Che Sara Sara

Tried the chef's table for $25. It was a 3 course dinner. Fried cauliflower and salad was excellent. However the pasta could have been tastier. I had better experience last time when I was there.

I'm not sure I can ever give anything else 5 stars again after this. The bar has been re-set. Walked out of a couples massage class next door and smelt one of the most amazing smells I've ever smelt... Couldn't place exactly what it was, but as we walked out we were sure it was wafting out of this nondescript little Italian place. We walked in and immediately felt like family when Luigi greeted us. This guy looked and sounded the part with his mustache and suspenders, and was clearly passionate about the fresh food he was about to serve us. Hands down as friendly as anyone I've ever had the pleasure of dining with. The decor was cozy, comfortable and charming. After talking with Luigi about the menu we figured the smell that brought us in was likely the night's special: pork shoulder wrapped in rosemary, garlic, and I believe sage...? Whatever it was, it was definitely what we smelt and it tasted even better!! Wow. So tender and succulent. Perfectly seasoned and cooked. Also got a phenomenal appetizer of portobello, mozzarella, and tomato with pesto and something else, and shared the tastiest fettuccine of our lives. Start to finish the best dining experience of my life. Everything was phenomenal.

A great little find! I'm actually surprised I'd never heard of it until a friend mentioned it as a must try. And must try it is! This place is right out of Italy. The owner, Luigi, is the quintessential Italian and host. There is a menu but why bother, carpe diem! Tell Luigi your price point and anything you don't like (i.e. shellfish) and he'll whip up a perfectly portioned four course dinner for you. My wife and I had a salad and antipasti to start, a pasta with fennel and sausage dish, a pork shoulder with red wine reduction and polenta, and salumi cioccolato for dessert. There was only one other couple in the restaurant at the time (it was early, plus, there are only 20 seats total) and Luigi took plenty of time with us as we exchanged stories of his home in Puglia and our travels there. My only recommendation to Luigi to make his place even more authentic would be to play some Italian music instead of a local radio station (not that I don't enjoy Christmas music on Warm 106.9 around the holidays; just that authentic Italian music would have REALLY transported us to Puglia! We got out of there for around $130, including tax and tip (and two glasses of really outstanding chianti each). Not a screaming deal but a decent price for a nice restaurant in Pioneer Square. We won't hesitate to go back!

Che Sara Sara is comfort southern Italian dining somewhere between trattoria & Uncle Luigi's kitchen table. It rings true to the less rigid attitude of the south of Italy compared with the north. It is located on the north east corner of 1st and S. Main with very little signage. We were greeted informally but kindly by our server, possibly sous-chef, in a clean working apron, who let us pick our table & answered questions willingly & helpfully but had no canned explanation of who he was or how things worked. Much like Italy, that was left for us to find out. If you enjoy that, you will have a good time. The space is about 25' by 30' with an open door to the working kitchen at the back where the chef works. There are 13 tables for two, some grouped into settings for 4 and 4 stools at an 8' long bar. One wall has a wine rack and a rack of Italian canned goods. The other wall has Italian kitchen art. The menu is one page, front & back. On one side are L' APPERITIVO with drinks, a house red & white wine [chardonnay and negroamaro, both reminiscent of the southern Italian table wine rather than fine wine], a prosecco, Cinzano bianco/rosso, & Peroni nastro azzurro, a favorite pale lager. Each 4 oz. poured drink is accompaniied by a tray with 6-8 ripe green olives & pickled vegetables, 2" round bruschetta of seeded cherry tomatoes & oregano, 2 tbls. of roasted beets & garlic, 1.5" lamb meatball with fresh marinara & 2" square panpizza slice. All were equally tasty, none were memorable. The drink and food are $8 from 4 to 6 PM and $11 after that. The apperitivi [beverage & food] would suffice for a snack or great way to spend time waiting for traffic to die out. Also there were 3 bottles of wine listed at $40-$50 and the house wine by the bottle for $30. We also tried that night's special, wild mushrooms sauteed in brandy, which was prepared/flamed at a workstation in the center of the room . A good show and very enjoyable. The other side of the page lists 9 small plates and 11 entree's. Since we hadn't yet figured out the apperitivi we ordered both a roasted beet salad with goat cheese for $8 [1/2 cup of the same beets with 2 tblsp. of a sharp soft cheese and pickled onion rings] and cozze. The cozze were 4 fresh mussels in the 1/2 shell, baked with garlic, lemon, black pepper and evoo for $8. We thought the mussels were very slightly overdone but would order both plates again. The additon of the cheese perked the beets up quite a bit. We tried the risotto with prawns, lemon, brandy and mascapone and the troccoli pasta with mushrooms, pear tomaotes, garlic, and pecorino. The former was 1 cup of slightly al dente rather than creamy, blended rice with a very pleasing cheese/brandy sauce and 4 well cooked 1.5" long shrimp. The latter was 1 cup of an al dente spaghetti-like triangular pasta with a very pleasing blend of hard cheese, halves of cherry tomatoes and reconstituted, dried, Italian, wild mushrooms. We finished with nutella gelato, 1/3 cup of hyper-dense, intensely flavored hazelnut-chocolate gelato and a "semifreddo" of ricotta. I use " " because the slices were brick hard frozen, with prominent ice crystals rather than the frozen mousse-soft serve ice cream consistency I usually associate with a semifreddo. Our server said with a shrug that he had made it 4 times now and each time had a different consistency. A classically souther Italian shrug-ending to an otherwise 4-5 star meal. We will return and may go up to 5 stars with experience ordering.

Amazing authentic mono regional Italian food. Be warned this place is so delicious. Not your typical Italian food. This place only serves south eastern Italian dishes. By far a memorable experience.