Pesto is a lovely little Italian restaurant tucked away in the Woodley Park area in Connecticut Avenue in the heart of Washington D.C. Chef Vincenzo Belvito, who runs Pesto, has more than twenty years of experience in creating tasty and authentic Italian delicacies.

Choose to spend time in the elegant front room and dine on tables covered in fine linen or relax in the more intimate back room that's illuminated by candlelight and has a mix of beige and bare brick walls.

The menu includes starters of beef carpaccio; portabella mushrooms baked with goats' cheese; boar sausages grilled with balsamic and fresh mozzarella with tomato, oregano and olive oil. These could be followed by mains of penne pasta with sausages; meat tortellini, veal piccata with lemon and capers and grilled salmon with rucola pesto.

The desserts change regularly and are all homemade. The wines on offer belong to small producers in Italy.