At The Wine Kitchen in Leesburg, pasta is having a moment — and it comes in multiple courses.
The restaurant’s new prix fixe pasta tasting menu invites guests to settle in for a multicourse dinner built entirely around housemade pasta and local ingredients. The experience offers a rotating lineup of dishes designed to highlight seasonal flavor.
Priced at $57 per guest, the menu is served to the entire table. A shared, communal dining experience is encouraged, with option wine pairings. The concept, says executive chef John Cummings, grew naturally from the kitchen’s existing strengths.
“The restaurant already does a lot of fresh pastas in-house,” he says. “It just kind of made sense to do a pasta tasting menu as well.”
Comforting Flavors
Unlike traditional tasting menus that often center on multiple proteins, this one leans into rustic Italian comfort and rich, indulgent flavors. Each course highlights a different pasta style and preparation, with ingredients shifting based on what’s fresh and available.
Recent menu highlights include mushroom tortellini en brodo, featuring delicate pasta filled with mushroom duxelle, ricotta and parmesan, finished with a savory mushroom-parmesan broth. Another standout, the truffled alfredo, layers spaghetti with truffle butter and creamy sauce.
“The mushroom tortellini seems to be a favorite,” Cummings says. “And the candy bar dessert is asked for a lot, even by guests who aren’t doing the tasting menu.”
Seafood lovers may find lobster ravioli paired with a rich crab fat sauce and a bright ginger-Calabrian sofrito, while short rib ravioli deliver hearty, more indulgent flavors.
Seasonal Tastes
Cummings, who stepped into the head chef role in February after serving as sous chef, develops the menu collaboratively with his team, drawing on both experience and seasonality. A Northern Virginia native, he grew up in Burke. He later trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley before working in New York City and Martha’s Vineyard.
Returning to the area, and to The Wine Kitchen, was both a professional and personal decision. “One of the main draws was being closer to family,” he says. “It’s nice to be back in the area.”
That local connection carries into the kitchen’s sourcing as well. The team regularly shops at the Leesburg Farmers Market and works with nearby farms to bring fresh, seasonal ingredients into each dish.
As the seasons change, so will the menu. Cummings is already planning a spring iteration built around a “day at the farm” theme, highlighting ingredients like fresh eggs, milk, spring vegetables and strawberries.
“We want it to feel like a trip to the farm,” he says, describing courses that might include a cured egg yolk with risotto cake, vegetable-forward pastas and a strawberry rhubarb dessert to close the meal.
For diners, the experience is about more than just the food.
Cummings says the goal is simple: “We want people to enjoy the food and have excellent hospitality and service.”
Feature image courtesy Tovala Olmstead Photography
