C. star chef Mike Friedman and his team announced plans to open Aventino and AP Pizza Shop in Bethesda, the restaurants are set to open in the middle of this month, according to spokesperson Molly Hippolitus.
Aventino, an “airy” and “vibrant” two-level restaurant, will serve Roman fare reflecting Friedman’s Italian-Jewish background, Hippolitus said in an email to MoCo360. AP Pizza Shop will be a casual takeout counter located adjacent to Aventino at 4747 Bethesda Ave.
Friedman, along with Colin McDonough, Gareth Croke and Mike O’Malley — the team in charge of Washington, D.C., restaurants All-Purpose Pizzeria, The Red Hen and Boundary Stone Public House — announced in April 2021 that they planned to open the two restaurants.
The opening date was originally supposed to be in mid-2022, but it was pushed back to early-winter 2023 and then to spring 2023. Hippolitus’ email did not address the cause of the delays.
Hippolitus described Aventino as “…an airy and vibrant 130-seat bi-level restaurant that will showcase traditional Roman cuisine with nods to the Jewish ghetto neighborhood and chef Mike’s Italian-Jewish background.”
In a 2022 interview with Bethesda Magazine, Friedman said he grew up in a Jewish household in an Italian neighborhood in New Jersey. During his first trip to Rome, he found out that Jews lived in Aventino until the mid-1500s when they were forced into a cramped Jewish ghetto, Friedman said in the interview.
One dish that is inspired by this history: Carciofi “alla Giudia,” which consists of fried artichokes in the Jewish style with mint and salsa verde.
“[The Romans] gave the Jews artichokes because no one else wanted them. They were too difficult to clean and eat,” Friedman said.
He said that a salad with fried and marinated zucchini and crispy veal sweetbreads with truffle fonduta have Jewish roots as well.
According to Hippolitus, the Roman eatery will also serve Suppli “alla Romana,” (risotto fritters with tomato, chicken brodo, mozzarella and pecorino), Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe with pecorino romano, parmigiano and black pepper, and Pappardelle “al Stracotto” with slow-braised short rib and oxtail ragu, sofrito rosemary, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
“All of our extruded pastas [spaghetti, ziti, fusilli, etc.] are homemade,” Friedman said in the interview. “We don’t dry them. We refrigerate them first, then freeze them for a day. This way, they cook to al dente in a minute and don’t retain a lot of water. And we don’t salt the pasta water.”
Also, the restaurant will serve classic cocktails, including a variety of spritzes and negronis and a large Italian-leaning wine list, which can be enjoyed at the “stunning” green marble bar, Hippolitus said.
Next door, the pizza joint will be “a love letter to the pizzerias of Chef Friedman’s youth in New York and New Jersey, which will offer deck oven slices, as well as innovative pizzas and Italian-American antipasti,” Hippolitus said.
Friedman, in the 2022 interview, said the eatery would be: “Coney Island meets Jersey Shore.”
It will also serve Italian coffee and pastries in the morning and paninis and salads for lunch.
Hippolitus said that the grand opening date should be released next week.