BJC's Italian Double: Ristorante Doria, Trattoria Cioppino

BJC compares two neighborhood Italian restaurants, both run by actual Italians. Ristorante Doria has a most charming chef (Rome native Marcello Giuffrida), massive portions, a few hits and a few more misses. Trattoria Cioppino is a bit more ambitious, but has its share of issues:

"The veal was chewy, and the lemon-caper sauce had solely a strong, tart citrus taste. Poor baby cow, to give its life for this. "There are some problems with the food here," my companion said; meanwhile, on the sidewalk outside, a white dove, apparently a victim of passing Green Lake traffic, flopped around and then died. The server shared in our sad moment."

Otherwise it's a quiet week so far in the world of reviews. The new Seattle Weekly pays tribute to the Washington casualties to date in our wars against Afghanistan and Iraq (is it merely an odd coincidence that Raskin reviewed Afghan Cuisine and Banquet Hall last week?), so a restaurant review would have been a tad out of place. However her online-only examination of the state of the Puget Sound's soul food restaurants is absolutely worth a read.

· Real Live Italians [Stranger]
· Who Will Save Your Soul Food [Seattle Weekly]