Ten Ten West End: A New Recipe for Neighborhood Dining

DC’s West End neighborhood has a fresh face with French finesse: Ten Ten West End, the newly opened restaurant and bar inside One Washington Circle DC, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.

Executive Chef Nicholas Fulginiti, a 15-year-plus industry veteran, was raised in an Italian family in Atlanta, and brings together the flavors of his heritage, the precision of French technique, Southern sensibility, and the seasonal bounty of the Mid-Atlantic. The result? An elevated neighborhood kitchen.

Fulginiti’s path to the pass was anything but overnight. But all of his experiences converge around a straightforward philosophy: respect the ingredients, follow the seasons, and give comfort food a little culinary polish without losing its soul.

The menu’s calling card is Chef’s Spicy Pork Sausage Ragù, a hearty yet sophisticated combination of lumache pasta, whipped ricotta, fresh basil, and Aleppo pepper. (This dish understands the assignment: deeply satisfying and just adventurous enough!)

“My cooking has always been shaped by the places I’ve worked, the people I’ve learned from, and the food I grew up eating,” Fulginiti says.

At Ten Ten, he intends to bring those influences together with fresh, seasonal ingredients and menus that give diners something new to discover.

And discover they can throughout the day. Ten Ten is designed to be more than a hotel restaurant. Instead, moving effortlessly from morning coffee and breakfast to midday meals, after-work cocktails, and dinner. For neighborhood regulars, the happy-hour window is particularly inviting: 4 to 6:30 pm, a useful excuse to trade the office for a well-made cocktail and a proper bite. The bar stays open until 11 pm, extending the invitation well beyond the dinner rush.