“A boy went back to Napoli” (actually it was the West Coast)
“because he missed the scenery” (viewing wineries and restaurants)
“the native dances and the charming songs” (Kyle singing Sinatra)
“but wait a minute, something’s wrong…”
“Hey mambo, mambo italiano”
“there’s so much more, than Italian restauranto”
“you Hawaii tourists only look for pasta and proscuitto”
“there’s so much more delisha than the italiano disha”
Anyway, for no apparent reason at all, we seemed to have dined primarily on Italian cuisine while visiting the West Coast. I normally make dining reservations through OpenTable.com but realized several trips ago that we often cancelled our reservations due to unplanned circumstances (the B & B breakfast was just too filling, the mid morning snack turned into a full blown lunch, the unplanned lunch prevented further gastronomy the rest of the day, etc, etc…). Therefore, on our last trip, I only made reservations for dinner at Cyrus and left other dining options to the wind.
Christopher’s on Whidbey Island
Located on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound of Washington, Christopher’s is a small family run restaurant focusing on fresh regional ingredients. While it’s not an Italian restaurant per se, it’s menu includes many Mediterranean inspired dishes including sandwiches served on Ciabatta
rolls with proscuitto and provolone, tomato sauce braised lamb shanks and salads with couscous and garbanzo beans. The menu also features local wild salmon, clams and Penn Cove mussels along with wine made from grape varieties grown on the island.
We tried the lamb shank braised in tomato sauce, slow baked salmon over wild rice, barbecued salmon sliders and the warm couscous salad (over the course of two meals). The lamb was falling off of the shank bone and as delicious as any I’ve ever had. Surprisingly, it was less than $20 which propelled it to the top of the taste-to-cost ratio list. What else can you say about fresh wild salmon? Buttery, flavorful and perfect as a filet or served on mini buns with slaw with wild berry barbecue sauce.
Christopher’s is definitely a gotta-go-to-again restaurant. I encourage a side trip to Whidbey Island the next time you’re visiting Washington.
Christopher’s
103 NW Coveland Street
Coupeville, WA 98239
(360) 678-5480
Santi
This was a spur of the moment decision as I finished my tasting glass of Meeker Vineyard late harvest Zinfandel. We planned on a simple afternoon snack and the Meeker Vineyards pourer recommended Santi which was right next door. I admit
that we didn’t indulge in a full blown meal – we shared a salad and pasta – but boy, was it divine! The Insalata di Pere; roasted pear slices with gorgonzola cheese on a mixture of endive and frissee was the perfect combination of hearty bitter greens (actually more yellow-green than green which is expected of those “greens”), salty and rich bleu cheese, sweet and soft roasted pears and tangy balsamic vinaigrette. I plan on trying to recreate this combination in my own kitchen soon. The Spaghettini al Sugo Calabrese was thin spaghetti served with a rich tomato based ragu with beef and pork rib meat with shavings of Pecorino Romano. Combine perfectly cooked al dente spaghettini with a rich sauce balanced with sharp cheese and you have two diners regretting finishing their breakfast earlier that morning. I also would have loved to try their Trippa all Romana or tripe braised with tomato, oregano and mint but alas, that’s for another trip to wine country. Another definite gotta-go-to-again place.
Santi
21047 Geyserville Avenue
Geyserville, CA 95441
(707) 857-1790
Cena Luna
The proprietor at Belle du Jour Inn recommended Cena Luna to us on the second day of our stay in Healdsburg. Located just off of Healdsburg Square, this quaint restaurant is run by the husband and wife team of Stuart and Yvette Hom. Their pork shank (diners beware, it’s a lot more substantial than lamb shank) had the Mrs begging for her backup diner husband/disposal while the shredded duck and leeks with fettuccine was substantial without being too rich. Their ever changing fritto misto or mixed deep fried appetizer (we had calamari, cauliflower and long beans) with Meyer lemon aioli (garlic mayonnaise) was also very good as well as their gingerbread cake to finish the meal.
Cena Luna
241 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-6000
Cucina Restaurant and Wine Bar
Our brief stay in the States ended with a meal at Cucina Restaurant and Wine Bar in San Anselmo. My brother and sister-n-law are frequent patrons to this homey establishment so he
wanted these Hawaii tourists to experience the same. Our meal started with complimentary bruschetta – toasted bread slices topped with a tomato, garlic, basil and olive oil salad. Our salad was something to behold; Zucchini Carpaccio. Though the ingredients seem simple (unless there are secret ingredients I didn’t notice), it was the perfect marriage of crisp raw zucchini julienne, salty and rich Pecorino Romano, crunchy and smoky toasted almond slices and cool herbal fresh chopped parsley (I actually have made my own version several times since returning to the Islands). That alone made the meal though the wild mushroom pizza (baked in a wood burning stone oven), spaghetti carbonara and gnocchi in porcini sauce also ably sated these ravenous diners.
Cucina Restaurant and Wine bar
510 San Anselmo Avenue
San Anselmo, CA 94979
(415) 454-2942
“because he missed the scenery” (viewing wineries and restaurants)
“the native dances and the charming songs” (Kyle singing Sinatra)
“but wait a minute, something’s wrong…”
“Hey mambo, mambo italiano”
“there’s so much more, than Italian restauranto”
“you Hawaii tourists only look for pasta and proscuitto”
“there’s so much more delisha than the italiano disha”
Anyway, for no apparent reason at all, we seemed to have dined primarily on Italian cuisine while visiting the West Coast. I normally make dining reservations through OpenTable.com but realized several trips ago that we often cancelled our reservations due to unplanned circumstances (the B & B breakfast was just too filling, the mid morning snack turned into a full blown lunch, the unplanned lunch prevented further gastronomy the rest of the day, etc, etc…). Therefore, on our last trip, I only made reservations for dinner at Cyrus and left other dining options to the wind.
Christopher’s on Whidbey Island
Located on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound of Washington, Christopher’s is a small family run restaurant focusing on fresh regional ingredients. While it’s not an Italian restaurant per se, it’s menu includes many Mediterranean inspired dishes including sandwiches served on Ciabatta
rolls with proscuitto and provolone, tomato sauce braised lamb shanks and salads with couscous and garbanzo beans. The menu also features local wild salmon, clams and Penn Cove mussels along with wine made from grape varieties grown on the island.We tried the lamb shank braised in tomato sauce, slow baked salmon over wild rice, barbecued salmon sliders and the warm couscous salad (over the course of two meals). The lamb was falling off of the shank bone and as delicious as any I’ve ever had. Surprisingly, it was less than $20 which propelled it to the top of the taste-to-cost ratio list. What else can you say about fresh wild salmon? Buttery, flavorful and perfect as a filet or served on mini buns with slaw with wild berry barbecue sauce.
Christopher’s is definitely a gotta-go-to-again restaurant. I encourage a side trip to Whidbey Island the next time you’re visiting Washington.
Christopher’s
103 NW Coveland Street
Coupeville, WA 98239
(360) 678-5480
Santi
This was a spur of the moment decision as I finished my tasting glass of Meeker Vineyard late harvest Zinfandel. We planned on a simple afternoon snack and the Meeker Vineyards pourer recommended Santi which was right next door. I admit
that we didn’t indulge in a full blown meal – we shared a salad and pasta – but boy, was it divine! The Insalata di Pere; roasted pear slices with gorgonzola cheese on a mixture of endive and frissee was the perfect combination of hearty bitter greens (actually more yellow-green than green which is expected of those “greens”), salty and rich bleu cheese, sweet and soft roasted pears and tangy balsamic vinaigrette. I plan on trying to recreate this combination in my own kitchen soon. The Spaghettini al Sugo Calabrese was thin spaghetti served with a rich tomato based ragu with beef and pork rib meat with shavings of Pecorino Romano. Combine perfectly cooked al dente spaghettini with a rich sauce balanced with sharp cheese and you have two diners regretting finishing their breakfast earlier that morning. I also would have loved to try their Trippa all Romana or tripe braised with tomato, oregano and mint but alas, that’s for another trip to wine country. Another definite gotta-go-to-again place.Santi
21047 Geyserville Avenue
Geyserville, CA 95441
(707) 857-1790
Cena Luna
The proprietor at Belle du Jour Inn recommended Cena Luna to us on the second day of our stay in Healdsburg. Located just off of Healdsburg Square, this quaint restaurant is run by the husband and wife team of Stuart and Yvette Hom. Their pork shank (diners beware, it’s a lot more substantial than lamb shank) had the Mrs begging for her backup diner husband/disposal while the shredded duck and leeks with fettuccine was substantial without being too rich. Their ever changing fritto misto or mixed deep fried appetizer (we had calamari, cauliflower and long beans) with Meyer lemon aioli (garlic mayonnaise) was also very good as well as their gingerbread cake to finish the meal.
Cena Luna
241 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-6000
Cucina Restaurant and Wine Bar
Our brief stay in the States ended with a meal at Cucina Restaurant and Wine Bar in San Anselmo. My brother and sister-n-law are frequent patrons to this homey establishment so he
wanted these Hawaii tourists to experience the same. Our meal started with complimentary bruschetta – toasted bread slices topped with a tomato, garlic, basil and olive oil salad. Our salad was something to behold; Zucchini Carpaccio. Though the ingredients seem simple (unless there are secret ingredients I didn’t notice), it was the perfect marriage of crisp raw zucchini julienne, salty and rich Pecorino Romano, crunchy and smoky toasted almond slices and cool herbal fresh chopped parsley (I actually have made my own version several times since returning to the Islands). That alone made the meal though the wild mushroom pizza (baked in a wood burning stone oven), spaghetti carbonara and gnocchi in porcini sauce also ably sated these ravenous diners.Cucina Restaurant and Wine bar
510 San Anselmo Avenue
San Anselmo, CA 94979
(415) 454-2942
So the next time you find yourself craving for “enchilada with the fish, baccala”, take Rosemary Clooney’s advice and Mambo Italiano to one of these Italian eateries.
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