Stir Food Group, owners of Penn Quarter-based Zola and Zola Wine & Kitchen, this week opened the 10,000-square-foot, 180-seat restaurant Potenza on the ground level of the historic Beaux Arts Woodward Building, three blocks from the White House. Washington-based design firm CORE preserved significant architectural detail and added 1950’s rustic Italian decor in the bar, four dining areas, and two semiprivate spaces.
The focal point of the main dining room is the adjoining open kitchen and its massive wood-burning pizza oven. In the dining room, walls layered with distressed wallpaper act as a backdrop for a large collection of hand-painted Italian serving pieces. Seating includes salvaged church pews and red velvet booths, and the flooring varies from carpet to marble to Italian tile.
Inside the semiprivate 22-seat South Dining Room, a huge window looks onto the wide sidewalk area, which will open in two months as a 60-seat café, with a view of the Washington Monument. The room includes a booth for eight and a banquette for eight to 10. The Historic Hallway, another semiprivate space, accommodates 75 for a cocktail reception but is not available for seated dinners.
Executive chef and partner Bryan Moscatello heads up the menu, which includes a large selection of antipasti, pastas, pizza, and seafood from the raw bar. An adjoining 12-seat Potenza Bakery (with office catering and delivery available in coming months) opens next week with a menu of breakfast pastries and sandwiches.
