My birthday (the 34th do date) was last Friday, and my Mom took us out to a fabulous Italian restaurant in Seattle called Buca di Beppo.  I usually shy away from Italian restaurants, since I tend to associate them with neighborhood places that serve crummy food with way to much cheese and not very tasty tomato sauce.  The phrase “gut bomb” comes to mind. 

Buca di Beppo was a whole different order of Italian food.  Very fresh, not at all greasy or over-cheesed.  The tomato sauces were very fresh and vibrant.  We got the “kitchen table” which is literally in the kitchen, so we got to watch the head chef at work and see how everything got cooked and served up.  The part that was the most fun was that all the food is served up “family style” so everyone shares all the dishes.  We started with some of the best fried calamari I think I’ve ever had (and we managed to wrest some away from my son Ivan, but not too much) that was served with a spicy tomato sauce.  Then a very nice Caesar salad, with some of the nicest anchovies I’ve had in a long time.  The kind that make you wonder why people don’t like anchovies.  With the salad came a round of garlic bread with melted fresh mozzarella over the top.  Very nice, and not overly greasy. 

One of the biggest hits with the kids was the garlic mashed potatoes, which were made from new potatoes, and I think contained pretty much equal parts potato and garlic.   My personal favorite were the cannelloni, which were not in the least bit greasy, and served with a tomato sauce that was more like salsa, very dry so as not to make the noodles soggy.  We also had some chicken marsala (very good, but not my favorite style), some lovely sauteed green beans, a “macaroni” dish that was fusili with a light tomato sauce with chicken and broccoli called “macaroni rosa”, and a cheese pizza for Gwyn the picky 6 year old. 

Since we had the kitchen table, we got to see the food going by, which was fun.  For next time, both the chicken cacciatore and the baked shells with spicy sausage looked REALLY good.

The desserts were also fabulous.  We tried some bread pudding, some chocolate canoli, and a chocolate cake.  Three was too many desserts for 7 people, but we did our level best.  Well worth checking out, even if you think you don’t like restaurant Italian food. 

Thanks Mom!