Serious Pie - Belltown

There’s something about eating with people who enjoy experiencing food; it just makes everything taste better when fellow diners are on the same foodie wavelength. Enter Tom Douglas’s pizzeria, Serious Pie, for dinner with foodie friends.

Very reminiscent of Mario Batalli’s Mozza in LA, Serious Pie has a similar vibe in terms of its loud, homely atmosphere. Although Serious Pie does not take reservations, you can put your name on a list and the staff will call you when a table opens up. Our wait time was pretty long – over an hour – so be prepared for a Serious Wait. We decided to eat dessert first at Dahlia Lounge Bakery and thoroughly enjoyed the mini triple coconut cream pies. The bakery was wonderful, but a little small, and sitting outside started getting uncomfortably cold, so we went to the bar at Lola to stay warm.

Eventually, we were summoned over to Serious Pie and were seated. The space inside the restaurant was invitingly warm from all the firey ovens. One thing I could have done without was the extremely cramped seating on the communal bench tables. You are literally within inches from somebody else no matter which direction you turn, unless you happen to sit next to the wall. Another thing I could have done without was the snippy, hipster waitress who seemed like she was in a perpetually foul mood throughout our meal. However, I kind of don’t blame her since she had to wade through the crowd and hot air each time she brought out dishes or drinks; it probably isn’t one of the most pleasant experiences to have to endure for hours on end.

We ordered three pizzas to share between the four of us: penn cove clams, house pancetta and lemon thyme; house salumi, walla walla onions and sardegna; and the meatless arugula special (each pizza ranged in price from $15-16). We also ordered a bottle of the barbera ($38).

Penn cove clams, house pancetta, lemon thyme

House salumi, walla walla onions and sardegna

Arugula special

The pizzas were actually fairly substantial as I would have had trouble finishing one by myself. The crusts took up a disappointingly large percentage of the pizza, but it was a nice bubbly, crisp crust. Unfortunately, the clam pizza was too salty for my liking; the salumi one was better with thin disks of salumi draped over the top. I preferred the special with the arugula since it had a fresh, light taste and was not overly salty. I thought the barbera paired nicely with all three pizzas and made dinner, well, even more enjoyable. Since the pizzas all had so much crust, we found ourselves with excess pieces. Our fellow foodie diner suggested we ask for olive oil and parmesan cheese to use with the extra crust, and it was a great idea!

I would definitely return to Serious Pie again, especially to try the pizza with the cherry bomb peppers and sweet fennel sausage and the one with chantrelles looked interesting as well. Just remember that you shouldn’t expect an in-and-out type of dinner as this place demands that you experience and savor it for both its good points and its quirks.

Serious Pie
316 Virginia Street
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 836-7388 (no reservations taken)

Wann Japanese Izakaya & Black Bottle - Belltown

After successfully booking it to the International District in time for Tom to acquire his new pride and joy – a Tom Bihn laptop case – we had to figure out where to eat. We opted to head over to Belltown to find somewhere doing happy hour. Umi Sake House had a 25-30 minute wait, so we walked over to Wann, which was strangely almost empty.

Since Tom had been here before, I let him do the ordering: sashimi, takoyaki, corn croquettes, yam frites, a spider roll, potato wedges sprinkled with seaweed and warm sake. He later regretted not ordering some kind of salad because pretty much everything except the sashimi was fried. No matter – all the food was tasty artery-clogging goodness!

The sashimi plate had fresh slices of maguro, salmon and hamachi. I especially liked the buttery soft hamachi. The spider roll was decent – I’d have preferred rice with a slightly warm temperature, rather than cold rice.

Sashimi plate: maguro, salmon and hamachi

The takoyaki arrived with the bonito flakes still writhing on the plate. My only complaint was that the octopus pieces were a little too dense and chewy in texture. Other than that, the takoyakis were great!

Takoyakis

The yam frites were accompanied by a sweet soy-based sauce and the potato wedges had an interesting seaweed coating that I enjoyed. Both arrived at the table hot and crispy. The corn croquettes had an irresistible crunchy exterior and creamy potato and corn interior.

Yam frites

Tom was highly impressed when it came time for the bill to show up; the entire meal cost a little less than $30.

“This is how much food should cost!” He stated emphatically. I had to agree.

Wann did not have any dessert options on the happy hour menu, so we walked over to Black Bottle for the chocolate cake with vanilla gelato. The cake was essentially a chocolate lava cake, drenched in a very sweet caramel sauce, with the gelato nestled inside. It was visually striking in its construction, but we thought the cake was too sweet and the texture seemed almost grainy to me.

My new goal is to find a place that has extraordinary desserts, because, thus far, we’ve been denied the pleasure of enjoying a really good dessert to close our meal. The search continues…

Wann Japanese Izakaya
2020 2nd Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 441-5637

Black Bottle
2600 1st Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98121
(206) 441-1500