It’s Truffle Time at These D.C. Restaurants

White truffle season is officially here, which means D.C. restaurants are translating the freshly-arrived delicacies into truffle-specific menu items or letting diners shower the fragrant fungi all over their food.

While dishes with truffle oil are much more prevalent — and inexpensive — to spot, this guide only focuses on the rare whole or shaved truffle sightings. Be prepared to drop up to three figures to taste truffles atop dishes. Carrying the luxe ingredient doesn’t come cheap for restaurants, either; chefs currently pay up $2,800 to $3,000 per pound.

White truffles tend to taper off at the end of December to make way for Périgord black truffle takeovers from France.

Eater will be updating this guide regularly throughout the season. Send any truffle sightings to dc@eater.com.

Residents DC

1306 18th Street NW

At Dupont’s hip Mediterranean cafe, a luxe pasta bowl with homemade fusilli calabrese, mushroom velouté, and shaved Parmigiano cheese is finished with a flurry of Burgundy black truffle shavings.

CUT by Wolfgang Puck

1050 31st Street NW

Georgetown’s glitzy steakhouse in the Rosewood hotel integrates white Alba truffles from Italy’s Piedmont region into one show-stopping fall dish. Cut’s executive chef Andrew Skala fills a hollowed-out red kuri pumpkin with freshly shaved truffles, pumpkin risotto with pine nuts, Vermont cultured butter, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. It’s then presented with the pumpkin top back on. White truffles also make an appearance in a whole salt-roasted celery root ($135) alongside melted leeks and hazelnut.

SHŌTŌ

1100 15th Street NW

SHŌTŌ

Downtown’s showy Japanese izakaya upgrades an already-opulent omakase menu with seasonal truffles ($325). For Shōtō’s inaugural truffle tasting, executive chef Alessio Conti prepares truffle-marinated lobster tempura with truffle mayo and ponzu; Japanese seared A5 wagyu with ponzu and freshly-shaved truffle; and a scallop taco with truffle ponzu and shiso.

Fiola

601 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Enjoying the intoxicating aroma of white truffles all night comes with a big price tag at Fabio Trabocchi’s Michelin-rated Fiola. Each dish across a new six-course tasting menu ($600) celebrates Italy’s famed Alba white truffles or beloved Burgundy truffles from France. The lavish dinner must be enjoyed by the full table, and Fiola is unable to make substitutions. Book the “extremely limited” experience here. Diners can also supplement any dish on its existing tasting menus ($225-$285) with shaved white truffles for $30 per gram (minimum of three).

Equinox

818 Connecticut Avenue NW

Equinox

Longtime truffle fan Todd Gray turns to a trusted NYC supplier and chef friend from Virginia lovingly nicknamed “Truffle Runner” to load up on truffles for tableside shavings. Nightly specials at at his new American mainstay include egg yolk tagliolini with chanterelles, black trumpets, and shaved white truffles or creamy scrambled eggs with Jerusalem artichokes and truffle butter. “It’s a fun process doing the truffle ‘deal’ on the bar. Hand-picking and weighing the truffles,” he says.

Xiquet by Danny Lledó

2404 Wisconsin Avenue NW

Michelin-rated chef Danny Lledó’s wood-fired Spanish showpiece in Glover Park now offers a $100 white Alba truffle experience on top of its $220-per-person prix-fixe spread.

Tosca

1112 F Street NW

The downtown Italian stalwart pairs fresh pappardelle with white truffle shavings for $90. Try a half-portion of the truffle-topped pasta for a more feasible $50. Limited quantities are available; call to confirm.

Tonari

707 6th Street NW

Tonari

For a $24 surcharge, Daikaya Group’s wafu-Italian playground in Chinatown lets guests add shaved black truffles to two top sellers: burrata with English peas, pea puree, pea shots, snow peas, mint, and yuzu-lemon vinaigrette; and prosciutto with fresh potato chips, parmesan, and seaweed. And a new mushroom and truffle pasta with pappardelle, shiitake, cremini, marsala, pecorino, and black Burgundy truffles runs $28.

Cafe Riggs

900 F Street NW

Penn Quarter’s essential brasserie in the Riggs hotel offers an assortment of truffle options during dinner. There’s black truffle risotto ($35) with fava and saffron or a sharable crispy chicken ($55) served with crispy potatoes, carrot pesto, truffle jus, and fresh Italian black truffles garnished on top. A filet mignon just came on board ($45) with gratine potato, truffle jus, and Swiss chard.

Jennifer Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography