In his last job, Massimo de Francesca could look out on the turquoise blue waters of Grand Cayman island. Now the view across his latest dining room gives onto the glass windows and concrete walls of Rosslyn's office blocks. Did he take leave of his senses?

The new executive chef of Domaso Restaurant in the Hotel Palomar laughs. "I'd been there four years. I felt ready for a change. Being on an island things can stay the same."

So he emailed a chef friend in the States to say he was a fan of the cooking he was doing. He was invited over for a stage. "I cooked for him a few days and he introduced me to Kimpton (the group behind Hotel Palomar)." They offered him two possible openings and he picked DC. "The time was right to come to Washington."

From George Town to the political center of U.S. is a huge step. But the Toronto native and the son of Italian immigrants, de Francesca was curious to work in the capital. Despite his youth, de Francesca has a good deal of experience under his belt. Classically trained in Italian technique at Toronto's George Brown College Culinary Arts School, he's also practised in French cooking.

During culinary school he went to Rimini on Italy's Adriactic Coast for an internship with the institution's campus there. At the same time, he worked for Michelin-starred chef Vincenzo Cammerucci at Lido Lido Ristorante in Cesenatico. When he returned to Toronto, he spent the next five years in a number of high end kitchens, including that of the Windsor Arms Hotel, for French chef Jean Pierre Challet, where he developed his French technique. His skills were so accomplished that while at Bouchon Bistro, he and his team cooked at the James Beard Foundation, two years running.

With his Italian training and background, he could cook anything from anywhere in that country. His family comes from Calabria in Italy's toe. When he was very young, he lived there for a while with his mother, though never went back until he was 19 and a culinary student. "I love all those southern spices, the hot notes and citrus fruits."

But he's equally enthusiastic about the food of northern Italy. What he wants to do, he says, "Is think out of the box. I want to take risks, open up the palate of our guests." He's discovering quickly just how to please them. When he began at Domaso, he was serving a braised pork belly which wasn't as popular as he had hoped. Now he crisps it up and it's sailing off the menu.

"I cook before my staff. I call it a cooking class to show them how it's prepared, give them a taste." This way, they are always able to describe a dish to diners. De Francesca likes to meld what he's learned from the cuisines of both France and Italy. "There's a lot of mileage between French and Italian. I call it FrItalian."

Domaso Trattoria is located in the Hotel Palomar, 1121 North 19th St, Arlington, 703 351 1211. Main courses cost from $19 to $28.

Related Information...