Don't Miss the Dessert!

Last night Ken and I decided it was time to have dinner at the new neighborhood restaurant on old Main St. in Belleuve, Cantinetta.  We arrived in a downpour (this is Seattle after all) and with no valet parking available, I had to park quite a distance away in a space that was not really a legal parking space.  Valet parking would be a huge asset for diners since available public parking in this neighborhood is minimal.

As I dropped Ken off in front of the restaurant, he was greeted by Tiffany and Dan Sandal, who were just leaving and he followed Steve Ballmer into the restaurant.  The restaurant was full and it was quite a "who's who in Bellevue" scene.  Korynne and Jeff Wright along with Korynne's parents were seated shortly after we were seated.  They were celebrating the outcome selected by the Seattle Center's Century 21 Committee Review Panel as their sole recommendation for the vacated South Fun forest site. Dan McConnell has written a good blog post about this arduous process that you can read here and the Seattle Times did a detailed article which you can read here.

John Sabey and his family were seated at the table next to the Wrights.  Just a few more tables down the row, Susan and Jeff Brotman were dining.  And then a few minutes later, Kjell Schei accompanied by beautiful Keely walked in followed by Larissa Turville and a group of women friends.  We also waved to Columba McGlynn, Cantinetta Ambassador, as he breezed by into the bar.

The food was fantastic.  We shared their version of a tomato and mozzarella salad, which was exquisite with mizuna greens, house-made burrata cheese and Heirloom tomatoes in a perfectly balanced vinaigrette.  Ken ordered the Tagliatelle pasta with corn, shitake mushrooms and pancetta and I ordered the Papparadelle pasta with Bolognese sauce.  Each was extremely flavorful; though we both liked the Papparadelle the best.  We had seen a neighboring table share a dessert that looked like sugared donut holes, so after dinner we decided to do the same.  This was definitely the piece de resistance!  The Zeppole were served warm with large crystals of sugar coating them.  When we cut into them, a Nutella and mascarpone sauce came pouring out and these were truly plate-licking good.  We didn't actually lick the plate but wanted to.  Next time I go to Cantinetta, I plan to start with dessert and I don't plan to share!