Rafagino Ristorante

Rafagino Ristorante Italian Fine Dining

04/16/2026

Please join us on Sunday April 26th at 5:30pm for our monthly wine dinner featuring the food and wine of France, a gastronomic treasure of world-famous dishes as well as some of the world's best and most iconic wines. French cuisine is world-renowned for its its emphasis on high-quality ingredients, meticulous techniques, and regional diversity, often utilizing butter, cream, and complex sauces. It balances refined haute cuisine with rustic, regional, and peasant dishes, making it both elegant and deeply traditional. But it's so much more than that. It is an amalgamation of comfort food, elevated cuisine, special occasion dishes. It is warmth on a winter's night and a cool breeze on a Summer's lunch on some terrace overlooking the Med.

​

We will be featuring some of France's most famous dishes with an Italian twist. We might feature some iconic dishes such as Soupe à l'Oignon, Cassoulet, Choucroute, Bouillabaisse, Steak Frites, Beef bourguignon, Coq au Vin, Confit de Canard, Quenelles, Crepes farcie, Tarte Tatin or crème brulée. They will be paired to some great wines representative of all the major wine regions of France such as Bordeaux, Bourgogne, Loire Valley, Rhone Valley, Provence and Languedoc. It seems a lot of our regulars were yearning for an encore appearance of the French wine dinner so here it is.

Can't wait to see you. Ciao or should I say Á bien tôt!

03/14/2026

Please join us Sunday, March 29th at 5:30pm for our monthly wine dinner. It will feature the beautiful region of Umbria (the other Tuscany). Italy's green heart, Umbria is a land unto itself. The only Italian region without access to either the sea or international borders, Umbria is a solitary and soulful world apart. Removed from outside influences, it has kept alive many of Italy's old-world traditions. You'll see grandmothers in aprons making pasta by hand and front doors that haven't been locked in a century.
It contrasts wild, in-your-face beauty with the gentle fall and rise of overlapping hills and wildflower-flecked meadows. The Etruscans, Romans and medieval feuding families have left their indelible imprint on its pretty hilltowns, where history seems to creep up on you at every corner. Untouched landscapes in the green of winding valleys make Umbria a region that will never fail to amaze.

The cuisine of Umbria originates from its Etruscan roots, and is characteristically simple, relying heavily on seasonal ingredients that can be found growing in its rich soil, swimming in the region’s lakes, raised on local farms, or discovered in the lush forests that cover much of the region.

Umbria enjoys an abundance of produce like grains, vegetables and fruit thanks to its green and natural environment. In addition, there is also the abundance of forest animals, providing hearty elements to many Umbrian dishes. It's all about freshness, simplicity and good flavor.

Locally grown truffles, lentils (Casteluccio lentils carry the only DOC in the world), cardoons, porcini mushrooms, wild asparagus, chestnuts and some of the best olive oil in Italy are important staple foods in Umbria recipes. It is also known for an abundance of meat dishes, particularly lamb, pork, and game. The region lakes mainly Lake Trasimeno supply a variety of fresh lake fish such as carp, trout, mullet, pike, and perch.
Umbria's largest city Perugia is home to Perugina chocolate Company famous for its "Bacio" chocolate and hazelnut praline and it hosts EuroChocolate the largest chocolate festival held every October.
Umbria’s most famous wines include the white Orvietto (Trebbiano and Grechetto) and the reds Sangiovese, Sagrantino di Montefalco and Torgiano.
​
Please call the restaurant for reservations at 703-455-3095

01/14/2026

Please join us on Sunday, January 25th at 5:30pm for our monthly 5-course wine-pairing dinner featuring the country of Greece with its ancient sun-bleached ruins piercing blue skies, the balmy Aegean lapping an endless coastline and a culture alive with passionate music, wonderful cuisine and thrill-seeking activities. Greece offers sunshine, whitewashed houses with bright-blue shutters, delicious food, and a relaxed lifestyle. And, as the cradle of Western civilization, it has some of the world's greatest ancient monuments. With its long history, incomparable sights, and simple lifestyle, Greece has a timeless appeal.
Greek gastronomy is a vibrant, healthy Mediterranean cuisine built on fresh ingredients like olive oil, vegetables, grains and seafood with diverse regional traditions reflecting its history while blending its ancient roots and absorbing influences from ancient conquests such as the Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. It incorporates staples like moussaka, souvlaki, tzatziki, and fresh fish with unique flavors in dishes like spinach pies (spanakopita) and stuffed grape leaves. Greek cooking has been shaped to a large extent by the country’s geography with its diverse character of the island and continental regions defining the culinary identity of each area. The Greek word Symposio is as ancient as the Greek people and means “to drink in the company of others”.
Greece is a country where history, gastronomy and winemaking are deeply intertwined forming an unbroken thread that stretches back over 6,000 years. Few nations embody such a seamless fusion of ancient heritage with living culinary and viticultural traditions as Greece does. It also boasts the longest documented history of viticulture and winemaking on Earth with grape domestication and wine production dating back to 4500BC with Minoan Crete civilization. Greece is thus a country where the past is tasted daily, where history is made edible, drinkable and the center of social interaction.
So join us to taste some of Greece's most iconic dishes paired with some of its most famous wines such as the whites Moschofilero or Assyrtiko from the island of Santorini or reds such as Agiorgitiko and Xinomavro as well as dessert wines like the Muscat from Sanos or the Vin Santo from Santorini or of course the popular Mavrodaphne.

Can't wait to see you, Ciao!

01/04/2026

Happy Birthday Rafagino! On January 4th 1996 you officially opened the doors to the public after months of renovations, training and mock service! Now 30 years later you continue to serve this wonderful community that has remained loyal over the years. It’s been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this remarkable record. Thank you to all of you that made this journey possible. Not one day went by that we didn’t recognize and acknowlege that without our loyal and valued customers and our esteemed and professional staff none of this would ever be possible. Thank you all and HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAFAGINO!

10/16/2025

Please join us on Sunday October 26th at 5:30pm for a 5-course wine pairing dinner featuring the beautiful region of Tuscany. This paradise-like region of bucolic rolling hills, gorgeous coastal islands and rustic olive groves and vineyards is possibly the world's greatest repository of art. From extraordinary paintings and sculpture to frescoes and architectural masterpieces, this is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. To top it all off, it is also a gastronomical destination. Simplicity is central to Tuscan cuisine. Tuscan cooking doesn’t use complicated seasonings or elaborate creations because they’re not needed. Instead, it’s made using fresh, high-quality ingredients that are locally sourced as well as locally grown produce that bring out the natural flavors in each dish. Its inhabitants are known as "mangiafagioli" - bean eaters for the shear amount of beans eaten in this region.
Some of the most traditional foods of this region include Steak Fiorentina, Tripe Fiorentina, Beans & sausage, Ribollita, Pappardelle with wild boar ragu, Caciucco alla Livornese, Cantucci and Castagnaccio cake.
It is also the producer of some of the world's most renowned wines such as Brunello di Montalcino, Super Tuscans, Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, the white Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Vermentino and the dessert wine Vin Santo.
We sincerely hope you'll be able to join us for this evening "under the Tuscan sky" as we taste some of their regional specialties and reminisce about past trips to Tuscany or plan future ones to this unbelievable region.
Please call the restaurant for reservations!

09/15/2025

Please join us on Sunday, September 28th at 5:30pm for a 5-course wine dinner featuring the delicious food and wines of the beautiful island of Sicily (the largest in the Mediterranean). This is a magical place scented with citrus fruits and spices, a fertile land surrounded by a beautiful sea teeming with all sorts of fish and crustaceans. It is a large kitchen in the heart of the Mediterranean that mixes cultures as if they were ingredients, elevating the art of cooking to a true science. A Sicily of pebbles and tropical white sand beaches, of warm and bright transparent seas and rugged volcanic coastlines. The exaltation of the Mediterranean is a serene beauty to behold. Eternal crossroads of the Mediterranean, this gorgeous island continues to seduce travelers with its dazzling diversity of culinary riches, landscapes and cultural treasures. Few places on earth can embrace so many fragrances and flavors as Sicily. Here the Mediterranean diet captures the essence and the deepest synthesis of this island, and symbolizes its quality of life. For this reason the word “diet” , from the Greek diaita, means way of life.
This region’s exotic cuisine is a hybrid of all the cultures that established themselves on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia: French, Greek, Spanish, Persian and Arab influences abound. A delectable layer-cake of culinary influences, a magnificent island with multiple souls sums up the Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Norman grandeur. Sicily's ancient cuisine continues to rely on a few key island-grown ingredients: shellfish and citrus, tuna and swordfish, pistachios, almonds, eggplant and ricotta. It's truly locally sourced food consists of in-season high quality ingredients.
With its ideal climate for grape growing and its nutrient-rich volcanic soils it's no surprise the high quality of its red wines such as Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Frappato, Nerello Mascalese and Nero d’Avola and whites such as Carricante, Catarratto, Grillo and Insolia as well as Zibbibo and Marsala dessert wines.
If you decide to join us please call the restaurant for reservations

09/01/2025

It is with great sadness and a certain amount of guarded excitement that Rosa and I announce our move away from leading Rafagino. We will be pivoting to a new phase in our lives where we will be writing new chapters and pursuing new adventures. We will miss all of our wonderful customers especially those of you that became great friends and part of our extended family. You will be sorely missed.

Writing these words is bittersweet, because while it is difficult to say goodbye, our hearts are full of gratitude.

This passionate journey started 30 years ago with a simple idea - providing elevated home style Italian cuisine to the neighborhood in a simple but welcoming setting with a dash of elegance, a sprig of Italian & Portuguese hospitality and a huge amount of respect, love and professionalism. We are so incredibly proud of the relationships that we were able to create and how they nourished our labor through the years. We are thrilled that we were able to turn an invented portmanteau with the names of Rosa’s Mom and Dad - Rafa and Gino - into a household name spoken by thousands over the years and a Google word searched over 5000 times per quarter. But most of all we are humbled by how often you allowed us to be a part of your most important celebrations.

When Rafagino first opened, our dream was simple: to create a place where people could gather, share a meal, and feel at home. It was never just a restaurant but a place where friendships were made and milestones were celebrated. Over three decades, we’ve had the privilege of serving not just meals, but memories—birthdays, anniversaries, first dates, reunions, and countless evenings of laughter and conversation.
To so many of you, it became a second home, and to us, you became part of our family.

None of this would have been possible without you—our loyal guests who became like family, our dedicated staff whose passion and talent brought warmth to every plate and every service, and the community that embraced us from the very beginning. You have made Rafagino what it was, and for that we are forever grateful.

Rafagino will continue to serve you under new management y Gerald and Jody Harden, while retaining every single friendly employee known to you. The same team you have come to know will stay intact and will eagerly welcome you back and provide you with the same excellent service, friendly demeanor and warm delivery that you have come to expect.

We want to thank you for all the great times, wonderful moments, great conversations and unforgettable memories. We are better for having known you. We leave with nothing but gratitude and joy for the journey we shared together.

We hope to see you all again very soon. Until then we wish you all the very best.

With heartfelt gratitude
Paulo & Rosa and
The Rafagino Family

08/28/2025

Please join us on Sunday, September 7th as we redo our wine dinner in the hope of accommodating all of the guests unable to secure reservations for August 31st. It will feature a 5-course wine dinner featuring the delicious food and wines of the beautiful island of Sardinia (the 2nd largest island in the Mediterranean).

This region’s cuisine is influenced by its original inhabitants the Nuraghic people from 1600 B.C and its many invaders - Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and Spanish. Sardinia didn’t become part of Italy until 1861, so the island had more than 2,500 years to absorb these hybrid influences. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. With twice as many sheep as people, lamb as well as pork are very popular. Great seafood from its waters include Tuna, swordfish, sardines, anchovies, lobster and many others.

Sardinia also offers lots of great wines such as its famous white wines including Vermentino, Torbato, Malvasia and its red wines such as Cannonau (Grenache) and Carignano. This is also the location of the largest contiguous vineyard in all of Italy (Sella & Mosca) in the northwest part of the island.

We hope you'll be able to join us.

08/13/2025

Please join us on Sunday, August 31st for a 5-course wine dinner featuring the delicious food and wines of the beautiful island of Sardinia (the 2nd largest island in the Mediterranean).

This region’s cuisine is influenced by its original inhabitants the Nuraghic people from 1600 B.C and its many invaders - Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and Spanish. Sardinia didn’t become part of Italy until 1861, so the island had more than 2,500 years to absorb these hybrid influences. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. With twice as many sheep as people, lamb as well as pork are very popular. Great seafood from its waters include Tuna, swordfish, sardines, anchovies, lobster and many others.

Sardinia also offers lots of great wines such as its famous white wines including Vermentino, Torbato, Malvasia and its red wines such as Cannonau (Grenache) and Carignano. This is also the location of the largest contiguous vineyard in all of Italy (Sella & Mosca) in the northwest part of the island.

We hope you'll be able to join us.

07/14/2025

Please join us on Sunday, July 27th at 5:30pm for a 5-course wine dinner featuring the delicious food and wines of Puglia and its capital city of Bari. Barletta, 20km along the Adriatic coast north of Bari is the birthplace of chef/owner Rosa Buono.

Puglia is an agricultural region in the far south of Italy (it’s the heel of the country’s boot). With plenty of sun, fertile soil, and a flat landscape it’s ideal for growing vegetables and with over 500 miles of coastline it's home to a dizzying variety of fish and shellfish. Puglia boasts gorgeous beaches, lush farmland, ornate churches, and ancient ruins. It’s also home to many of the foods Italy is famous for! Its deeply-rooted cucina povera tradition means its cuisine tends to be simple and delicious, relying on fresh, local produce. Plus, even the act of eating itself is a serious local tradition in Puglia.

Local and seasonal aren’t just fashionable buzz words here, it’s just the way things are done and farm-to-table is the only way to eat in this gastronomic paradise. This region’s cuisine relies mostly on simple cooking methods with pristine flavorful ingredients. This region produces 60% of all vegetables in Italy, 40% of all its wine and 25% of all European produced olive oil. Known for its plentiful fish and shellfish, its varied and fresh vegetables, its Burrata, its Orecchiette al Ragu and its Brasciole, Puglia’s “cucina povera” is truly local and fantastically delicious.

Its famous wines include the reds Negroamaro (Salice Salentino), Primitivo di Manduria, Nero di T***a, Castel del Monte Aglianico, Bombino Nero, Malvasia Nera and the whites Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Bombino Bianco and Fiano.

Come and taste it for yourself!

We hope you'll be able to join us. Please call the restaurant for reservations

06/12/2025

Please join us on Sunday, June 29th at 5:30pm for a 5-course wine dinner featuring the delicious food and wines of Portugal.

Often overlooked in the past, Portuguese cuisine is now being called Europe’s best cuisine. Although Portugal introduced hot chiles to Asia, tea to England, lamb vindaloo to India, cabidela to Macao, feijoada to Brazil, congee to China and tempura to Japan, the country’s cuisine still remains a mystery to most food lovers outside of its borders. The roots of Portuguese food lie in both native peasant cookery and the ingredients obtained through trade routes established many centuries ago. Bread, rice, spices, pastries, sausages, and seafood — especially cod — remain the staples of many Portuguese meals. Portuguese food marries locally sourced ingredients (especially fish, seafood, pork and game) with a straightforward preparation that lets the flavors shine through with the predominant dressing for grills and roasts being olive oil, garlic and lemon, though coriander, cumin and paprika are commonly used in cooking. From the best seafood in the world to the most sought after and most tender black-foot pig, to the ever present dry-salted codfish and some of the world’s best olive oil, the secret is out.

To top it all off, Portugal as a whole has the highest quality production of wines at extremely reasonable prices in the world. Best price-quality ratio, period. With an immense variety of grapes only rivaled by Italy, the industry keeps on producing amazing new wines from obscure varietals at a rate not seen anywhere else. If you’re not yet familiar with them, you’ll soon come to relish a refreshing glass of vinho verde on a hot summer day, or a gutsy Alentejo red with your grilled meat, or a Bordeaux-like elegant Douro wine such as Touriga Nacional with any meal.

Come and taste it for yourself! We hope you can join us!

05/08/2025

Please join us Sunday, May 25th at 5:30pm for a 5-course wine-tasting dinner featuring the delicious food and wines of Piemonte and its capital city of Turin the most industrialized city in Italy and home to automakers Fiat, Alfa-Romeo & Pininfarina, Olivetti Electronics and Lavazza coffee.

This region’s food has more in common with French cuisine than Italian. Most pasta sauces are butter and cream based, meats are eaten either grilled or stewed and fish is almost nonexistent in traditional Piemontese cuisine with the exception of Tuna, Salmon, Trout and Baccala.

Its specialties include Veal Tonnato, Agnolotti, Bresato al Barolo (a tasty beef stew) and Taleggio cheese sauces. This region is the leading producer of rice and Hazelnuts and the birthplace of Nutella. It is also home to Ferrero, the third largest chocolate producer in the world, Alba famous for its white truffles, Asti known for its Moscato, Asti Spumanti and some of the best wines in the world such as Barolo & Barbaresco.

Aptly named Piedmont (foot of the mountain), this region surrounded on three sides by the Alps, enjoys an unrivaled seat among the world's very finest wine regions. Home to such well known and respected wines Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Dolcetto, Roero Arneis, Gavi di Gavi and Moscato d'Asti. Although famous for its austere, tannic, and floral red wines made from Nebbiolo, Piedmont's greatest success story in the past decade has been sweet, white, sparkling Moscato d'Asti.

If you decide to join us, please call the restaurant for a reservation at (703) 455-3095

Address

9570 Old Keene Mill Road
Burke, VA
22015

Opening Hours

Tuesday 5pm - 9pm
Wednesday 5pm - 9pm
Thursday 5pm - 9pm
Friday 5pm - 10pm
Saturday 5pm - 10pm
Sunday 5pm - 9pm

Telephone

+17034553095

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Rafagino Ristorante posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Restaurant

Send a message to Rafagino Ristorante:

Shortcuts

Share

Category