We were lucky enough to be gifted tickets to the Mariners - Braves game Friday night, so we decided to check out an Italian restaurant we had heard a lot about before the game - Spinasse in Capitol Hill. Now, neither Kara nor Ross go crazy for Italian food, but when it's good, it's pretty damn good. Spinasse definitely fits that bill!
We started out with cocktails (naturally) - Kara, being the bourbon girl she is :), ordered a classic Boulevardier (Bourbon, Campari, Sweet Vermouth). It was a very solid, bourbon forward cocktail. Ross, despite some histation about the inclusion of Nonino, ordered a Paper Plane based on our waitress's recommendation (Bourbon, Nonino, Lemon, Aperol), and hot damn was she right! It was one of the best cocktails he has had in a while - nicely crafted and not overly citrusy, as some drinks with Lemon can get.
They served a complimentary crostini with whipped ricotta and sardine along with some bread and our first course - Chantarelle Bruschetta with hazelnuts, roasted garlic and whipped ricotta. The crostini and bruschetta were fantastic - the mushrooms were perfectly cooked and quite tasty, and the whipped ricotta added a wonderful creaminess to compliment the mushrooms. The crostini was very similar - the saltiness of the sardine with the creamy ricotta and crunchy crostini were an excellent combination.
We also ordered a starter of pio tosini 20 month-aged prosciutto with heirloom melon. Ross is constitutionally incapable of saying no to proscioutto, so he was in heaven with this full plate of thinly sliced, salty, buttery cured ham. The melon was some of the best and most unique melon either of us have tasted - soft, juicy, slightly sweet... absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, we had a little yellowjacket who agreed with us and kept buzzing around to get a taste as well (The rare downside of outdoor seating!). To Kara's dismay, Ross is a child when it comes to bees buzzing around and probably drew way too much attention ducking and weaving out of the bee's way.
Next was Spinasse's signature dish: Tajarin con burro e salvia - fine hand-cut egg yolk pasta with butter and sage. Every staff member hyped it up to us, and we even overheard people walking by talking about how good it was to their friends as they passed. No lies were told. The homemade noodz were perfect, and the butter and sage sauce with a healthy bit of parmesean grated on top was rich and creamy without being too heavy. It lasted on our plates for about two minutes :).
Our final dish was Cavatelli with braised short rib ragu and sauteed cherry tomatoes. This was also very good, but maybe a little heavy for us by the time we got to it. We struuuuuggled to finish it, good as it was. The short rib reminded us of a perfectly cooked slow cooked short rib with gravy that you would get at your grandmother's house in winter (if grandma could cook her butt off), and there was just enough gravy to infuse the little Cavatelli noodz with the flavor.
Overall, it was a very nice dinner. We didn't get the full experience sitting outside, but our waitress was excellent and the whole staff was very nice. Not being big Italian buffs, it is hard to blow us away, but it was still a really fine meal that you could tell was expertly prepared and we had a great time, as always!