Coppi's Restaurant   

1414 U St NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-319-7773

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Situated along the "new" U Street corridor in upper Northwest DC, Coppi's is owned by Elizabeth Bright-Mattia, well-known for her wood-cooked foods at her upmarket Cleveland Park eateries, The Vigorelli and Aranella Grill. At her casual Coppi's, pizza takes center stage and a good thing: With the wood fires stoked and burning, the cooks turn out divine pies topped with the simple (the five-cheese pie comes with ricotta, provolone, mozzarella, Parmesan and Romano) to the far more complicated. The Merguez pizza consists of a chewy crust enlivened by lamb sausage, feta, ricotta cheese, red onion slices, tomato sauce and cucumber, and the Inglese, with mozzarella, pineapple slices, Westphalian ham and mustard seeds. But we would return time and again for the no-frills cheese pie, a blissful combination of sharp versus mild cheeses. Salads, antipasti and four linguine dishes round out the main menu, leaving ample room for her Italian desserts, including a calzoni with stewed apples and cinnamon, the zabaglione custard and the comfort-food special, the calzone stuffed with gooey hazelnut chocolate cream. -- Alexandra Greeley