Maria Trabocchi has built a Washington restaurant brand on hospitality and Italian fine dining — and for years, Sfoglina, Fiola, Fiola Mare and Casa Luca (and, most recently, Del Mar) have played host to D.C.’s A-list. The Obamas have feasted there, along with foreign heads of state, Hollywood stars like Meryl Streep, and the occasional Supreme Court justice.

But the secret to charming the VIPs of the nation’s capital? According to Trabocchi — who runs her restaurant empire along with her husband, famed chef Fabio Trabocchi — it’s treating them as if they were just like any other guest.