The new tortelli dish reinvents the meaty ossobuco milenese. | Nina Palazzolo The acclaimed chef introduces creative spins on stalwart dishes and new bites at the Italian spot he helped open in 2013. Chef Matt Adler returns to where his D.C. culinary career began over a decade ago, leading a dinner menu refresh at Osteria Morini that debuts today, Thursday, November 21. The dependable Italian spot in Navy Yard introduces a new cicchetti section with nine small bites, reinvented pasta dishes, and North Italian entrees. Adler reconnected with Ahmass Fakahany, the CEO of NYC-based Altamarea Group, last year during Osteria’s 10 year anniversary, leading to the creation of the year-old Cucina Morini in the restaurant group’s former Nicoletta Italian Kitchen and adjoining Brew’d cafe space. Now, with Cucina serving Southern Italian food, Adler is reinvigorating Osteria’s Northern dishes as his personal project with two locations, Caruso’s Grocery, focuses on Italian American classics, allowing the chef to try his hand at multiple takes on Italian cuisine. This reinvigorated menu reflects that divide and allows Adler to exercise “a little bit more creative freedom.” Nina Palazzolo Adler puts the final dusting of parmesan on a collection of new pasta dishes. “After 11 years, you kind of need a little bit of new energy in it, if you will… kind of redoing the menu a little bit, introducing some fun new stuff, maybe bringing back some old stuff that were always fan favorites,” he says. Rome is as south as the new menu goes, pulling dishes from northern regions that are not commonly seen in the District. One new dish is a lighter version of chicken cacciatore. “I hear chicken cacciatore, I automatically think of the Italian American version. But at Osteria, we’re doing the Roman version, which is like rosemary and anchovy and different kinds of olives and potatoes and more of a natural cooking juice from the chicken,” Adler says. New pasta options include a braised veal shank-filled ravioli tossed in saffron butter, served in a sauce made with Barolo, the acidic wine that tender ossobuco is traditionally cooked down in, and topped with zesty gremolata. “All the components of a traditional, you know, ossobuco milenese dish with risotto, but it’s kind of taken and put into ravioli form,” Adler explains. There’s also a pasta tasting menu option ($55), which comes with four smaller servings of different pastas and dessert. Adler says he’s having some fun with the new menu and that the refresh will help the Italian stalwart to continue to stand out in a saturated market for upscale red sauce joints. Nina Palazzolo Roasted beets with poppyseed vinaigrette, almond, and mint from the new cicchetti menu. “I mean, look, it’s a crowded field in Washington, D.C. for Italian restaurants right now. So we have to do food that we think is, you know, delicious and somewhat traditional, but also have some creativity as well,” Adler said. The cicchetti menu also allows diner to try some of these innovative dishes with “a pretty low barrier for entry,” as each plate is under $20. Adler says the kitchen staff “spent days working on” the featured gnudi recipe, with ricotta dumplings cooked in brown butter and sage, then sprinkled with crumbled amaretti cookies. He also combined crispy zucchini and cacio e pepe for a delicious bite that he’s been workshopping for a while. Personally, the Italia-obsessed chef says he loves trying an array of dishes instead of ordering a huge platter to share when dining out. Allowing people to try more options and find their own path through the menu is “pretty cool,” he remarks. “We want to give people options so they can choose their own adventure,” Adler says.