Olio e Più swings open in D.C. this week. | Rachel Paraoan The famed NY import serves carbonara and limoncello alongside lush greenery and gilded art NYC-born Olio e Più, a sprawling spot to sit and sample Italy’s many regional cuisines and wines in one place, makes its anticipated D.C. debut this week. The charming new restaurant joins its fancy French sibling La Grande Boucherie, which made a grand entrance upstairs in the same Federal-American National Bank Building this spring (699 14th Street NW). Situated on the prime downtown corner of 14th and G Streets NW, the 120-seat dining room near the White House evokes a grand villa nestled in the Italian countryside. Olio e Più swings open on Saturday, October 12, with daily dinner service to start. Lunch and weekend brunch will soon follow (11 a.m. to 11 p.m.). The original Olio e Più debuted in 2010 in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, marking Group Hospitality’s first-ever restaurant. Nearly 15 years later, founder Emil Stefkov brings the upscale, elegant brand to the nation’s capital with a menu by its Italian executive chef Danilo Galati. Chicago welcomed its own editions of La Grande Boucherie and Olio e Più in the past year. Rachel Paraoan A sun-drenched setting of starters, mains, and drinks at Olio e Più. Rachel Paraoan A lengthy open kitchen sits in the back. Rachel Paraoan Executive chef Danilo Galati oversaw Vinaiolo restaurant in Munich, Germany, which won a 2000 Michelin star under his watch. Charcuterie and cheese arrives with homemade focaccia, followed by a crudo bar, salads, soups, and antipasti like octopus carpaccio or roasted veal eye round surrounded in tonnato sauce and crispy capers. Pastas are all handmade on-site from its shiny open kitchen in the back. “That’s really unique because a lot of conventional Italian restaurants do dried versus fresh,” general manager Jeremiah Brooks tells Eater. Galati’s Neapolitan roots shine in a bowl of pesto pasta that gets a textural twist from potatoes and green beans. Fusilli slathered in a wild boar-pork ragu swings on the rich, savory side. Brooks is a big fan of carbonara, and its yolky version showcases Italian guanciale and pancetta. “Personally this is the best carbonara in memory — I love my cured porks,” he says. Rachel Paraoan Spaghetti alla carbonara at Olio e Più. Pasta parlors continue to pop open around D.C., but the downtown corridor hasn’t seen a fresh one in a while. Decades-old standby Tosca doesn’t sit too far from Olio e Più. Moving onto the meaty mains, there’s Milanese chicken with honey mustard mayo as well as entrees starring salmon, ribeye, and branzino. New-to-D.C. dishes include red snapper crudo and mushroom polenta topped with lamb meatballs, plus seasonal vegetables sourced from local farms. Each kitchen cooks with luxe Italian olive oils like Jewel of Tuscany and 1923 Sogno Toscano. The growing hospitality group is big on bringing the outdoors in, and this location is no different. A vast assortment of potted plants pervade the 2,600-square-foot space. Billowing palms, rubber plants, Bromeliads, and fiddle leaf figs are each on their own feeding and watering schedule. “For us that’s a huge piece — we want [each space] to feel organic in nature, not icy or cold,” says Brooks. Plus, “plants do a great job of mitigating noise.” Rachel Paraoan Floral motifs reminiscent of vibrant Italian gardens grace the upholstery. Wine also follows the food’s lead, traipsing all over Italy across its opening list of 16 options by the glass and 50 by the bottle. Producers in play include Michele Chiarlo and Tenuta San Guido, along with lesser-known, biodynamic, and organic varietals. Italian liqueurs like amaro, grappa, and limoncello make a prominent appearance behind a bar splashed with antiqued mirrors. One idea is to potentially make its own limoncello on-site in D.C. The pewter bar top is a company calling card across the portfolio. Its 1920s-era landmark building, originally designed by Art Nouveau-era French architect Jules Gabriel Henri de Sibour, got a pricey overhaul over the past year. The Group’s Japanese-style Omakase Room, scheduled to open next spring, will round out its planned restaurant trifecta on the same D.C. block. Rachel Paraoan The 20-seat pewter bar upon entry joins a marbled perch overlooking the dining room. Rachel Paraoan Founder Emil Stefkov and Julien Legeard of Legeard Studio put together the look. Period paintings of still-life fruit, lush Italian landscapes, and Victorian-era portraits add an air of age to its newest dining room. Antique chandeliers cast a warm glow over the dining room, joined by vintage Italian posters and a curated art collection cast in regal gold frames. A 30-seat patio running along its G Street exterior won’t to go live until later, though a lineup of leafy plants are already outside looking in. Rachel Paraoan Limewashed walls impart a timeless patina. Rachel Paraoan Bright bruschetta comes slathered with creamy burrata.