Image from Corso Italian Instagram account
Cathal Armstrong and Jill Erber
Award-winning chef Cathal Armstrong will team up with Cheesetique's Jill Erber to open an Italian restaurant and market in December in Shirlington, according to a website and social media posts by the new venture.
The two will transform the current Cheesetique at 4024 Campbell Ave. into Corso Italian. A new website for the eatery promises a relaxed vibe:
"Italian-inspired Restaurant. Vibrant. Chic. Comfortable.
You’re invited to our eclectic vacation home — raid the wine cellar, relax in the lounge, and feast from the garden and larder.
Hand-made pasta and modern-Italian classics greet you. Italian wines and cocktails urge you to stay. Market provisions send you home with love.
Welcome, famiglia."
Armstrong is well-known to Alexandrians, operating Hummingbird Bar and Restaurant at Hotel Indigo on the waterfront. He oversaw Restaurant Eve (named for the Cathal and Meshelle Armstrong's daughter) for 14 years at 110 S. Pitt St. in Old Town Alexandria. The eatery closed its doors in 2018.
Armstrong now runs Kaliwa (Filipino, Korean and Thai fare at DC's The Wharf) and Mattie and Eddie's, an Irish bar and restaurant at Pentagon Row in Arlington.
Erber opened her first Cheesetique in 2004 in Del Ray and in 2011, opened a second location in Shirlington.
Armstrong will be the guest chef at a sold-out Italian wine dinner Tuesday at Cheesetique in Shirlington, where he will prepare five courses paired with five Italian wines. The wines will be presented by importer and Italian wine expert Brennan Downey of Downey Selections.
Be sure to follow Corso Italian's Instagram account where updates will be posted leading up to the opening.
Read more about the new restaurant in a story published today by Washingtonian.
