Perche No - Italian

Restaurant:  Perche No (“Why Not?”)

Category: Italian

Price: $$

Address: 1319 N 49th Street, Seattle (Greenlake)

Phone: (206) 547-0222

Website: www.perchenopastaandvino.com

Overview:

A tall, rectangular restaurant at the southern end of Greenlake, Perche No features Italian cuisine with the interesting twist of being run by the Kongs, a Chinese family.

G:  After seeing the outside of the restaurant I was pleasantly surprised by the layout of the inside of the restaurant.   The actual building is situated in a slightly awkward location, without enough readily available parking.  Walking in the doors you are immediately greeted with a full view of the chefs working over open flames in the fully visible kitchen.  It was an extremely warm and inviting scene.

B: It wasn’t quite what I expected either.  The hostess immediately inside the door won me over right away by shaking hands and introducing herself, though I must say my attention was mostly focused on the dessert cart.  Laid out with five or six different dishes, it had me craving sweets before we even sat down.

Appetizer: Caprese Salad (tomato slices with fresh mozzarella and basil, drizzled with olive oil.)

 

G: The Caprese seems to be a staple for us whenever we go to an Italian restaurant.  It’s a simple dish, but when done well, tastes superb.  This one did not disappoint.  One of the best points is they definitely did not scrimp on the basil.  Many times we have ordered this dish only to be disappointed with the sliver of basil that accompanies the tomato and mozzarella.  

B: I liked it well enough.  It’s such a basic dish that there’s not really a lot of room for a chef to get creative, but they did score points with me thanks to the plentiful basil you mentioned.  Also, I appreciated that it was presalted, since there was no available salt and pepper on the table (What’s up with that?).

G:  We were also given a basket of bread with a bottle of olive oil dipping sauce already on the table.  The bread was about as basic as you could get, not one thing done to it except sliced.  The dipping sauce that was on the table was an olive oil mixed with garlic and spices, although all of that was completely overpowered by the salt in the mix.  I’m not sure if they used sea salt or what, but it was one salty brew.

B: I was a little disappointed the bread wasn’t even toasted, and although the oil was good once it was shaken (I wish we had figured that little trick out sooner - the waiter kindly showed us after we had already had three or four pieces of bread) it was crying out for some balsamic vinegar.  The bread routine is a pretty easy point to score, so I was a little surprised to see that it wasn’t.

Main course: Capellini con Sardine (pasta sauteed in garlic, sardines, parsley, capers and parmesan cheese)

G:    It’s pretty much what it reads like, pasta with sardines.  Mmmm, yum!  I know it sounds a little offputting, but we are two people who enjoy intense tastes in our food, no half-assing it when it comes to flavor.  I will say that a dish smelling fishy is never a good thing.  My first bite of this dish, unfortunately, was just that.  Fishy.  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised considering  the main ingredient of this dish happens to be, well, fish.  But after the initial bite the different flavors started to blend together quite well.  It was a pretty dry pasta, which I appreciated.  It reminded me a lot of dishes we make at home. I hate when people bring me a dish of pasta drowning in sauce.  It had a strong, spicy bite that although I really enjoyed it I think a lot of people out there might find it to be a bit too much.   The description did boast capers, but I couldn’t find one in the bunch.  Overall the dish was enjoyable, even if it took a bit to get used to.

B:  This dish was a little unusual for me.  I wasn’t expecting the presentation of the noodles to be quite so dry and non-saucy, and like Gina mentioned, it really reminded me a lot of something I would throw together at home.  That’s a good thing because I enjoy eating dishes that I would make for myself, but it’s also a bad thing since when I eat out, I like things that I actually wouldn’t or couldn’t make on my own.  I definitely agree that the first bite was superfish, but by the third or fourth I was getting a blend of the flavors.  I liked the spiciness of the red pepper flakes, but I wasn’t getting enough herbs or secondary flavors.  Also, being a huge fan of Puttanesca, I think the dish would have been served by being slightly saucier.

Dessert: Crespelle alla Davida (cocoa crepes filled with Nutella and served with zabaglione)

G: I hope everyone out there has had a chance to sample Nutella.  It is a creamy, chocolaty, hazelnut spread that is a divine gift from God (or some spiritual being somewhere).  I swear to all of you here and now, if more of the world’s leaders shared a round of Nutella spread, there would be peace in this world.  Although I am fine with eating Nutella straight from the jar with nothing more than a spoon (sometimes not even that) the combination of Nutella, cocoa crepes and zabaglione (I’ll let my husband explain that one) was excellent.  It sounds like a lot of chocolate, but it didn’t taste overwhelming to me.  

B:  I am a huge crepe fan, and this was a dish that showed the thin little pancake at it’s finest.  The mixture of cocoa in the crepe batter was nice - actually quite subtle - and I very much appreciated that the chef didn’t drown the plate with Nutella. The zabaglione was a sort of foamy, creamy mixture topped with chocolate and served as a dip/moistener for the crepes.  Although it sounds heavy, it was quite light and a satisfying end to the meal. Total platescraper.

Drinks:

G:  A pleasant addition to the menu at Perche No is a wine key.  In the left hand margin next to the name of each dish, are symbols.  If you look at the last few pages of the menu you will see that the symbols correspond to wines divided by type - basically it is a wine pairing for Dummies.  I love wine, I grew up in an Italian family, but I can’t say that I see a dish and automatically know which wine is the best accompaniment, so the little guide they provided was quite helpful.  Hell, I almost felt like I knew what I was doing when I ordered my glass of Pinot Grigio to go with my Capellini con Sardine.  The wine was great with the dish and the strong bite and sardine saltiness was immediately cooled by the Pinot making me ready for my next bite.  Excellent.

With dessert I decided to try the Espresso Rasenti.  It is a combination of a shot of espresso and a shot of grappa.  When grapes are used to make wine,  there is usually skin and seeds that are left behind, these are what grappa is made from. when it’s all said and done we are talking a 90 proof kind of drink.  This is not for the faint of heart.  The espresso and grappa combination was delicious.  I added a little bit of cream to take a bit of the edge off and make for a smoother finish, but overall I would absolutely order it again and I highly recommend others to partake.

B:  I don’t drink, but my water was good.

Service:

B:  Frequent readers of my blog may know that I have very distinct views on service and tipping, and I was a little hesitant to start off this blog with a restaurant that we didn’t have any experience --I didn’t want to sound like a bitter pill if it sucked, frankly.  Happily our server, David, was excellent.  Attentive without being annoying, friendly without being too fake, he was great and truly did enhance our enjoyment of the evening.  In fact, I’d have to say that every single person in the restaurant went above and beyond for service and friendliness.  A very pleasant surprise.

G:  I second all of that!  I, like my husband, have a certain standard to be met when it comes to service in a restaurant.  Sadly, most places seem to fall miserably short.  I won’t regale you now with all of my reasons for service being crappy, or even what I expect for service to be considered excellent, those things will all come out as more reviews go up, I am sure.  Suffice it to say, this place was great.  Our server, David, was superb.  Although from the attitude of almost every staff person we came in contact there, any of the others would have done a bangup job as well.

Closing Comments:

  

B:  After all was said and done, I’m glad that we picked this place for our very first review.  The atmosphere was warm and inviting, the food was tasty, and we both left the place with a good feeling.  Although most of the menu choices featured mushroom or cream sauces (neither of which I am a big fan of) I would definitely come back and try a few different things. Thumbs up.

G:  I also agree that for a debut restaurant review, I am happy this one turned out so well.  At the end of the meal my phone rang and it was my mother on the line.  She’s Italian and as you would guess has a discerning palate when it comes to Italian food. As soon as I answered the phone I told her we had a new restaurant to add to our list of places to take her and my dad the next time they visit us in the Emerald City.  So I guess that sums up my overall feeling of our dining experience at Perche No.

Rating:

4 out of 5 - We would recommend it to a friend.