A sexy, sorta-goth Italian restaurant is coming to D.C., just in time for fall. Vet restaurateur and advanced sommelier Elli Benchimol unveils Ellizabetta La Strega in Foggy Bottom on Friday, September 9 (2401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW), transforming the iconic home of Marcel’s into a moody bar, restaurant, and private dining destination with lunch and dinner out of the gate.
Benchimol honed her craft in her native Northern California wine country, going on to open Champagne-and-caviar bar Apéro in Georgetown and its ever-changing tasting room, La Bohème, up top, racking up Wine Spectator and Rammy awards along the way. Ellizabetta is named for her grandmother, and La Strega — which means “witch” — is Benchimol’s loving nickname for her.
“Ellizabetta La Strega moves in cycles within cycles: the moon, the season, the mood, the meal, the night,” says Benchimol.
Ellizabetta is a full-circle moment for executive chef Jenn Castaneda-Jones and her husband/chef de cuisine Stephen Jones, who formerly led the kitchen at Marcel’s – Robert Wiedmaier’s fine dining fixture that closed in 2024 after a 25-year run. After that, they joined Apéro and La Bohème — and had their first baby (now 19 months old). Now they are back in their former kitchen space.
“The motto that we have here is ‘Italian with a little piece of magic,’” Castaneda-Jones, who’s the culinary director of all three, tells Eater. “So we’re playing on the flavors and having a little fun with it.” There’s not one dedicated area of Italy that Ellizabetta represents, leaving wiggle room for creativity and Americanized riffs on dishes synonymous with the boot-shaped country. Its lunchtime porchetta sandwich, for instance, turns to roasted pork for a Philly-style take on the Italian classic.
House-made garlic confit and rosemary focaccia, delicate crudos, and pastas are a big component of the menu. Meyer lemon tagliatelle with caviar, creme fraiche, and lemon-butter sauce is pretty much the only overlapping dish they do at Apéro. A play on carbonara features tortellini stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella, with a traditional egg and Parm sauce.
A believable Bolognese is actually vegan, made with a meat substitute, roasted mushrooms, and lots of wine. “That one I’m really excited about – it tastes like meat, but it’s not,” she says. Even the staff was tricked during a recent tasting. “And that’s what we were hoping for – anyone would enjoy this.”
Salads include a classic Italian chopped and vibrant radicchio-and-nectarine bowl that’ll sub in apples, pumpkins, and pears come full-on fall. Venetian mussels are entree-sized for lunch and show up in the small plate section for dinner. “We also have a kick-ass smash burger that we’re doing,” she says, topped with provolone and sun-dried tomato aioli.
For meaty mains, there’s Wiccan chicken Milanese served with citrus gremolata and crispy Berkshire porchetta with porcini sauce, potato puree, and broccolini. Dishes designed for two include a whole-roasted branzino with salmoriglio and blistered tomatoes or rib-eye finished with rosemary, olives, and gremolata.
After Benchimol’s original E Street lease for Ellizabetta fell through, she was on the way to work one day when she noticed Marcel’s was back on the market after an initial tenant dropped out. The 170-seat space is utterly unrecognizable from its former life as its beige-toned predecessor, now slathered with sage, olive, and matte-black arched ceilings. A glass wall partition stamped with frosted fleur-de-lis patterns that casts shadows up top is pretty much the only remnant left from Marcel’s.
“I was like, you know what? I should keep a little piece of it just because it meant so much to the customers,” says Benchimol.
A happy surprise was pulling back the carpeted stairs to the kitchen to reveal a fairy tale-like stone floor that felt right to revive, leading the way to a glossy new black-tiled pass, hanging copper cookware, and an arched dark ceiling. A ribbon-like chandelier composed of squiggly black-and-gold discs stretches across the dining room, surrounded by soft Chartreuse-hued booths and warm woods. The back opens up to its private dining area dubbed Bella Ciao, à la the iconic Italian song made famous again in Money Heist.
During the Witching Hour up front – La Strega’s take on Italy’s traditional aperitivo hour (Tuesday to Thursday, 3 to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 4 to 5 p.m.) – cocktails come with cicchetti, or small Venetian tapas that rotate weekly. The bar also spotlights Italian bubbles, Champagne, and wines from both Italy’s popular and lesser-known regions. Spritzes and seasonal cocktails are served in sparkly-orange goblets shaped like an owl.
“Dramatic exit” signage leads the way to the bathrooms, where there’s “Blessed Be” neon signage under an eclipse-like wall light, a runway-ready framed witch surrounded by crows, and displayed tarot cards (speaking of, look for tarot card-reading events this fall).
Benchimol is a Renaissance woman of sorts, doubling as a talented artist who put together the whole look herself. About 10 of her girlfriends appear in the dining room as striking acrylic portraits adorned with flowers. With a lot of construction delays, she had the time to paint about one a month. Other artsy details under her watch include Champagne caps embalmed in glass coasters.
It should come as no surprise that she has an accomplished photographer in Steve Parke – Prince’s former personal chronicler who’s recently shot covers for Rolling Stone and Billboard. Above the hostess stand, black-and-white prints curated by Benchimol include retro-chic women on surfboards wearing spiky witch hats and a suffrage scene in front of the White House.
The once-sleepy Pennsylvania Avenue NW stretch is having a resurgence this summer, welcoming one of NYC’s best Palestinian restaurants (Ayat) and unveiling the revamped look of chef Michael Mina’s Four Seasons stalwart Bourbon Steak. Up top of Ellizabetta, the landlord is flipping the office space into fancy apartments; once the scaffolding comes down, its 25-seat patio will come to life.
Save the date for Thursday, December 3, for an Eater-hosted Dinner Party at Ellizabetta La Strega with Capital One.
