Ronald Holden has been writing an award-winning wine and dining blog, Cornichon.org, since 2004. A Northwest native, Belltown resident and unreconstructed Francophile, has worked at KING TV, Seattle Weekly and Chateau Ste. Michelle. He has published five guidebooks to the wine country of Washington and Oregon and is the wine columnist for The NW Magazine. He is also the director of wine tours for The International Vineyard, restaurant reviewer for Belltown Messenger and editorial director of DeliciousCity.com.

More Articles
Topics

Best Restaurants: Pike Place Market

Fremont's Frugal Oktoberfest

Ivar's: Life After Clam Chowder

Blackbird, Bye Bye

There's Grapes In Them Thar Hills

capitol hill restaurants

Eisch Breathable Glass

Pike St. Fish Fry. Seattle

Examiner Feeds

These websites were picked by the Seattle Food Examiner as useful resources.

View: All Sources

Serendipity serves up comfort food in a warm, inviting space

The Seattle Times - 5 days ago

Spinasse: Elbow-to-elbow conviviality at rustic little trattoria

The Seattle Times - 5 days ago

Revised Pig n'Whistle can't decide: Is it upscale or a neighborhood place?

seattlepi.com - 5 days ago

Grill dishes up an authentic taste of the Greek isles

seattlepi.com - 5 days ago

Food news from around Puget Sound | Seahawks at the Met and more

The Seattle Times - 7 days ago

Family-Run Italian

Seattle's Small Plates

Sushi in Seattle

Wine & Fine Dining Examiner's Links

Seattle Examiners

Benjamin Lukoff
Seattle History Examiner
Most Recent Post
Past post update: Muckleshoot federal recognition and passenger flights at Paine Field

Zac Kaplan
Seattle Basketball Examiner
Most Recent Post
Top Oregon and Washington ballers clash Saturday

Bob Sherwin
Seattle Sports Examiner
Most Recent Post
Top 10: Major 2008 Seattle sports disappointments

Jesse Nelson
Northwest Environment Examiner
Most Recent Post
Washington State ranked in top energy efficient states

Eric Earling
Seattle Right Side Politics Examiner
Most Recent Post
Our Campaign Finance System Is Broken

Showing entries for Category: Italian

Fountain of Delight

Add a Comment

June 7, 11:57 AM

by Ronald Holden, Seattle Food Examiner

Do you cook at home? Do you make risotto? It's a culinary challenge, involving lots of chopping, stirring, pre-measured ingredients, pots & pans for the base, the stock, the flavorings.

Guys say that making risotto with their girlfriends is the ultimate aphrodisiac: there's lots of stuff to do and taste together, with a lush, aromatic payoff.

Risotto in a restaurant, on the other hand, is all-too-often hit and miss. At best, it's sublime, but at worst, it's an excuse to dump leftovers into boiled rice. At La Fontana Siciliana, there's no question: it's an unqualified hit.

In the cozy, low-ceilinged room overlooking a courtyard fountain, under banners of the Sicilian flag, dinners are served at antique library tables set for two. Opera music plays discreetly. The owner's daughter takes your order. Start with a bruschetta, perhaps, or a caprese salad (the mozzarella served on orange slices rather than flavorless tomatoes).

The special's a risotto with chestnuts and sausage, not to be missed. In the kitchen, owner-chef Mario Fuenzalida prepares the risotto to order: arborio rice, chestnuts, sausage and truffle oil, topped with shavings of parmigiano-reggiano and garnished with an ornamental swoosh of balsamic. The flavors and textures come together effortlessly, as they should: Mario's been cooking for decades and has nurtured a whole school of Italian restaurateurs (La Vita è Bella, Mondello and Sorrentino, to name three).

No one else in town even thinks of putting pasta con le sarde on the menu. It's a traditional Sicilian dish: spaghetti with a sauce based on sardines, fennel, pine nuts and raisins, too time-consuming and complicated for most kitchens. Even Mario doesn't have it every day, so call ahead.

La Fontana Siciliana, 120 Blanchard Ave., 206-441-1045

Topics: Italian , Belltown , Sicily , La Fontana Siciliana

Feed

Comments

Pesto Manifesto

Add a Comment

May 17, 11:07 AM

Everybody's got a stereotype, and Italians are no different: wildly passionate one moment, indifferent the next. Political corruption? cynical indifference. Matters of the heart? Passionate but moody. Matters of the table? Ah, passionate to the core.... Read More
Topics: Food , Italian , pesto