Chef Domenico Cornacchia Celebrates Chestnut Season at All Three Restaurants

Chestnut fans have only a few months to wait as Executive Chef/Owner Domenico Cornacchia of the authentic Italian neighborhood favorites Assaggi Osteria and Assaggi Mozzarella Bar and the French oasis, Bistro Vivant with Restaurant Partner Aykan Demiroglu, are excited to celebrate their seasonal return.  The three restaurants will feature three weeks of special chestnut dishes from October 7th through October 29th.  The festive menu items will be available a la carte and offered during both lunch and dinner service. 

The chestnut has been a food staple and an icon of health in southern Europe since 400 B.C., and the symbolic nut is welcomed every fall with culinary creativity.  Throughout the month of October, villages in the south of France, Switzerland, and northern Italy draw hundreds of thousands of visitors for their chestnuts festivals, where chestnuts are roasted, candied, boiled, or made into bread or sugar. 

The celebration begins at Bistro Vivant in McLean, Virginia from October 7th through the 21st.  Here the featured French menu, prepared by Chef de Cuisine Driss Zahidi, will highlight Chestnut Bisque with crispy ‘jambon de Bayonne’ priced at $12; Fresh Foie Gras with chestnut and Sauternes which is priced at $21, as well as Grilled Quail with chestnut risotto for $26.

Then, between October 22nd and October 29th, Assaggi Osteria in McLean and Assaggi Mozzarella Bar in Bethesda, will be offering guests an Italian menu showcasing Puree of Chestnut Soup with crispy guanciale and pecorino cheese priced at $9; Tuscan Castagnacchio with rosemary and pine nuts priced at $11; Wild Boar Sausage with Chestnut and Porcini Mushroom Ragu, priced at $14 for an appetizer and $19 for an entrée portion; Fresh Chestnut Tagliatelle Pasta with Rabbit Ragu, priced at $12 for an appetizer and $18 for an entrée, and Roasted Quail wrapped with pancetta and stuffed with Italian sausage and chestnuts for $26.