Ten years ago, I had one of the best desserts of my life at an Italian restaurant called L’Artusi in Manhattan. It was an olive-oil cake—decadent but light, with sparkles of salt and boozy raisins, a tuft of whipped crème fraîche, and not a trace of bitterness.

The cake was the work of Katherine Thompson—who is one half of the married couple behind four-month-old Thompson Italian. Gabe Thompson, her husband, handles the pastas, carpaccios, salads, and other savory plates. The pair moved back to Katherine’s native Arlington once they had toddlers, and they took over the Falls Church space that had long held Argia’s. “We liked the idea that it had been there for 19 years,” Gabe says.