There's no questioning Joe Fugere's Italian blood. Were it not for his great-grandparents, Pietro and Filomena Costanzo, who immigrated from Italy to Seattle in 1911, he wouldn't be here. And his thriving pizzerias answer to no less an authority than the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN), an Italian governmental entity that to date has blessed fewer than 20 American restaurants with its stamp of adequate Italian-ness.
But in addition to being Italian, Fugere is also a former Starbucks executive, leading one to wonder which part of his background motivated the opening last fall of his third Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria in South Lake Union [0]. Both Italians and Starbucks executives really like to see their families expand.
Tutta Bella's Wallingford [0] and Columbia City [0] locations have by now introduced many of us to the only type of pie that passes muster among the biggest pizza snobs in the world. VPN-certified Neapolitan pizzas use only ultrafine, low-gluten "00" flour, San Marzano tomatoes grown in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius and the fresh, whole-milk mozzarella that was invented in Naples. The dough must be shaped by hand and baked in a bell-shaped, wood-fired oven. With the arrival of the local dynasty to South Lake Union, the heavenly smells of such stringent standards now waft through Vulcan's 2200 Westlake development, helping to make the too-new mixed-use complex a more hospitable place.
To the successful formula of affordable pizza of phenomenal quality ($10-$12 per pie), great salads and impeccable espresso (the Seattle coffee gods demand appeasement as well), the new location adds a wine bar and a cocktail list that seems to seek the attention of some higher authority as well. The Bellini le Stagioni combines sparkling Prosecco with pear gelato for a slightly creamy, effervescent wake-up call for your mouth. The nonalcoholic Limonata del Rosmarino features fresh lemons, rosemary and soda. Then comes the Amazza caffé, a one-two punch of Antibassi espresso chased with a shot of grappa, according to typical Italian style.
This appeal to chic is definitely a call out to the condo-dwelling crowd of the neighborhood, and it appears to be working. The evenings bring a sparkling wave of well-heeled urbanites, who are treated to attentive table service from kind and knowledgeable waitstaff.
In keeping with a tradition begun at the Wallingford restaurant, where the two ovens are named after Pietro and Filomena, the Westlake oven is named for Fugere's grandmother, Carolina Costanzo, an Italian of reportedly fiery personality. Her likeness is depicted on handmade tiles embedded in the outer bricks of the oven, which received the blessing of a Catholic priest brandishing holy basil upon its debut. She wears a look of matronly approval that one imagines even the VPN might defer to.
Despite Fugere's coffee connection, the soulless, cookie-cutter quality of the Starbucks experience is not to be found here. Instead, Fugere's latest enterprise bears as much authenticity as his pizza. The presence of another Tutta Bella is a blessing for us all, and the higher the count, the better.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
