Business & Tech

Comptroller Commends Positano Ristorante for Longtime Service

Longtime small business Positano Ristorante received special praise for its many years of service to the Bethesda community.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot made a special stop at longtime Bethesda gem Positano Ristorante (4948 Fairmont Ave.) on Friday to commend owners Luigi, Angela and Jim Traettino for more than 35 years of service to the Bethesda and Washington, DC, communities.

Joining the comptroller to present the proclamation to Luigi Traettino and his son Jim Traettino were Montgomery County Sherif Darren Popkin and Maryland Sen. Brian Frosh (D-District 16).

Franchot thanked the Traettinos for "providing a great welcoming gathering place in a friendly atmosphere" for more than 35 years.

Popkin added that "it's the small businesses that really drive the economy in Montgomery County."

"It means the world to us that even though these big buildings and everything are closing in on you, you've stayed in that small business environment," Popkin added.

"We might be squeezed in, but we'll survive," Luigi Traettino, who opened the restaurant in Bethesda in 1977, said.

Read about Luigi Traettino's plans for a winery in the restaurant on Patch.

Sen. Frosh—who is running for the position of Maryland's attorney general—added that he and his parents have enjoyed dining at Positano Ristorante for many years.

Positano offers the best of both northern and southern Italian cuisine, as Luigi Traettino is from southern Italy (near Positano and Naples), and his wife, Angela Traettino, is from northern Italy.

One of the restaurant's specialities is "Veal Matrimonio," described in the menu as a "marriage of veal and chicken breast, stuffed with sausage, zucchini, herbs and spices, sauteed in Marsala wine, served with penne and eggplant." Angela Traettino makes that particular dish herself, Luigi Traettino said.

The restaurant also makes its own bread, pasta, mozzarella cheese and—among many other things—its own tiramisu.


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