It seems like everyone — celebrities, influencers, half my friends — is having a “European Summer.”
I’m not complaining because I get to travel a lot throughout the year (and there is truly no place like Seattle in the summer), but if I see one more person enjoying a plate of spaghetti with clams on the sunny Italian coast, I’m at high risk of booking a flight. So, when I received an invitation to an event at Carrello — little sister restaurant to chef Nathan Lockwood’s fine dining establishment, Altura — I saw my opportunity to indulge in some Italian fare without having to leave the city.
Chef Nathan Lockwood
Photo courtesy of Carrello
Despite living on Capitol Hill for 15 years before decamping to downtown last June, I had never been to one of Chef Lockwood’s places. After last night, I’m regretting not indulging sooner. Recently, Seattle’s restaurant scene has felt lackluster. Between mediocre meals, subpar service, and soaring prices, I’ve stuck to a few tried-and-true favorites and attempted to cook at home more. Carrello may not have magically transported me to Italy, but it did serve up an excellent meal.
One thing Carrello has going for it is an adorable back patio, complete with firepits and a hidden garden that spans the wall of a neighboring gas station. Chef Lockwood gave us a tour, pointing out everything from herbs, tomatoes, and zucchini to artichokes, fennel pollen, and kale. According to Lockwood, the fennel pollen (which can sell for more than $45 an ounce) and chives are so prolific that they end up subsidizing most of the garden cost.
Carrello’s back patio is cozy, green, and tucked away just enough to feel like a summer escape.
Photo courtesy of Carrello
Ethical and transparent sourcing is integral to the seasonal menus. A recent restaurant initiative is buying whole cows through Preservation Meat Collective, which sources the Wagyu beef through Bothell-based Magnolia Cattle Company, one of the oldest on the West Coast. Chef Lockwood uses the meat at the restaurant — my dining companions could not stop talking about the flavorful meatballs in the cavatelli dish. I am a pescatarian, so, sadly, I don’t have a firsthand account — but he also turns the tallow into candles and gives the bones to his Swiss mountain dogs. “I try to use every part of the cow,” he said as we ate.
While I couldn’t eat the meaty, melty-cheese covered sphere, there were plenty of delicious dishes to nosh on: a handmade burrata bite in an apricot-morita chili mostardo, finished with nectarine and pecan (I ate like four of these; the creamy cheese and the chili kick are perfectly balanced with the nutty crunch), weathervane scallop crudo with sweet corn and cherry tomatoes (a refreshing pre-meal bite), and seared octopus with cherries, almond, salsa rosso (the charred bits and smoky flavor paired well with the tart cherries. I never go out of my way to order octopus, but I would eat this again.)
The star of my night was the roasted corn and mascarpone scarpinocc, a stuffed Northern Italian pasta that arrived in a sage blossom brown butter sauce — it was pillow-light and slightly salty with a creamy, corn-sweet filling.
All of the pastas at Carrello are handmade and, at least, when I was there, cooked expertly al dente. I don’t claim to be a food critic, but I can be picky, and it’s been a while since I’ve been overly impressed with a restaurant.
My only complaint from the night was that once we moved into the dining room, the lights remained fairly bright. Both my friend and I are sticklers for lighting levels, and we thought bringing it down to a cozy, evening glow would encourage people to stick around for another glass of wine.
The solve to this, of course, is sitting on the back patio (warning, it’s first come, first served) and enjoying a plate of fresh-made pasta while delightfully hidden away from the noisy bustle and buzz of Broadway. Sure, it’s not a trip to Europe, but it might just be the next best thing for a spontaneous Wednesday night.