In a sometimes forgotten corner of the Union Market district, a new fish-obsessed Italian restaurant just opened on the ground floor of the Gantry apartment building. Tarì Trattoria debuted on Thursday, June 19, with a simple menu of dry-aged and whole cooked fish that are also served semi-raw, cooked down in rich broths, or distilled into delightful sauces (300 Morse Street NE).
Unlike its low-key predecessor, Marcellino Pane & Vino, Tarì is announcing its presence loudly, with a bold black-and-white, two-sided sign, double the patio seating, and outdoor speakers that will play anything but Italian music. Francesco Amodeo, founder of D.C.’s acclaimed amaro producer Don Cicco & Figli, is behind the intimate trattoria, which he promises will be “small but good” (with 32 seats inside and 40 spots outside).
The sun-drenched trattoria interior. Rey Lopez/Tarì Trattoria
The modernized Amalfi Coast recipes at Tarì all come from his childhood in the small town of Furore and kitchens across Southern Italy. His father worked in an uncle’s restaurant in Positano, his grandfather owned restaurants, and his grandmother was the executive chef at a hotel for over 40 years. He entered the wine industry at the tender age of 14 and became well-versed in the food and beverage industry and a master sommelier by the time he came to D.C. in 2005. While he’s been building his Italian liqueur empire (which you can try at the Don Cicco & Figli distillery in Ivy City), he’s always dreamt of opening a restaurant.
“The concept itself has been for like, 20 years in my head,” he explained. He pulled together this version of Tarì within six months of fellow Italian natives Antonio Matarazzo and Matteo Venini (Stellina Pizzeria) telling him the space would become available.
Owner Amodeo at his fish-focused restaurant. Rey Lopez/Tarì Trattoria
“It will bring you to the coast and makes you appreciate fish like you have not experienced before,” says Amodeo. The Northeast neighborhood is undergoing a seafood boom as of late, which includes newly opened Cordelia Fishbar a few blocks away.
Fish availability changes almost daily because of the process of dry-aging and seasonality, with whole fish delivered on ice packs and completely processed in-house. Fish are butchered, scaled, and divided across multiple dishes, using up about 95 percent of each fish.
“We’re sourcing from Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, North Africa, we do the mid-Atlantic. So it really depends on the freshness,” says Amodeo. While the menu will constantly be switched up, three fish will consistently be on the menu in some form: kingfish, hiramasa (yellowtail amberjack), and turbot (a flatfish), plus stargazers as often as they can be found. But his personal fish purveyor is looking for more rare fish, like scorpion fish, sea robins, and red mullets, varieties that you don’t see at most seafood-focused restaurants in the city. He balks at branzino, salmon, and rockfish, and is adamant that working with specialty fish can actually be less expensive than bulk buying “regular fish.”
Two of the three dry-aging cases, there are at least two more on the way. Rey Lopez/Tarì Trattoria
The short menu is comprised of three appetizers, three pastas, three mains, and three desserts. A “scarpetta” bread service is also available, which is sourdough from James Beard-nominated Pluma Bakery (right down the street) with sugar-drenched fennel and olive oils meant for cleaning your plate and cleansing your palate between courses.
The seven fishes pasta, called Oro Rosso. Rey Lopez/Tarì Trattoria
Opening appetizers include a tartare with lightly seared black-spotted seabream and a smoky sauce made in-house from concentrated canned anchovies. The pastas and mains reflect this commitment to showcasing lesser known seafood, including a show-stopping pasta made with seven different fishes to allude to the Italian-American feast of seven fishes on Christmas Eve. Four different fish and fish bones are cooked down in a tomato sauce and served with calamarata pasta, then a second sauce with octopus, langoustine, and cuttlefish is poured on top tableside. Rotating mains include an opening special of kingfish served with escarole, anchovies, capers, and an herb-filled sauce called “salmoriglio.” There are also two meat-based dish on the menu, with rabbit comprising a simple ziti dish and cooked down with potatoes, sweet peppers, and marjoram for a main.
The most charming part of Tarì is that the restaurant is built for amateur fish-lovers. Symbols on the menu designate what is dry-aged or fresh, and Amodeo wants to create an inviting space for experimental fish orders. To open up diners to trying something new, fish will not only be displayed in three dry-aging coolers (with three more coolers on the way) but in a custom-made display case at the bar with ice cold coils. Fresh fish will stare up at diners, daring them to order them cooked whole.
Rey Lopez/Tarì Trattoria
Rey Lopez/Tarì Trattoria
Rey Lopez/Tarì Trattoria
Desserts include a lemon sponge cake with candied fruit that Amodeo describes as “like a different leches cake, almost, but lemony” and a lesser-known dried eggplant dessert dipped in chocolate ganache and topped with preserved fruits and almonds. Of course, there will be plenty of cocktails that highlight Amodeo’s Italian herbal liqueurs, Don Ciccio & Figli, plus classic spritzes, Negroni, and a fennel-spiked gin martini.
Beyond the specially curated fish or family favorite recipes, you can see thoughtful touches throughout the restaurant that are inspired by Amodeo’s life. The font on the menu is actually his handwriting and the logo is from a pasta cake shop he had planned to open in Union Market before the pandemic, representing the spiraling vortex symbol that’s seen on plenty of ceramics around the Amalfi Coast. Of course, ceramic shops in Italy made custom olive oil bottles, shot glasses for limoncello, and salt bowls for the restaurant.
Tarì Trattoria is open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. Reservations are available on Resy.