Nurturing my inner... proved me wrong

You've heard me say for the hundredth time that to my disappointment, I can't get good Italian food around here.  I have been at a loss to report really fine Mediterranean fare south of New England.  But I enjoy being proved wrong.  (Um, well, only in some cases.)

It's a tiny place that you may have seen and never paid any mind to.  At first, I walked right by it and didn't see it.  (Seeing as it was 100 degrees out that day, it was particularly unfortunate for me to have dragged my mom up and down the hill until it caught my eye.  To my defense, a truck was parked in front of it.)  Located straight across from the shops at Georgetown, where I recommend you park - Filomena Ristorante.

Quaint exterior.

It looks very small, from the elevation.

Seemed so tiny from the outside.

But once you enter, you walk down the stairs and it's a good-sized place.  I will admit it's a bit dark for my taste, but that's because it's underground.  There are some windows that do let in a bit of natural light, but they had plants in front of them that I wish they'd relocate.  However, I didn't come here for the winning decor.

Typical restaurant interior, nothing fancy
to report.

Oh, but the food!  Again I let my mom choose and we went with a meat dish and a pasta dish.  The chicken parmesan was fantastic!  I mean, really.  Right there in Georgetown.  Thin pieces of chicken breast, lightly breaded and covered in authentic tasting sauce and as seen below, gooey mozzarella.  Killer.

Yep, looks like the real deal I'm used to.

The other dish was their signature lasagna.  Layers of noodles, meat sauce and ricotta.  Topped with, once again, melted mozzarella cheese.  (And fresh basil.)  This thing was the size of a brick!  By the way, they make their own pasta.

Doilies always crack me up!

Mom and I split one piece of the chicken parm, so each had a quarter of it, and we also quartered the lasagna.  I mean, who can eat these portions?  Pro wrestlers?  I took the remaining half of the two dishes home and froze them both.  They heated up perfectly later that week.  I will admit part of our motivation for not over stuffing ourselves, as tempting as it was, was to save room for dessert.  They make homemade cheesecake on their premises.  Several varieties.  Very light and creamy.

And they took the time to do creme anglaise
art with chocolate and raspberry!

I guess I can no longer say there is no authentically good Italian food in the DC metro area.  Filomena's has proved me so very wrong!  And it's in a great location.  Because after we stuffed ourselves at lunch, we needed to walk around the shops right across the street to digest and work off some of the (no, I'm not going to venture a guess that will shock me) calories.  In an air conditioned place!  Phew!  I might not recommend that you go on a day that it's 100 degrees outside, but other than that, I have no real complaints.  I'll always choose a place that focuses on making amazing food and spends less time worrying about the decor than the reverse.