It’s the Details That Make the Northern Italian Cooking at Ama Stand Out — Resy

Polpette Mondeghili

Don’t expect red sauced meatballs when you order Ama’s version of polpette. When a first time-diner comes to Ama, they usually hear a disclaimer.

“I like to say they are ugly but incredibly delicious,” Hellrigl says. “They’re basically these little fried things to start your meal and whet your appetite.  And what’s really cool about the way that we’ve done it here is, yes, we’re using the imported mortadella, but then we’re also using pasture-raised beef and pork coming from a regenerative farm.”

Both the sustainable sourcing and mindfulness to Italian-specific ingredients is the attention to detail that separates Ama from a typical neighborhood red sauce joint. And the meatballs may be among the finest in D.C., served flattened, not round, and oozing with juiciness inside and meant to be a subtle nod to Milan’s cuisine and breaded dishes like vitello a la Milanese.

“So, when people feel so inclined to be like, this isn’t Italian, you know, I challenge them to understand that if you literally flew to this exact part of Italy, this is what you would have,” Hellrigl says.