Chef Brendan McGill of Hitchcock has converted his popular Neapolitan pizza concept from a Monday night pop-up to a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Bainbridge Island. Bruciato opens today at 4 p.m. in the renovated Winslow Hardware building at 236 Winslow Way East.
Eater scoped out the space ahead of the opening. The restaurant seats 75 people with a mix of banquettes, high-top tables, a communal table, and bar seats. The modern-industrial feel with exposed beams and steel is meant to pay homage to the building's history. As the restaurant settles in, look for live bands to occasionally play in the large space.
McGill introduced Bruciato in 2013, and revealed plans last February to give it the full restaurant treatment. He and pizzaiolo Brandon Thompson, who's been working on the project with McGill since the beginning, have developed a menu of traditional wood-fired Neapolitan pizza with a menu that mixes classic ingredients and more modern interpretations. You can go traditional with a Margherita, say, or opt for the "Ossa di manzo," with beef bone marrow, mozzarella, pickled red onion, onion mostarda, and parsley.
In true Neapolitan style, the dough is made with 00 flour and a wild yeast starter, and tomatoes are sourced from Italy's San Marzano region. Other ingredients are regionally sourced.
McGill plans to make good use of that wood-fired oven, roasting dishes like octopus, tripe, clams, and vegetable sides alongside his pies. He'll round things out with salads and antipasti, like preserved albacore with radicchio, potato, Castelvetrano olives, and almonds, as well as dessert.
The drink menu consists of Italian spirits like amari, grappe, aperitivi, and digestivi, plus some American-made spirits, natural Italian wines, and beer, including Peroni on tap.
McGill is starting out with dinner only, but will eventually expand evening hours, add lunch, and even incorporate coffee and pastry service with breakfast pizzas in the morning.
236 Winslow Way East, (206) 201-3462, website. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
