L’Ardente

200 Massachusetts Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20001

+1 (202) 448-0450

BY NEAL MARTIN | JUNE 13, 2025

The Food:

Pizzas: morel, dry-aged pepperoni, soppressata

Arancini with saffron and mozzarella

Hamachi crudo, brûléed orange, jalapeño, Sicilian pistachio and mint

Fried cauliflower with chili-garlic aioli

Capellini alle vongole with middleneck clams, garlic confit and breadcrumbs

Gnocchi with lamb ragu, leek, tomato, harissa and peas

Duck breast with Italian five spice, fig and creamy polenta

Bistecca alla Fiorentina with Mathurini sauce and rosemary potatoes

The Wines:

1996 Salon Cuvée S	97
2002 Egly-Ouriet Brut Grand Cru	96
2012 Edmond et Anne Vatan Sancerre Clos La Néore	94
2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru	94
2014 Domaine des Comtes-Lafon Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru	98
2016 Domaine François Raveneau Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru	94
2003 Maison Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc L’Ermite	83
2000 Bodegas Vega Sicilia Unico	95
2012 Vietti Barolo Riserva Villero	95
2007 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia	96
2014 Domaine Jadot Musigny Grand Cru	93
1959 Coron Père & Fils Corton Grand Cru	97
1959 Coron Père & Fils Chambertin Grand Cru	91?
1947 Nénin	86
1961 Ausone	87
2000 Château Margaux	98
2016 Clos Rougeard Saumur Champigny Le Bourg	94

When I began traveling to the United States, usually Baltimore to check in with “the boss” (Parker, not Springsteen), I often caught the train to Washington, D.C. to visit friends forged via the site’s forum. Memories are that the capital was perpetually grey and freezing cold, but the wines and bonhomie kept you warm. I stayed in touch with those fellow oenophiles and, in the last couple of years, when crossing the pond for an annual charity event, I enjoyed two splendid lunches at their local haunt: L’Ardente.

Located just a few blocks from Capitol Hill in a modern-looking building with floor-to-floor windows, I would not say L’Ardente’s décor oozes with character or even charm, though there is a lively vibe. How pleasing it was to see tables full on a Thursday lunchtime, especially in these straitened times. The menu is unpretentious, offering straight-down-the-line Italian fare that has earned a reputation for quality. Furthermore, the sommelier team is impressive, especially catering to a demanding group of oenophiles brandishing multiple bottles. The menu comes from my second lunch with the group this past May, though I have combined wines from both.

Pizzas were brought out to accompany the fizz. What better way to start the trip than with a drop of Salon and pizza? Keepin’ it real! These pizzas are excellent, thin crust and drowning in oil, with plenty of seasoning, but the one with morels is the star of the show.

Arancini with saffron and mozzarella.

The arancini with saffron and mozzarella are spheres oozing gorgeousness. Warm and moist, well-seasoned and perfectly cooked, I had to move the plate out of eyesight lest I keep popping another in my mouth. Is there such a thing as a distasteful arancino? If so, I’ve never eaten one. These are excellent.

Hamachi crudo, brûléed orange, jalapeño, Sicilian pistachio and mint.

The best dish is an outstanding hamachi (yellowtail) crudo with brûléed orange, jalapeño, Sicilian pistachio, and mint. The elements are perfectly in balance, the hamachi fresh and vibrant, with the burnt orange imparting a subtle bitter edge. The pistachio and mint are understated but impart complexity. Fantastic.

Capellini alle vongole with middleneck clams, garlic confit and breadcrumbs.

The capellini alle vongole with middleneck clams, garlic confit and breadcrumbs is also just right. The pasta is al dente and the clams are full of flavour. Again, the seasoning is assiduously judged, a perfect foil to the Barolo doing the rounds.

The gnocchi with lamb ragu, leek, tomato, harissa and peas is another well-cooked and heartwarming dish, very moreish. There’s also a large plate of thinly sliced duck breast with Italian five spice, fig and creamy polenta. This is pink and juicy, with the fig imparting the right amount of sweetness.

The wine list at L’Ardente offers a broad Italian selection, as you would expect, covering most regions and prominent growers. It is not a thick compendium of esoteric bottles, but they are well chosen and cover a range of price points. I spotted several tempting options from outside Italy, too, at prices not as extortionate as I have seen elsewhere in the United States. However, for both lunches, we paid corkage for what was a quite stellar and diverse array of fermented grape juice.

We begin with a bottle of 1996 Salon Cuvée S. I drank this regularly when first released, though I had not encountered a bottle for a wee while. Over the years, I have found this champagne house more hit and miss than its reputation suggests. Fortunately, this bottle is definitely on form. Clear with green tints in the glass, it has developed nicely in recent years, losing some aromatic green apple traits and evolving subtle, creamy scents, even with a suggestion of chamomile in the background. The palate has scintillating balance—real penetration and energy, revivifying the senses with its crisp and chiselled finish. It seems strange to think that this Salon is now nearing 30 years old…how time flies. It will easily last 30 more. The 2002 Brut Grand Cru from Egly-Ouriet is another stupendous Champagne from this revered and now sadly very expensive producer. Burnished in hue, it has a captivating bouquet with yellow plum, aniseed and light straw scents that blossom in the glass. The palate is beautifully balanced with sour lemon and wild peach on the entry. Perhaps the acidity is just a notch lower than expected, yet the 2002 has impressive length and sapidity to keep you returning for more.

The whites represent an assortment of regions, starting with an iconic Loire. The 2012 Sancerre Clos La Néore from Edmond et Anne Vatan was poured from magnum. It has an intriguing nose that I really love, scents of dried honey and beeswax, a touch of fish scales, a slight oatmeal tincture signalling its maturity. The palate seems mature but certainly not over the hill: bitter orange and mandarin, Vervain tea and sour lemon, cohering beautifully with every passing minute. This has so much personality—it will be fascinating to see how it matures in bottle, though I would not class it as a “crowd-pleaser.” This is a Sancerre that refuses to kowtow to tastes, and for that, I admire it rather than relish it.

Burgundy ahoy! The 2008 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey has a taut nose, quite backward considering that it has a few miles on the clock. Yet it opens with aeration, offering lemon thyme and almond scents, wild fern and dry hay. The mineralité kind of “seeps” through with time. The palate delivers the complexity one expects from a Chevalier-Montrachet, touches of peach skin and chamomile interlacing the lemony fruit, leading to a linear, strict finish that implies there is more to give. It is a class act. The 2014 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru from Domaine des Comtes-Lafon is a gifted white Burgundy that is currently firing on all cylinders. The bouquet has life-affirming delineation and heart-stopping mineralité, amongst the finest that I have drunk from Dominique Lafon. The palate possesses exquisite balance and electrifying acidity, which is precisely what you desire and expect from this Premier Cru. Several guests voted this the wine of the lunch. The Meursault threatened to overshadow the Chablis, but the Raveneau was no slouch. The 2016 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru encapsulates everything you want in a Chablis, though the facet that I really admire—similar to the Clos La Néore—is its uncompromising nature. The nose evokes images of a pond shaded by trees, not so much marine, something more…freshwater. The palate is powerful with impressive depth, displaying real intensity and drive through the weighty Conference pear and lanolin finish. This vineyard is one of the domaine’s strongest. I absolutely adored the 2016.

In contrast, I found the 2003 Ermitage Blanc L’Ermite from Maison Chapoutier extremely underwhelming. That is unsurprising, as I am not keen on this vintage in the Rhône. The nose is far too honeyed and one-dimensional, more like a high-volume Californian wine you would pick up at a grocery store. The palate likewise lacks complexity and is bereft of typicité. Considering this was poured from magnum and there was nothing faulty, the 2003 is an ordinary wine that is past its best. Apologies for being so scathing.

The 2000 Unico from Bodegas Vega Sicilia, a blend of 93% Tinto Fino and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, is very seductive aromatically, displaying wild strawberry tinged with eucalyptus, primal yet sensual. The oak that always cloaks Unico in its flush of youth is now assimilated. The palate is pliant, yet you immediately recognise that this millennial has plenty of gas in the tank. More blue fruit tinged with blood orange emerges towards the creamy-textured finish. Gorgeous, for sure, but personally, I would afford it several more years in bottle.

The reds continued in style with the 2012 Barolo Riserva Villero from Vietti. This is reaching that liminal point between primary and secondary aromas: red berries, leather, balsamic and subtle Lapsang Souchong scents, beautifully executed and evoking the rolling Piedmont hills. The palate is beautifully balanced with just a hint of black olive and white pepper infusing the red fruit, smooth and harmonious. The tannins feel lace-like with a caressing, elegant, almost Pinot-like finish. Irresistible. The 2007 Barolo Cascina Francia from Giacomo Conterno is just so sublime. It has a precise, characterful bouquet that instantly seduces with its pure red fruit, fennel and light undergrowth scents. The palate is so harmonious, framed by filigree tannins with a satin texture. Hints of blood orange infuse Morello cherries and strawberry fruit on the finish. Divine.

The 2014 Musigny Grand Cru from Louis Jadot offers lively red fruit laced with potpourri and light pressed rose petal scents. It does not deliver the grandeur of a top Musigny, but it conveys modest class and sophistication. This was almost Barolo-like on the palate, not powerful, but refined, with understated mineralité and a cohesive yet understated finish. Perhaps the vintage just limited its capabilities? Even so, at the end of the day, the 2014 remains a lovely wine. The “surprise package” was a bottle 1959 Corton Grand Cru from Coron Père & Fils. This négociant has a good reputation, one confirmed by this exquisite showing. Pure red cherry and bergamot scents unfurl on the nose, more Côte de Nuits in style than Côte de Beaune. The aromatics are entrancing. The palate has a satin texture, perfectly balanced and revelling in the precocity that the ’59 vintage bestowed its Pinot Noirs. Time has tempered that exuberance to render a beguiling Corton that I could drink ‘til the cows come home. The Corton outflanked the 1959 Chambertin, also from Coron Père & Fils. The passing years have denuded the Chambertin some fruit intensity and it feels a bit hollow by comparison. Likewise, whilst the palate is balanced with a light grip, it just misses the power and depth you’d expect. Nonetheless, this was not a bad showing given the wine’s antiquity, and a couple of attendees preferred this to the Corton.

I have a soft spot for post-war vintages of Nénin, with fond memories of their 1959 and 1961. The 1947 Nénin comes from a vintage that is hit ‘n miss these days. The nose is leathery with vestiges of dark fruit and a touch of the old “dusty attic”—simple, but not unattractive. Likewise leathery and rustic, the palate is medium-bodied with a light structure, turning rather drying on the finish. There is inevitably bottle variation in wines of this age, but this bottle was so-so. The 1961 Ausone is a wine that I have drunk four times. It comes from a period when the estate had lost its mojo, and this bottle was not one of the better examples. I found it strangely pyrazine-like on the nose, with strong bell pepper scents and a lack of fruit. The palate is old-school Bordeaux, quite ferrous with dried blood/andouillette notes, but the finish is too bitter. There seems to be a wide variation between bottles with respect to this Saint-Émilion. The 2000 Château Margaux is one of the standouts of the millennial year. This bottle is consistent with the example two years ago, with tightly coiled black fruit, pencil box and violet scents, perhaps the floral element more expressive this time around. The palate has marvellous balance, real weight and density that is atypical for this First Growth, as if it has successfully pulled off an impression of Latour! It definitely needs another four or five years in bottle.

My impression of the 2016 Saumur Champigny Le Bourg from Clos Rougeard chimes with my colleague, Rebecca Gibb, MW. Time has jemmied open the aromatics, revealing enticing black fruit and subtle marine scents commingling with potpourri. The palate is structured with ample grip, quite sapid so that you are drawn back for another sip at once, all whilst accepting that you are drinking this wine three or four years before its prime.

L’Ardente is not a restaurant that pushes the boundaries of Italian cuisine. But I have to say that the dishes are uniformly delicious and unpretentious. The atmosphere makes it a place where you want to eat, and the service is excellent. Wine-lovers always need a go-to place to enjoy wine, somewhere they can rely upon to crack open multiple bottles with proper stemware. I understand why L’Ardente is a regular haunt for my DC-based “one-friends.”

I look forward to returning.

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