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SERAFINA

TO SAVOR THE SEASON

No matter the season, Eastlake’s Serafina gives you a reason to savor the rustic Italian fare it presents. No pizza or pasta swimming in red sauce here. Simply a rustic Euro Italian Restaurant whose name, translated from the Italian, says "fine night."

Fine nights are all I have had at Serafina. I have stopped in with the fall leaves gathering at the doorway. I have chased the chill of winter at a window-side seat with a cozy cocktail. I have had a romantic tryst on the patio in the twilight of a sultry summer evening. I’ve eaten when the executive chef was not on duty and when the restaurant was packed. Despite the season, each has proven to be a memorable experience that served up consistent and affordable fare.

On my last visit, I took stock to analyze what makes the Serafina experience memorable and the restaurant a neighborhood standby after 12 years in operation. My party was greeted promptly with a welcoming, warm smile. We were seated with little hesitation in a quiet corner of the intimate Italian-style Trattoria. From our waiter to the busboys, the service was as efficient as it was familiar without crossing the line of decorum.

While the personalized service is flawless and the greeting gracious, it is the food Executive Chef/General Manager John Neumark presents that keeps me coming back for more. His commitment to market-fresh ingredient selections always gives me a reason to savor the season. The fresh emphasis of the menu demands shifts in order to accommodate ingredient availability. A day dated menu addendum accompanies your menu. These offerings spotlight Neumark’s allegiance to quality and freshness.

Above: Owner Susan Kaufman and Executive Chef/GM John Neumark

Many of the ingredients for the daily offerings on the day dated menu addendum are picked from the restaurant’s Kitchen Garden a few blocks away. On a recent visit Pasta Del Giorno ($16.95) was presented. This triumph of fresh morels - from British Columbia’s Cascades on that day, our waiter said – served with leeks and tossed with organic English peas, is combined with fresh handcut fettuccine in a mushroom cream sauce. On another plate Pesce Del Giorno ($20.50) was served. This perfectly rare-grilled Ahi steak was paired with a Sicilian Fisherman’s sauce that included fresh tomatoes, capers, golden raisins and pine nuts. The tuna was perched atop an Heirloom bean salad with braised fennel and an arugula salad.

Serafina’s deep wine list often steers me to rely of recommendations from the wait staff. Ordering the pasta and the fish on a warm evening an Italian Verdicchio, a perfect crisp wine for a summer supper, was suggested.

Despite the excellence of the daily offerings, there are a number of standard items that are stand outs. The Serafina classic, Cozze Affumicate – Penn Cove mussels simmered with smoked tomato, harissa, leeks, sweet vermouth and garlic ($9.50), is served up with baskets of crusty bread to sop up the juices. This plentiful dish, chock full of plumb and succulent bivalves, is ample enough for two as a starter. Polpettine de Vitello ($15.95) is as if Nonna made them herself for you, her favorite grandchild. These housemade veal meatballs are simmered in a green olive/tomato sauce, tossed with penne rigate and topped with ricotta salata. The Filetto de Maiale con Ciliegie ($18.95) features a grilled pork tenderloin with Nonna Giovanna’s own sour cherry chutney. The meal is completed with grilled radicchio and seasonal vegetables. For a meatless meal the Melanzane alla Serafina ($14.95) offers up thinly sliced eggplant rolled with a mixture of ricotta cheese, fresh basil and parmesan cheese, baked in a light tomato sauce until the cheese just melts and then served over cappellini aglio e olio.

Authentic recipes are what keep Serafina on their charted course. To seek out not only the recipes, but also the authentic techniques, Owner Susan Kaufman makes regular pilgrimages to Italy. One of the mainstay dishes, Coniglio della Nonna ($17.95), is the fruit of one of one such journey, coming from an Italian friend of Susan and John’s. The braised Oregon rabbit is served on the bone with sweet peppers, fresh bay and white wine and plenty of soft polenta with seasonal vegetables. The recipe and execution comes from Susan’s Italian friends who own a restaurant in Barbaresco.

Then there are the desserts. What can be said – they are Italian! Traditional profiteroles ($6.50) cream puffs stuffed with caramel ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce; a Panna Cotta ($6.50) voted "Most Orgasmic" in town showcases silky cream blended with milk chocolate and served with a praline-vanilla sauce; and the Torta di Noci ($6.50) a rhubarb walnut streusel cake with crème fraiche and brown butter sauce, are all perfect dolci to the meal. Top off the evening with a Port, Single Malt Scotch, Single Barrel Bourbon, Cognac or Italian dessert wine, and you have made a memorable evening.

- Mina Williams

Fast Facts: 2043 Eastlake Ave., E., Seattle. 206.323.0807, www.serafinaseattle.com. Open for lunch 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri; Dinner 5:30 – 10:30 p.m. Sun.-Thurs; 5:30-11 p.m. Friday & Sat. Happy Hour, weekdays 4:30 to 6 p.m. Reservations suggested. Smoke free dining room. Smoking allowed at the bar. Live entertainment Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. Take-out available. Handicapped accessible. On and off-site catering available. Master Card, VISA accepted.

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