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.

Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria

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

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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.

Ristorante Machiavelli

Price: $$
Thoughts: ☆☆☆☆
Ristorante Machiavelli: Menu

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Located between downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill next to many other great venues such as the Baltic Room, Bauhaus, and the Baguette Box. We were fortunate to find parking literally right in front of the restaurant, as street parking in that area is very difficult to come by (or a Honda CR-V just is short enough to fit the awkward spots). We didn't have to wait more than a few minutes to get a table as we came around 6:15, a little before the rush of customers that soon filled the restaurant.

We sat by the window facing the main street and had one of the most delicious crusty olive bread with vinaigrette to start our meal. Kevin was fortunate enough to stumble upon the slices that had the most olives in them:



Ginny and I craved for some Italian sodas as well. Both of us got orange with cream, I had forgotten how much I loved drinking this back when I worked at the Crêpe Café. Simple, sweet and smooth:



I got the Caesar salad which came out almost immediately after ordering. The croutons were baked to crispy perfection, but I found the whole salad overpowered by the amount of dressing they used (but it didn't stop me from finishing it; tasted great):



Ginny ordered the Penne with Roasted Pepper Pesto. It filled her up before she could get through half of it (but she ordered dessert anyways):



My friend Kevin had already made up his mind the night before when I showed him the menu the Linguini alla Vongole. His usual, something with seafood in it. He humored us trying to twirl the pasta into the head of the spoon without any luck. I remember watching a scene in Tampopo where a class of upper class Japanese women were being taught how to properly eat noodle. Three strands of pasta and twirl! Anyways, he finished it before Ginny and I were halfway through ours:



I was torn between their Lasagna Bolognese and the Tortellini Formaggio. I ended up with the tortellini with meat sauce. These cheesy stuffed pastas filled me up nicely without feeling like I've eaten too much or too little. Moments like these are usually hard to come by as portions are usually too big or too small for me:



I wasn't sure on how to say the word "Bolognese" so I was butchering the pronunciation as "bollo-nese" as opposed to "bollo-naise". Learned something new!

We all decided to get dessert as well. Kevin and I shared a Tiramisu, which used homemade whipped cream and chocolate mousse. At first I was intimidated by the presentation as it was different than what most of the other tiramisu I've eaten before looked like. But it was quite heavenly tasting. I was pleased with how firm the lady fingers were as opposed to most other tiramisu I've had in the past (normally drenched completely in espresso which overpowers the rest of the cake). The dollop of mousse on the top followed by a good helping of their whipped cream complimented the cake without taking attention from any part of the cake:



Ginny ordered a simple cheesecake, which was a simple cheesecake. I love the taste of cheesecake and all, but for some reason it always makes me sick (not unlike my allergic reaction to ginger which only makes me tired and numb). I envy those who can eat this without stomach problems:



By the end of dessert we were all stuffed. They really know how to give out a good portion for your order. The atmosphere felt very cozy, almost like a house or a café. I was impressed by the speed of the delivery as well as the taste of the food. If I were to visit again (which I can definitely say is a solid place to eat), I'd give their Lasagna Bolognese a go.

Also there is a 5% discount on your entire purchase if you choose to pay with cash instead. Not bad for mitigating part of our high sale tax rate.