D'Ambrosio Gelato

Price: $
Thoughts: ☆☆☆☆☆
D'Ambrosio Gelato: Menu

---

Following the dinner at Quinn's was sating the craving for something cold. Initially I wanted frozen yogurt from Red Mango, but passed up on it for gelato instead. This was one of the closer locations that was on the way back from the restaurant so we gave it a shot.

It was a race against the clock for this one considering the establishment closed at 10:00 PM and it was 9:56 when we got there. However to our relief they were still open and had a steady stream of customers. This was already a good indicator that the gelato here must be worth trying out.

The server was highly amused by the shirt I was wearing from Korea. Always good to see and amuse people. I'll post up a photo of it later. They had interesting flavors, and the one I went with was the Bacio di Dama with the Nicciola delle Langhe. My friend got the Bacio di Dama with Cantaloupe (pictured below). The combination of mine worked well with each other. Cantaloupe; not so much.


Bacio di Dama w/ Cantaloupe gelato

Mine looked identical to the above picture, except the flavor that was inside. The gelato was very generous with the amount of hazelnut chips that were in each scoop. Lots of different textures only complimented the experience.

Bacio di Dama translates to Woman's Kiss which was the reason why I chose this as my flavor. Without any description of it other than being located on their crema selections it piqued my curiosity. From what I tasted, it's creamy flavor I believe has possibly a hint of almond or something alike. The portions are great for the money. The quality of the gelato is great without a doubt.

Located on Ballard ave, which is quite confusing if you are unfamiliar with the area and it is dark outside. A great place to go on a summer night as the area is still well-lit and there is lots to see.

Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria

Price: $$
Thoughts: ☆☆☆☆¾
Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria: Menu(2009-2010)

---

Palomino's has been the past place for me to satisfy all of my pizza cravings. However, it was time to try something new and Tutta Bella's was one of the names I threw at my friend Latara; she does love pizza so I thought comparing menus with her would be a good idea.

Located literally in among three excellent areas of Seattle for eating: Green Lake, Fremont, and Wallingford; You know this is going to be a good place to eat. They have a small parking lot on the south end of the restaurant, but it will almost always be full. There are plenty of residential streets for parking that aren't plagued with the ZONE permit requirements as well. I got cut off by another driver who stole my parking spot as I was pulling in, so after a few minutes of driving I found another one about a block away. The entrance we went through gave us the impression that it was a small restaurant, and very well packed at 6:30 P.M.

Walking in revealed that the restaurant was more than three times deeper than the partition we came in from. There were a few seats located by the window which we were fortunate to land without waiting for more than a few minutes.



There were a lot of reserved tables around us, just as many were occupied as well.



Deciding what to eat was easy. The Capricciosa (Capricious pizza) was our first choice: Pomodoro San Marzano, artichoke hearts, roasted mushrooms, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, red chile flakes, Grana Padano.



The olives and the basil on the pizza gave this a nice fresh taste but seemed to lack a bit of kick in the flavor.

The other pizza was their Pancetta e Pomodoro (Italian bacon and tomato pizza): Extra virgin olive oil, pancetta, fresh mozzarella, fire-roasted tomatoes, roasted onions.



The pizzas were served to us in no more than five minutes from when we ordered! It was pretty impressive, considering how packed and busy the restaurant had become by the time we were ordering. Our bet was the Capricciosa was going to be the winner between the two. But it was quite the opposite. The "fire-roasted" tomatoes actually provided the most flavor from the entire pizza. I had to remember to share half of it and not eat it all for myself. The simple combination of panchetta, tomatoes and onions seemed to work miracles.

Gelato was the dessert of choice, two tripoli's. Chocolate chip and chocolate chip with coconut (the nutella was forgotten but brought in a smaller separate bowl):





The chocolate chip and the chocolate chip with coconut alongside each other did not make for much variety, the nutella though was quite delicious. I usually am not a fan of this but the gelato version of this is far more lighter and easier on the mouth.

My tripoli included the strawberry, chocolate chip and the vanilla:



The strawberry flavor was my favorite without a doubt. Although, I am curious as to what their pear flavored one tasted like, but I was immensely satisfied with the choices I made.

Running into a restaurant that can tackle timeliness, with quality, and all at a good price is quite impressive in it's own right. I will definitely eat here again. It was a difficult decision whether to just give this five stars or less than that. I only rated it a shy from perfect because I was underwhelmed by the Capricciosa. The difference between the two pizzas I believe justified this score. When my friend Latara comes to visit Seattle (hopefully this summer), this will be the first place on my list to take her to.