Dinette entered the Capitol Hill dining scene on the strength of its gimmicks. It was one of the first restaurants to offer a “supper club” (it still does family-style Sunday dinners bimonthly). And it offered a signature starter: fancy toast topped tapas-style with rich concoctions like salami, fontina, and tapenade, or creamy gorgonzola, walnuts, and balsamic syrup.

The mood is just right: convivial but with enough soft lighting and ineffable ambience for a date night. The dining room has a low-key, modern-rustic feel—one panelist felt like he had wandered into Anthropologie’s home décor section. The tiny adjacent bar, with its peek-a-boo view of the kitchen, is the embodiment of cozy on a drizzly night.

House-made pasta like tender gnocchi stuffed with ricotta and seasonal vegetables, pan-roasted pork chops with French lentils, crispy duck confit—the kitchen draws from myriad European influences with the same satisfying, well-executed results.

While the wine list doesn’t have a lot of depth, it’s a good mix of Old and New World, with most bottles being very affordable. Dinette is more exciting in the drinks department, with house-infused liquors, homemade liqueurs (including an excellent limoncello and, on occasion, a nocino), and an interesting selection of apéritifs and digestifs.