Via Tribunali

Price: $$
Thoughts: ☆☆☆☆¾
Via Tribunali: Menu

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Lately I noticed I have been eating dinner later and later. This was the first restaurant I tried during the Seattle Restaurant Week event which I will refer to as SRW from now on. They have many locations, but we chose the Fremont location due to the higher ratings, also it was conveniently closer to our homes. Finding parking was not too difficult, but then again it was past 9:30 at night. We were the only ones there save for one other customer at the bar, the interior had a very homely feel.

My friend was told to try the Margherita D.O.C. which was also on their SRW menu as well. The event menus are broken-down into a 3-course dinner or lunch for $25 and $15, an appetizer, entrée, and a dessert. The portions given as they should, so this is quite a good deal.

For our appetizers we got the Saute Di Vongole and the Misto Salumi:


SAUTE DI VONGOLE -fresh clams with olive oil, garlic, white wine oven fired

It's hard to go wrong with clams in garlic and oil. Nothing that made it stand out from anything we've had before, but it doesn't make it bad either. I was curious and imagined how good it would taste if they used the same garlic sauce that Ocho used on their prawns.


MISTO SALUMI -coppa, prosciutto di parma, speck, olives, grana padano

Served on a wooden paddle with the meats laid across and the olives in a ramekin. It was the first time having green olives that looked like green kumquats. I tend to consume a lot of prosciutto at home (wrapped around prawns) so my bias would make this my favorite on the plate. The grana padano tasted great when wrapped around with the prosciutto and speck (which is smoked prosciutto). The small slices of coppa had enough kick of spiciness to leave a taste lingering in my mouth. I ended up just popping the olives like they were grapes and removing the flesh around the seed.

For the entrée we got the Margherita D.O.C. and the Piazza Dante:


MARGHERITA D.O.C. -pomodoro, mozzarella di bufala, basil

A very basic pizza with three ingredients. This pizza is tied together very well with the fresh basil, which sealed the deal as the best pizza between the two. Served piping hot, but because of how thin it is, it cooled down really fast.


PIAZZA DANTE -pomodoro, arugula, prosciutto crudo, smoked mozzarella, cherry tomato

Served over literally a mountain of arugula and porsciutto. I chose this one because of my last experience eating pizza with some kind of tomato as a topping rather than a sauce. Eating the cherry tomatoes provided the similar bursts of flavor that the pancheta did at Tutta Bella on a much smaller scale, but still pleasant nonetheless. I think the most difficult part of the pizza was dividing it into quarters.

And for the desserts. Their Mezza Luna di Nutella and Tartufo Affogato:


MEZZA LUNA DI NUTELLA -chocolate, hazelnut calzone

This is BIG... it's the same size as the pizzas we ate for dinner, except fold one half over and stuff it with nutella. In other words, it is best to share this dish. Putting a little of the espresso from my dessert made it an interesting, but pleasant taste as it gave it a hazelnut espresso mix.


TARTUFO AFFOGATO -vita espresso over chocolate gelato

I don't drink coffee. Ever. But I still got this because I really wanted to eat the chocolate gelato. Their espresso comes from the Caffé Vita next to the restaurant, and is quite strong. With the gelato melting alarmingly fast into the espresso masked the bitterness that deters me from coffees in the first place. I found myself enjoying the espresso and the portion is small enough to keep you from feeling like you had too much, but large enough that you will be done for the night.

We both saved a quarter of our pizzas for leftovers which was a good idea, as we were already full after dessert. The water they served us was lukewarm, it would have been nice if they provided a few ice cubes especially with the weather slowly warming up. This place knows how to make pizza well and a wide variety of it too. I too, would recommend the Magherita D.O.C. to anyone as their first pizza here. Sometimes, the simplest pizzas just cannot be beaten.