Restaurant Review: Pizzeria Pulcinella

Pizzeria Pulcinella is a Italian memory brought right into present day. But wait, its in Rainier Beach of all places! In a way, it makes it even more fun, a real "find" and an evening's destination. The owner, Vince Mottola Jr., was a part of some of my earliest restaurant experience. Vince's Italian Restaurant is a tradition in the grubby (but up and coming I swear!) town of Burien, where I grew up. Started by Vince Sr in 1957, its a classic American Italian restaurant with red and white checked tablecloths and all the usual suspects on the menu. I have to say, I personally don't recommend it. Italian food in America has come a long way since Vince's heyday and Vince Jr. gets that. With Pizzeria Pulcinella, his quest was not to make an Americanized version of Italian food, but to do true, authentic Neopolitan pizza, and he has succeeded.

The restaurant has a great feel to it. A big open room with high ceilings, tile floor, the pizza station and wood-burning oven right in the center. As soon as I went through the doors my excitement went through the roof, I love the look of the place. Vince's adorable blond wife, who lovingly attends the host stand, could sense it immediately and gave us the best two seats in the house. They're at the bar, facing the door, right in front of the pizza station. I loved that because it was awesome to talk to the pizzaiolo and learn some tips and tricks. We did it "wine lunch" style (though it was dinner time) - just a pitcher of cold crisp white wine and pizza. The menu has pasta as well, but who are they kidding? We know what we're here for!

We ordered two pies. the Vomero, with tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto, and arugula and the Vesuvio, with tomato, mozzarella, sausage, and red onion. They were the stuff of dreams. The crust was just lightly crisp with a little blackening on the bottom (very important!) and nicely chewy with a hint of yeastiness. San Marzano tomato sauce follows and the brightness and acidity of these little gems makes such an enormous difference in the overall effect. The mozzarella used is the fresh milk variety. My favorite of the two, the Vomero, is baked with just the tomato and mozzarella and then topped with the prosciutto and arugula after baking. The Vesuvio was also delicious and I loved the addition of red onion, which had been roasted to bring out its sweetness.

For dessert, we ordered cannoli, which was a first for Zack. Crispy pastry shell filled with marscapone cheese dotted with tiny chunks of chocolate - wickedly delicious and washed down with a dark mahogany shot of coffee.

It was a wonderful meal. A perfect staycation meal. We got to travel to Italy with our tastebuds. I'm going to reserve judgement on a Golden Piglet for this because I've only been once, but I think it could easily get there. Most assuredly, it IS the best neopolitan wood-fired pizza in Seattle.

Restaurant Review: Cascina Spinasse Trattoria Pastificio Artigianale

A long and complex name for a small, quaint and authentic restaurant on Capitol Hill. A trattoria is generally a more casual restaurant in Italy and Pastificio Artigianale translates to artisan pasta and that is what this restaurant is most lauded for. Monday night, I celebrated a friend's birthday there and the pasta WAS perfection, but that was just one of the many reasons the experience was glorious. The ambiance, food and wine were suberb overall and the warm, overjoyed company of dear friends made everything taste, look and feel even better.

The restaurants decor is a whimsical collection of mismatched tables and chairs and pretty antiques. Lace curtains cover the front windows and a dining bar overlooks an open kitchen. It's comforting to see the restaurants well-known chef owner, Justin Niedermeyer, working feverishly in the kitchen. We truly had the best table in the house - a small round Cararra marble four-top in the restaurants front window. It's the only table that is not given to the currently very popular trend of communal dining, which means you might be dining with strangers. This is not something I am a big fan of. True, it can be fun meeting new people at dinner, but I would prefer to enjoy the company of the people I chose to go out with in the first place. I really want to focus all my attention on them and the meal. Anyway, so we three were more than delighted to find this perfect little table stood waiting just for us. Definite squealing commenced. Things were off to a wonderful start.

We all had a glass of the prosecco - Villa Sparina. It was lush, with more honey and body to it than most Italian sparklers I've had. We decided to forgo the family style courses option offered on the menu and pave our own way, sharing everything. We started with the Antipasto misto della casa. Roasted cardoons with toasted bread crumbs, anchovies with arugula pesto and firm egg yolk crumbles, thinly sliced poached veal with a rich tuna aioli (heavenly!), a chicory salad with roasted rabbit, prosciutto, lardo, soppressata and lovely lovely bread. It was the perfect combination of familiar and totally unique items and we were all very impressed and happy. Next, we had Tajarin al ragu. This hand-cut pasta is the most finely cut strand I've ever seen (think of angel hair cut in half!). The mouth feel was so wonderful and it was combined with a rich and classic bolognese style ragu. Another pasta was ravioli stuffed with ricotta, with shaved porcini, sauteed nettles and a butter sage sauce. Very nice, though a bit too subtle. Sauteed housemade sausages on lacinato kale were awesome. With the pastas and sausages we enjoyed an absolutely wonderful Barbara d' asti. This varietal is such a consistently delicious choice when picking from Italian wines and we all loved it.

I have to say, I personally did not like the dessert. It was a steamed chocolate custard that was infused with a minty flavor, but not in a familiar chocolate mint kind of way, but more in an herbacious soapy flavor way. I was alone in this impression at the table however, so it wasn't a matter of it being bad, simply that I didn't personally like it. The hazelnut meringue cookies we had alongside were better. Not too sweet and powerfully toasty nutty.

This is a wonderful, homey restaurant. There is nothing urban or modern in its feel. It is comforting and feels truly Italian, with great pride in ingredients and techinque on all levels. I highly recommend it.

Restaurant Review: Anchovies & Olives: Italian Sea Specialties on Captitol Hill

I’m fresh off the Anchovies and Olives boat and eager to dish. I loved this place. It helps that I was so excited to try it. It’s pedigree is exceptional, as brother and sister to such favorites of mine as Tavolata and How to Cook a Wolf. This brother is the seafaring kind, focusing on seafood to some degree in every item on their menu. But I beg you, do not be put off by this. Within, you will find such subtlety and nuance of flavor, such pure and simple goodness. The American penchant for fried and overdone fish has destroyed this understanding for many of us. Anchovies and Olives asks you to try fish again, for the first time.

The menu is set up in four parts; crudo – a selection of raw fish served cured or treated in different ways, but raw none the less, appetizers, pastas and finally main courses. All the food is uncomplicated, often with 5-7 ingredients or even less, all with some seafood element, and of such pure and stellar ingredients that nothing more is needed. A piece of pristine pish, a pinch of fine salt, a drizzle of Trampetti olive oil, a crush of good herbs, and all is perfect. We started with Hamachi, sliced thickly, served raw with olive oil, crushed olives and pesto. Spectacular flavor. A mound of prosciutto served with olive oil marinated anchovies, served on a rustic wooden board. Columbia City Bakery’s perfect focaccia is $2 and you get half a loaf, which can be enjoyed underneath or alongside everything you order, or not, whatever you’d like. The grilled octopus is blackened and served with watercress, new potatoes and romescu. This is good but not my favorite. Definitely needs salt. There are a selection of oysters with interesting accompaniments like meyer lemon ice. Not my speed but interesting and lovely for you briny slime lovers out there. Next, we enjoyed the absolutely simple but perfectly toothsome spaghetti with anchovies, red chilies and garlic. I love this dish. The flavor is good but the chew and bite of the fresh pasta is even better. I love the mouth feel. Gnocchi is served stuffed with crab and served with lobster and roasted cauliflower! How interesting a combination and how decadent! Our food, overall, was wonderful. The company, a foursome of seafood loving, soulful ladies, was perfect.

And the service…lovely. Our waiter was attentive, informative and helpfully opinionated. He suggested a couple of different bottles of white wine to pair with our fishy feast and the one we chose from his selection was very good. Darned if I can remember the name, but it was $35 and had a wonderful peachy note to it. Ask them – they’ll know. The wines are all Italian and trusting Ethan Stowell (owner and chef) and his team, any of the waiters will offer you a great recommendation. Anchovies and Olives has a similiar aesthetic to his other two Italian restaurant spots. It is at once rustic and modern, urban and urbane. It is absolutely not a recreation of an Italian restaurant in Italy, but rather a reinterpretation, perfectly suited to todays trends, tastes and times.

It is not, for whatever reason, a Golden Piglet, but its just a few piglet-tail-hairs short, and if you appreciate the fru-ITS of the sea and the inspiration of ITaly, you must not miss it.

(Please forgive the lack of pictures. I took some, but my camera is absolute crap and they really looked awful.)

Restaurant Review: Cantinetta: Unforgettable Italian-A Golden Piglet

PIGLET NOTE: I wrote this review on January 10th of this year (2009), after my first incredible experience at Cantinetta, a restaurant which opened this year in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. I have since gone back many times and dear friends have agreed, this restaurant truly is special. It now has the honor of being given the first ever “Official” Golden Piglet award. I dined there again this Tuesday and was wowed AGAIN, as was Zack and our dinner guest. I must admit, I am deeply biased towards Italian food and experiences, but whether you typically are or not, you can’t help but be moved by this little slice of delight.

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I was sure I was going to love Cantinetta before I walked in the door. The restaurant is on the corner of 37th and Wallingford avenue in what I call Wallingmont and its front and side are a wall of tall windows. The amber light from candlelight and hanging wrought iron and glass chandeliers feels physically warm to me as we drive past. You can see its interior very well in the dark and it looks like Italy to me. Which pretty much guarantees that on an ambiance level, I am going to love the place. I start clapping my hands like a kid and saying to Zack “Oh oh, I’m going to love this, I know it, OOOOHHHH, I’m so excited!”

We park easily on a side street and walk in. White walls, dark mahogany wood trims and beams, rustic tables, gilded mirrors, and well planned lighting is combined perfectly to feel at once casual and elegant. A special occasion you could enjoy every evening without feeling stuffy. Again, I feel I could be in a trattoria in Italy.

We’re joined by our friends Dan and Azurae, who are wonderful dinner companions and adventurous eaters. Together we will try as much as we can of a menu that offers too many enticing choices.

It is set up in the traditional Italian style with antipasto (appetizers), primi (pastas & risottos intended for 1st course), secondi (main dishes) and contorni (vegetable side dishes). This is not American Italian in any way. It is authentic in many ways, but also showcases local sustainable items and puts a contemporary spin on dishes, while still maintaining an unpretentious feel in the presentation.

For instance, we started with Grilled Pancetta wrapped dates with red oak and balsamic. Oh yum. Sweet dates, salty savory pancetta, roasted and served with a nice pile of red oak lettuce dressed simply in a balsamic syrup. Red oak was new to me and is an incredible little leaf. So much complex flavor! Peppery for sure, but as Zack noticed, it almost had a beefy note to it – I know, strange to call lettuce beefy, but it really did. The closest thing I’d compare it to would be arugula. Next, Trotter Milanese, essentially braised pig leg with the meat pulled to small pieces, formed into a meat loaf, breaded and deep fried (breaded and fried is what is meant by Milanese, or, in the style of Milan). This was unique and not as all gross, as one might fear. I enjoyed it but definitely needed my salt treatment. I’ll take a moment hear to say that I have a salt problem. My palette seems to require more and more of it the older I get. I think almost everything, no matter how delectable it is when served to me, is just that much better with a few grains of kosher salt or fleur de sel added. Nuff said.

We ate many items that night and let me say right here that the price is right. Antipastas and contorni range from $7-9 and primi and secondi from $14-$17 . The pasta is excellent. Handmade each day, the pasta itself is toothy in the right way and just as it should be. It is used in many interesting preparations and huge kudos to the chef for his many thoughtful combinations of ingredients. Unlike some restaurants, every single one of the dishes sounded good to us. The final products were all good, but some better than others. Goat cheese agnolotti with blood oranges and port was a little too much sweet and not fully balanced. The Black pepper tagliatelle with creme fraiche, farm egg and lemon was decadent and delicious. Kind of a carbonara without the bacon. Butternut squash mezzaluna (crescent shaped ravioli) with barbera braised oxtail and sage was delicious. The squash flavor was subtle, as the oxtail braised in that red wine was so flavorful and took the forefront. Savory and a touch sweet and so tender from what must have been a six hour hot bath in the wine. Hazelnut fed pork ravioli with ricotta, broccoli rabe and brown butter was also good, although maybe a little more brown butter than was needed. Contorni were beets, farro and fennel pollen, delicious, and an absolutely standout dish of the oft hated brussel sprouts, pairing them with duck confit and roman sea salt. Serious, serious yummage. No joke. Try them again, for the first time.

After all this, we found we were wonderfully comfortable, not full. The portions are nice. Not huge, but not the tiny little overly designed specks you find in more fine dining establishments either. We were able to all eat from each plate, which is good for four people.

We had room for dessert! Okay, this is a must. They have something called Zeppole. An Italian doughnut that I attempt to make at home but don’t even come close to this. Dark golden brown deep friend dough, which is clearly fortified with eggs and butter. They are at once dense and light, I loved the feeling of cutting through them with my fork. Steam is released, swirl it around in a pool of sweet espresso creme anglais, chew, repeat. A perfect end to our meal, with a nice shot of espresso (Cafe Vita).

So ends our foray to this lovely new restaurant. It is just a week old as I write. They are surely still working out some kinks, but we didn’t really experience them. The service was warm and attentive, the food interesting, flavorful and satisfying, the ambiance one of my favorite around town, though admittedly it got pretty loud by the time we left. Surely the effect of good wine, scrumptious food and an environment that lulls you into truly enjoying them.