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Girasole Italian Cuisine - The Plains, VA

Girasole

Authentic Regional Italian Cusine

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Pantry items

Pantry

Take our pantry home with you! We are now offering local, imported, and house made specialties for you to purchase and use in your own home. Order individually or in a gift basket for yourself, a friend, or loved one. Because nothing beats the gift of good food.

    • For Your Pantry

    • Morello Amarene Cherries

      $17

      11.8oz Wild cherries preserved in a rich syrup from Le Marche, Italy. A sumptuous topping or ingredient for desserts and cocktails. Mix in fruit salads or use as a topping for ice cream, panna cotta, or cheesecake. Swirl into yogurt and top with granola. Mix into a cake batter for a stunning dessert studded with cherries.

    • Fabbri Amarene Cherries

      $28

      22oz Decorative ceramic jar

    • Organic Mostagro Balsamic

      $24

      100mL A style of balsamic produced from Barbera grapes and aged 1 year in wood. Lots of body and nuance, packaged in a wonderful, individually numbered gift box with a leather tie. It is ideal for sophisticated and intense vinaigrettes, grilled vegetables, and is perfect on red meats, turnips and cabbage soups.

    • Extra virgin olive oil for cooking

      $35

      1 gallon

    • Imported Olive Oils avaialable for purchase individually or in a gift box of three

    • Montenidoli Extra Virgin olive oil, Tuscany

      $40

      500 mL Olives have been organically grown and hand harvested at the Montenidoli estate near San Gimignano since the time of the Etruscans. They currently grow Moraiolo and Correggiolo strains; the former provides body, and the latter perfumes. Strongly flavored, with pronounced artichoke and vegetal flavors.

    • Nocellara Cutrera Extra virgin olive oil, Sicily

      $34

      500mL Medium intensity made from Nocellara del Belice olives. Herbaceous aromas, green olive flavor, and a persistent spiciness. Gold medalist at the New York and Los Angeles International Competitions. 

    • Poggio Lamentano Extra virgin olive oil, Tuscany

      $48

      750mL Organically farmed estate with beautiful views over the Tyrrhenian Sea and the islands of Elba, Capraia and Gorgona. The oil is brightly colored, with vibrant, complex, lemony-nutty flavors and peppery, rocket-like aftertaste.

    • Titone Organic Extra virgin olive oil, Sicily

      $34

      500 mL Decidedly herbaceous, with notes of arugula and bright green tomato. Peppery and bitter. Gold medalist at the World Olive Oil Competition.

    • For your refrigerator or freezer

    • Loaf of our house made bread

      $11

      Enjoy immediately or freeze and re-heat in the oven.

    • Hombre organic butter

      $9

      8oz, 83% butterfat, unsalted. Made using fresh cream from this bio-dynamic farm located in Modena.

    • True Farms hydroponic arugula

      $10

      Enough for 2 salads.

    • House smoked salmon

      $30 per lb

      Thinly sliced

    • Pecorino Fiore Sardo DOP

      $18 per lb

      A rustic aged sheep’s milk cheese from Sardinia produced since the bronze age. Smoked by burning the bark of a gnarly looking cork tree. The flavor is powerful and distinctive with an amazing texture

    • Parmigiano Reggiano aged 30+ months

      $26 per lb

      Made using organic raw cow’s milk. The farm, located in Modena, grows the cow’s entire diet within the farm using organic agriculture. It’s longer ageing accentuates the crunch,deepens, sharpens the flavors, and makes this one of the world’s greatest tables cheeses. Ideal after a meal, pair with powerful wines to stand up to its flavors.

    • House made marinara

      $15

      Made with DOC San Marzano tomatoes. Quart size.

    • House made fettucine or chitarrini

      $20

      4 nests. Serve 3-4 people.

    • Half tray lasagna

      $150

      Serves 8. Available as a traditional meat lasagna, eggplant and goat cheese lasagna, or local mushroom lasagna.  Must be pre-ordered at least 4 days in advance.

    • Guanciale

      $16 per lb

      Cured pork jowl eaten as charcuterie, but most often used in Italy’s most famous pasta dishes such as carbonara and amatriciana. More delicate texture and stronger flavor than pancetta. Thinly sliced.

    • Pancetta

      $14 per lb

      Salt cured pork belly eaten as charcuterie, but more commonly used with pasta, on pizza, or cooked with soups. Thinly sliced.

    • Prosciutto di San Daniele ‘Black Label’

      $30 per lb

      Renowned throughout the world for its smoothness on the palate, fragrance, sweet taste, and leanness. San Daniele’s Black Label is air-dried and cured for over 16 months. Thinly sliced.

    • Speck

      $22 per lb

      Dry-cured, lightly smoked pork shoulder from northern Italy. Thinly sliced.

    • Pantry Desserts

    • House made gelato

      $10.50 – $18.50

      Vanilla, chocolate, or pistachio.  $10.50 for 8oz container, $18.50 for pint container

    • Must be 21 or older

    • Cocktails a Casa Tua

      $95

      Includes a bottle of Contratto vermouth Bianco, Adami Prosecco, Blenheim ginger ale, suggested cocktail recipes and garnishes packed in a re-useable cotton bag. Relax in place with our at home cocktail kit. 

    • Wine gift boxes

      $90+

      3 bottles of wine with retail pricing gift wrapped based on your price range, starting at $90. Make your own selection or ask Lydia for her recommendations.

    • Three vintages of the famed wine producer Giacomo Conterno’s Barbera d’Alba

      $195

      “The wines produced by Giovanni Conterno are monuments to Nebbiolo as well as to the glory of the Piedmont.” Robert Parker

    • Lydia’s favorite Barolo’s

      $250
    • Lydia’s favorite Brunello’s

      $250

girasoleva

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Oct 30

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Ghosts of truffle dinners past! Some favorite shots from the past 21 years of our annual white truffle dinner. What new memories, stories, and spectacular dishes and wines will this year bring?! 

Join us this Sunday, November 2nd at 6:30 for our Annual White Truffle Dinner hosted by Giuseppe Vaira of @gdvajra_barolo of Barolo, Italy. Call to reserve, 540-253-5501. Link in bio!
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Oct 29

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Carote in agrodolce! 

Delightfully sweet and tangy, we roast local carrots and marinate them with golden raisins, onion, vinegar, and honey. Served with burrata and crushed pistachios, and on our featured specials tonight!
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Oct 22

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Cheers to 21 yrs of celebrating the 'diamonds of the kitchen', the white Alba truffle, and the captivating wines of GD Vajra of Barolo! Have you reserved your table yet for our Annual White Truffle Dinner on Sunday, November 2nd?

Click the link in our bio to discover more about the famed white Alba truffle, our host Giuseppe Vaira and his family's wines, and about why this is the event we look forward to most year after year. Call to reserve, 540-253-5501.
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Oct 16

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Matsutake mushroom risotto looking extra dramatic on these moody fall days. On our featured specials tonight, stop by or call to reserve, 540-253-5501.
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Sep 13

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Old and new world techniques, a blend of international grapes (most notably Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Tempranillo, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc), rich clay and sand soils, a blend of coastal and higher altitude climates, and a history as the birthplace of winemaking in North America make Mexico possibly the most exciting wine making region in the world, and we are delighted to share some of the country’s best wines for the first time at our patio wine tasting tomorrow, Sunday, at 2:30! 

Hosted by @malcolmriddle of @salvetoimports. Only a few seats remain, call to reserve, 540-253-5501. Find out more in our story.
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Sep 4

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✨The Journey of a Girasole Tomato ✨

From Chef Lou's garden to our kitchen, the journey is merely a walk from one end of our parking lot to the other, but it is one that requires great care, dedication, and anticipation for the Summer growing season. Weeding, tilling, and feeding the soil with food scraps from our kitchen, Chef Lou works all year to grow the most delicious tomatoes you will ever taste. Once the heirloom varieties are mature, simple preparations passed down from parents and grandparents allow Chef Lou's flavorful tomatoes to shine on your plate. The season is nearing its end, but Chef Lou still has so much in store for the last of his humble parking lot garden tomatoes.
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Aug 13

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Lydia’s olives, Mediterranean olives roasted with herbs, garlic, citrus, and red pepper, according to her Nonna’s recipe, and on our specials tonight. The olives are not from her two olive trees on the patio, but she is incredibly proud of this year’s bumper crop of about 32 olives total. Lydia has been carefully nurturing each tree and putting them out on our patio for about 8 years now.
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Aug 5

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Jul 23

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Nothing says Summer quite like Chef Lou’s soft shell crabs tempura! On our featured special’s tonight, but only for a limited time. Make the most of this glorious weather and reserve a spot on our patio tonight, 540-253-5501.
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Jul 16

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Summer dishes for you to enjoy tonight!
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📸 Risotto with Farmer Blevin’s Swiss Chard and 36-month aged provolone

📸 Burrata Cappelletti with sweet corn and basil from our garden, local honey

📸 Perfect summer pairings currently available by the glass: Durella sparkling from northern Italy, Rosé of Pinot noir from Germany, Rosé made from the indigenous Xinomavro grape of Greece
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Jul 3

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In observance of the holiday, we will be closed Friday, July 4. We are open for our regular dinner service today, July 3, and following the holiday on Saturday and Sunday, July 5 & 6. As always, please call to reserve your table with us, 540-253-5501. 

Now here are some of the beautiful dishes you can expect from us today and through the weekend!
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📸 Rockfish pan sautéed, served with ratatouille

📸 Local Swiss chard wilted and served over our house made bread, crispy pancetta

📸 Fig leaf ravioli filled with Venetian style Branzino, drizzled with aged balsamic from Modena
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Jun 25

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Extremely fresh and unique, and delightfully food friendly, our rotating international beer list is providing much needed liquid revival so you don’t melt on these uncomfortably warm summer days!
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🍺 @birrabaladin ‘Birra Nazionale’ Blonde Ale from Piedmont, Italy

🍺 @brasseriebfm ‘La Meule’ Sage Saison from Switzerland

🍺 @dedollebrouwers ‘Dulle Teve’ Belgian Tripel

🍺 @birredelducato ‘Agrumi Ribelli’ Wit from Parma, Italy
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Girasole Italian Cuisine - The Plains, VA

(540) 253-5501
4244 Loudoun Avenue
The Plains, VA 20198
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Hours

Monday & Tuesday: Closed

Wednesday – Sunday: 4:30pm with the last seating at 8:30pm

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