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If there’s ever been a reason to dine on Seattle’s Eastside (and most people need a really good reason to cross the bridge over to Kirkland), it’s Café Juanita. The Northern Italian food and subtle room could both be described as warm and inviting. Consider starting with the crispy veal sweetbreads with capers and olive oil and continuing with the bone-in rib eye with Cipollini onions in agro dolce. Chef Holly Smith is a rising star on the Seattle area dining scene.
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Chef Scott Carsberg, the enfant terrible of the Seattle culinary set, has been known to show diners the door if they asked for salt (you won’t find any on the table). Take heed and go anyway, as this is a must stop on the Seattle foodie circuit. The elegant, earth-toned room is where Carsberg practices his brand of Northern Italian cooking, evidenced in such delights as creamy red wine risotto followed by breast of pheasant with whipped potatoes. Portions are small but worth every bite.
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The new setting for chef Walter Pisano’s robust Italian cuisine is Troiani, and what a setting it is. Red semicircle booths compete for your attention with the blue backlit bar, lending a vaguely supper club air to the whole place. It’s all about the food here, however, as seen in dishes like the large raviolo with ricotta, spinach and egg yolk in a warming porcini broth and the slow-braised pork shanks with a horseradish gremolata. The creamy sweet potato polenta? Heaven. Suddenly the definitive spot for closing the deal.
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Taking over for the much-loved Walter Pisano is chef Tim Ferguson, who has manned the line alongside Pisano for the last eleven years. Locals are still filling the place nightly, so the new chef must be on track. Dishes unlikely to ever leave the menu include the sweet potato gnocchi with sage butter and ravioli filled with smoked salmon in a lemon cream sauce. The brown-on-browner tones add subdued elegance to the dining room, an interesting counterpoint to the accessible, fun food.
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