Luigi DeNunzio Wants Seattle to Have a Little Italy

Luigi DeNunzio owns two Italian restaurants in Pioneer Square. Next month, he'll open wine and snack bar Che Sara Sara in the neighborhood he calls Seattle's Little Italy. DeNunzio, who's been serving Italian food in Seattle for the past three decades, told Eater last month that San Francisco and New York have their own Little Italy, "put together by people like myself who didn't speak English and came together," so why not Seattle?

The gregarious DeNunzio leads Little Italy tours and is quick to share the history of Seattle's Italian community. He says that there's nowhere else in Seattle with a bigger cluster of Italian restaurants than Pioneer Square (He namechecks Il Corvo, Pizzeria Gabbiano, Salumi, and Il Terrazzo Carmine) and wants to create community between those places as well as his own Al Boccalino and Café Bengodi.

Che Sara Sara (that's "whatever will be, will be" in Italian) will seat 20 with a menu that's built around recipes from the Puglia region of Southern Italy, including orecchiette pasta made from farina with broccoli rabe and l'aperitivo, small plates like meatballs and brushcetta. The space in the Grand Central Building will also include a pantry selling products imported from Italy, like San Marzano tomatoes, wild chicory, and calabrese peppers. Look for doors to open in the next few weeks.

Che Sara Sara, 212 First Ave. S., Pioneer Square, website