Image borrowed from Forno Bravo.Recently, we were hanging out at a barbeque with a couple of Eric’s friends. One of the guests gave us a tip that a Tutta Bella Restaurant was opening in Issaquah, a town located on the east side of Lake Washington.
(Note to non-Seatellites: Seattle has it’s own LA-Westside vs Valley thing goin’ on here. Except, instead of a mountain and an attitude as the reason why the average Los Angelean doesn’t even THINK of venturing across that divider in either direction, even for good food, Seattle has Lake Washington. There are only TWO bridges to choose from get across, three lanes each way, which can shut down without warning. Recent causes include wind blowing the lake over the road, accidents, Bald Eagles perched on street lights slowing traffic, construction, inspections, or just sheer volume. Incidentally, I found the Northwest’s equivalent to the 101 to 405 southbound transition: I-90 to 405 southbound, from 3:ooPM on.
But I digress.)
Tutta Bella is one of the first places we ate at when we moved to Seattle. We went to the one on South Lake Union and we loved the outside patio, pizza and the salads (how about roasted beets, pistachios, goat cheese and a balsamic vinegar reduction? YUM!). But what intrigued me about the tip was the special designation it has – Tutta Bella was Seattle’s first Vera Pizza Napoletana (VPN) certified Neapolitan pizzeria and is held accountable to the Association’s high culinary standards. One of the requirements is to use low -gluten Italian flour. This information was extremely important: I don’t tolerate gluten too well (and occasionally have to eat it anyway to be polite – you know, private parties or business events), but I noticed certain pizza or flat breads didn’t cause me much trouble. So I went on the Internet and found a wealth of information about the restaurant, the owners – even that buffalo mozzarella really comes from water buffalo (I know, as a foodie I should have known that!). I learned about wood fired pizza ovens, San Marzano tomatoes, just how fast a Neapolitan pizza can cook (how about 90 seconds?) and more. This was all information about the VPN designation.
Now, I’m sure some of you think it’s a bit much to be stringent on such a common thing like pizza. But it is a craft and all crafts should be protected and their future ensured so that it continues to be enjoyed as it was originally made. Or else it would be a lost art, like so many other artisanal things in this world.
Tutta Bella also serves Italian style coffee: now I can get my Italian cappuccinos without having to go to Seattle all the time.