Wallingford, Seattle – March 3, 2018

How do we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, new jobs, etc.? With cards? Glass of bubbly? Please, it’s definitely all about celebrating with your stomach.

We hit up Cantinetta in the Wallingford neighborhood for Ray’s 28th birthday.

Let’s talk about the….

SPACE

The restaurant itself was small and intimate, no more than 50 or 60 seats in total. There was a combination of tables, some with bench seating, a handful of bar seats and a private alcove towards the back for large groups and private parties. The décor and setup of the kitchen, with it’s windows for guests to look into, reminded us of a home in Tuscany or along the Italian coast. It definitely had a warm, homey vibe going on, like you were eating at your Italian grandmother’s house. The windows looking into the kitchen were a nice touch – it was cool to be able to see the chefs making fresh pasta or doing prep work.

SERVICE

We were seated quickly after arriving (we did have a reservation). Our server was great and very communicative. We didn’t feel rushed to make a decision right away. He checked back often throughout the meal to make sure we were enjoying everything. At one point, after receiving our drinks and having sat down for a bit, he brought over free focaccia bread to apologize for the delay in our first dish. Honestly, it didn’t even seem like that long of a wait for us, but we did appreciate the gesture. Our waiter even let us know that the dish had sat on the bar for too long for their standards and offered to replace it. This exceptional customer service and attentiveness was much appreciated.

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FOOD

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Now onto the good stuff – the food. Let’s talk about the:

• Focaccia bread: I’m never one to pass up free bread. While the bread was great as a peace offering for the delay in our meal, it was pretty dense and moist. Both Ray and I agreed that while it was still alright focaccia bread, we would have preferred a lighter, more cooked through bread. The focaccia was served with some classic olive oil.
• Appetizers:
  • Panzanella Salad – panzanella bread, watercress, pear, fennel sausage: This salad was not as good in comparison to the arugula salad we also ordered. There wasn’t much flavor coming from the ingredients besides the fennel sausage.
  • Arugula Salad – arugula, blood orange, fennel, pine nuts, limoncello: We preferred this salad over the panzanella one and was our favorite starter. There was a great mix of texture from all the ingredients and it had a great mix of flavor as well, especially the citrus from the blood orange.
  • Baked Polenta – polenta, gorgonzola, age balsamic: It’s hard to go wrong with something baked in cheese. Despite this dish combining some of our favorite things (polenta and cheese), it was nothing to write home about.
•  Mains/Entrees:
  • Strozzapreti Pasta – braised lamb, english peas, mint: The pasta dish was made up of peas, crouton-like bread pieces, sausage and some grated parmesan sprinkled on top. I found this dish somewhat underwhelming in comparison to Ray. I felt it was a bit bland in flavor and the peas were hard in texture. Ray, on the other hand, really liked how the peas were harder. 
  • Tagliatelle Pasta – black pepper tagilatelle, carbonara, prosciutto: The tagliatelle won for me. It was a simple pasta dish made up of carbonara, prosciutto and some black pepper mixed in. The dish was simple in execution but big on flavor. I thoroughly enjoyed the spice from the black pepper and the elevated texture and flavor from the prosciutto.

IN SUMMARY:

Overall, this was a nice restaurant, but probably won’t be our go-to place. The overall feel and ambiance was very nice, especially if you’re into Italy. The food was a bit of a hit and miss, with some dishes outperforming others in flavor and execution. We have a soft spot for some other Italian restaurants which are consistently tasty through their dishes (here’s looking at you Ethan Stowell Restaurants), but I would still recommend a visit to the restaurant for date night or a special occasion.