The neighborhood we're headed to right now is called Pioneer Square. It is in the southwest
corner of downtown Seattle and it is actually where Seattle’s founders originally settled
in the eighteen fifties and the place were headed to right now is called Il Corvo. It
is an Italian restaurant that specializes in fresh hand made pastas. Now I first heard
about this place from Eater dot coms resident roving national critic mister Bill Addison
who wrote about Il Corvo as this kind of ideal lunch time pasta venue. It’s inexpensive
delicious pastas but here’s the thing you got to get there early they are only open
for lunch and they’re only open on weekdays. There are a legendary lines coming out of
Il Corvo, everyday people lineup well before the place opens. Residents of Seattle know
about this place and they know how you can get really reasonably priced delicious pasta
meal. I love pasta I am a carbohydrate fanatic and so I had to go. Hey how’re you doing?
Good! Your standing in line for pasta you guys are the first in line which means you’re
very dedicated fans. I am visiting. Oh you’re visiting? She knew about il corvo all the
way from miami. Oh really? yeah I work as a person chef so I really appreciate the philosophy
that al dente comes from — the protein in the wheat and the protein in the egg versus
the way that you cook the pasta and then also for someone that’s in the business I like
the idea that you know they’re open Monday through Friday so they can have a life with
his family and his friends so that’s always the goal. When she said she wanted to come
here my okay I’ll wait in line, like its worth it. Are you from the area? I am! I’m
local. What do you think about the the food scene generally in Seattle folks like? They’re
doing their own thing making their name known. And having a line that’s exponentially growing
as the minutes tick by. Thank you very much! That’s a ridiculous brunch! Start with a
little piece of this delicioso focaccia this is just a highly leavened bread with herbs.
There are some nice crusty bits of baked cheese on top of the focaccia. It is very delicious —
a high gluten flour and a lot of yeast to give it that nice rise and it’s typically
dotted during the cooking process you know with fat. And the result is very fluffy assortment
delicious pleasantly greasy bread. Let’s move on because there’s a lot of food here.
Pickles are one of my favorite things to eat. As Ben Franklin would say: hunger is the best
pickle. But I disagree with you, founding father! That’s what he said! No I’m — look
it up farmers almanac seventeen sixty four pretty sure Ben Franklin said hunger is the
best pickle! This is a series of pickled seasonal vegetables so we have a cauliflower some peppers
and celery some onions and the pickles are maybe something we like to revisit during
the course of the meal during the pasta courses things are getting a little bit heavy and
so every now and it’s nice to have a clean acidic bit of pickle finishing up the app
portion we have a lovely plate of prosciutto di parma, dry cured ham from the parma region
of Italy and I believe prosciutto comes from the word prosciugare which is to dry out almost
can see right through it it’s so thinly sliced and it just pulls apart and then you
get those nice bits of fat on the end now typically an anti pasta prosciutto and melon
are eaten together but in this case we have pickled celery let’s do what we came here
for and that is the pasta now the menu always change and certain things swapping out but
I believe the pappardelle bolognese is sort of the mainstay this is a ragu and the ragu
is just a meat based sauce and the bolognese comes from the Bologna region of italy you
kind of start with a little i think is italian it’s a sofrito of celery onion carrots that
sort of is the base of the sauce to which beef and fatty pork is added in it’s just
incredibly thick rich meat sauce that has also that under current fat and vegetables
the pasta itself is perfectly al dente it has a lot to do with quality of the ingredients
and also how long it’s cooked in typically al dente is just right when the white of the
middle of the pasta is disappearing there’s still a little bit of resistance when you
bite into it here we have the very beautiful looking calamaretti writing which is pasta
that is shaped like calamari rings colored with that squid ink and then it looks like
it’s covered with some chopped Italian parsley and some bread crumbs I have to say so far
it’s very good second of allI’m pro bread crumbs in pasta it seems to be a thing that
restaurants are doing and I very much approve because it adds a really wonderful texture
and crunch again nicely al dente and the squid ink it infuses it with a nice briney seafood
flavor and then the sauce is like a nice arribiata sauce it’s basically a spicy peppery tomato
based sauce it’s very lightly dressed and what that does is that allows the pasta to
really take center stage last but not least is the fiore it’s shaped a little bit like
a wheel look at it this way comes like a little mushroom like little chef’s hat one of the
things that’s great about pasta is how versatile is and how you can constantly be changing
it in creating different shapes it also has a lot to do with how pasta holds a sauce this
one because of its shape is almost like a little cup it’s gonna hold a little more
sauce sauce is very creamy its a little bit earthy it’s little bit sweet it is vaguely
of pumpk in a little kind of nutmeg-y it’s also buttery that’s very good and it’s
worth noting this is dining on a dime and I believe all of these pasta dishes are under
ten dollars I don’t know what sort of deal with the devil they’ve made but this is
some high quality grub for very little money Bill Addison said every city in America should
have an ilcorvo and it’s hard to argue with that thank you very much for your recommendation
this place is great I really hope you enjoyed this episode of dining on a dime from Il Corvo
restaurant in Seattle Washington if you like to watch more please click here