Tazza Cafe, Enjoying Your Evening at the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC

I previously announced to the world the solution to some problems for those attending a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. See here. The Kennedy Center is a grand facility that attracts wonderful artists, but every silver lining has its cloud and the Kennedy Center is no exception. Parking nearby is impossible, and parking in the Center’s vast garage is expensive but otherwise fine until it’s time to leave. At that point you are joined by a thousand or three other cars, only to meet a traffic light after maybe 100 feet.

Cloud number two is the little matter of eating. Options in the Kennedy Center itself range from poor and medium priced to poor and expensive, and few are the places close by.

My answer: Dinner at Tazza Cafe at 600 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, right across the street from the Kennedy Center, and parking in the garage in the Watergate complex, with the entry right next door.

The Watergate parking lot costs less and is much faster and easier to exit. Plus, Tazza offers genuinely good food at a reasonable price, including a wide range of dishes, some quite spicy and others very lightly seasoned. There’s something for everyone, and it’s a pleasant place. Tazza has an attractive interior,

and, if you look closely, you’ll see some of the abundant outdoor seating. Most recently, Nancy and I returned on a beautiful evening for a concert and grabbed a table outside. Nancy ordered cedar planked salmon ($26), which came with lime, smoked paprika, and sea salt. The salmon was accompanied by a warm salad of spinach, corn, and feta.

She enjoyed the salmon and the salad quite a bit. The mix of flavors in each was appealing. Nancy orders salmon well done, and this time parts were a bit dry, but the meal overall was very good.

I ordered a pizza, the Atomica ($18). It’s a Neapolitan style pizza topped with spicy soppessata, pepperoni, hot sausage, hot cherry peppers, tomato sauce, and a blend of cheeses. Once out of the oven it’s sprinkled with parsley and scallions, then sliced and served.

That’s a lot of toppings, and those who prefer the New York style of eating a slice folded must face a drooping point in each slice.

That’s a pretty manageable problem, one most of us can face philosophically.

Man was made for Joy and Woe;                                                                             And when this we rightly know                                                                       Thro’ the world we safely go.

The philosopher will be buoyed by the fact that the pizza tastes terrific, sensational. There are a wealth of flavors and textures in the Atomica, all of which combine to make a whole greater than the sum of the parts. The pizzas I’ve tried at Tazza uniformly have been superb as, indeed, have been the Italian sandwiches. These big flavor dishes contrast with the Middle Eastern dishes which, in our experience, have leaned toward light seasoning. As I say, there’s something for everyone.

You can have a wonderful evening at the Kennedy Center, as Nancy and I do often. Just remember where to park and where to eat.

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