Take your Valentine to Italy without Leaving Wheaton

Finding a nice, quiet place to take your someone special on Valentine’s Day can be a challenge. Luckily for lovers in Wheaton, brings all the romance of the Italian coast to downtown Wheaton.

Owner Nick Kontos, who had previously run La Panetteria and Athenian Plaka in Bethesda, took over the existing space at 2666 University Boulevard West in May of 2002, transforming it into an upscale Italian restaurant.

“I was going to retire,” says Kontos “But then I found this place, and saw that Wheaton did not have a real Italian restaurant, and I did it.”

Kontos who is “of mixed blood - I got the Italian, and the Greek,” has been honing his culinary skills for more than 50 years, cooking on passenger ships which took him all over the world and allowed him to experience many different types of regional food.

For Valentine’s Day, Cristina’s head chef Gabriel Campos is creating two special entrees, a rockfish a la bruzzi, served on a bed of roasted fennel and potatoes, topped with a saffron and wine sauce for $24.95 and a filet mignon with mushroom Barolo sauce, paired with shrimp stuffed with crabmeat for $34.95. Kontos recommends that calamari appetizer, while Campos seems to give the nod to lobster bisque.

While you may not quite feel the gentle breeze from the Mediterranean, stepping off of the sidewalk of University Boulevard into Cristina’s is a transformative experience. Bright murals of Italian vistas and waterways sooth the eye, and the further back in the restaurant you go, the more the blaring horns of traffic melt away.

If the Valentine’s Day specials are not to your liking, Cristina’s regular dinner menu features a number of chicken, veal, beef and lamb dishes, as well as dozen seafood selections, which Kontos is very proud of. The zuppa di pesce is a popular choice.

You’ll want to remind your Valentine to save the heart-shaped box of chocolates, as Cristina’s offers a number of tempting treats to complete your romantic meal, including their signature tiramisu, crème brulee, chocolate mousse cake and a mascarpone/lemon/cherry cheesecake.