Paul Constant, The Stranger's resident sandwich expert likens eating at Dot's Delicatessen to having great sex. When you locate your deli across the street from Paseo and sell a ham-and-pork sandwich, you're asking to throw down. Constant says that Dot's sandwich is "just as good as Paseo's". As with other Dot's noshes, "the meat is the star of the show". He commends the french fries and celery root soup but stays on point: " It's hard to waste your time with (the admittedly excellent) sides when the meat is so goddamned good".
This week, Hanna Raskin reviews Ravenna's Casa D'Italia and gives it a mixed verdict. She basks in the restaurant's "tidal pool of hospitality", but her critical eye notes that the antipasti "were the most technically correct dishes". She moves on to other courses and is disappointed: "While the featured proteins are terrifically fresh, the pastas I tried were frustratingly flawed". We know that Raskin is not a huge dessert fan, but she recommends the house-baked Italian cookie tray and is smitten with the "adorably sentimental butter cookies".
· Meat Your Next Lunch [The Stranger]
· Casa D'Italia's Disarming Likability [Seattle Weekly]