Piatti Seattle

Located in the "University Village," which is really just a strip mall.

Oh, where to begin? We had nothing but internet research to go on, and we chose badly. We'll begin with the decor, which was just about one step above the likes Olive Garden: corporate, bland, impersonal, and inoffensive. We should have known better upon driving into the strip mall parking lot. The place was of medium size, and medium crowded for a sunday, mostly families and the like. The bar was passable at best, offering Oban and Mcallan 18 at the higher end of the whole selection. The wine list was mediocre, at best, as well.

We began with the calamari, which was dry, rubbery and fishy, at best. The calamari was served with breaded broccoli as a "garnish," though in all honesty the broccoli tasted better than the calamari.

Perhaps the highest point of the experience was the pre-meal bread, which was dense and highly herbed served quite warm alongside a delicious olive oil/vinegar/herb dip. Very delicious. This is the only truly good thing I have to say about this restaurant.

Lisa had the salmon, which, aside from the horribly mispaired corn and pepper ragu, was entirely bland, especially for what was supposed to be "wild" salmon. It was supposed to be served with "salsa verde," which consisted of about four chunks of tomato and an inordinate amount of chopped cilantro.

I chose the clam linguine, which tasted of little more than salt and chewy noodles. Even the "clams," which could only be identified by the fact that they came in shells, were dried out and entirely flavorless.

We toasted "to a complete failure."