One of my resolutions for the new year was to cull my digital photos. One of the benefits of this is seeing my travel shots. It’s also the saddest part. I miss eating in different countries. And my photos of dining in Northern Italy stung perhaps the most. While NoVA doesn’t yet have a purveyor of the canederli I so sorely miss from South Tyrol or the wild boar braised with chocolate and wild blueberries I devoured in Florence, I did find a Milanese that helped ease my ache for its city of origin.
Urbano Modern Italian opened quietly last fall with scaled back service to suit the caution dictated by the pandemic. Basically, it’s a takeout counter with very good Italian food, including homemade pasta, piadini and panini, and some lusciously meaty entrees. A heated, covered patio provides a disarmingly romantic setting for dining on a plate instead of from a takeout container.
The pork Milanese is a slab of meat fried so it’s crisp outside but still juicy within. It’s served over crunchy, salty potatoes and topped with arugula that’s dressed with lemon and shaved Parmesan. It’s a far lighter version than I’ve enjoyed with risotto in Italy, and I was grateful for that–when I’m not traveling, I don’t have time to wander for miles and burn off those calories.
The veal osso buco also left me feeling less stuffed than expected. The shank could have used a few more minutes in the pot to become fork tender, but the dish, which my dining partner described as “Italian pot roast” is still satisfying in the hands of chef Bill Downes. The white bean stew that accompanies the pile of meat is dotted with grape tomatoes, which brighten the flavor amiably.
Yes, it will still be awhile before I’m back to dining in Italy, but until then, there’s Urbano. // 21430 Epicerie Plaza, Sterling
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