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The Eastside is giving off some serious “La Dolce Vita” energy. On Sunday, a huge new Italian restaurant called Como will open at Carillon Point in Kirkland, featuring a pizza and pasta menu from star chef Gabriel Chavez. There is seating for 120 in the 3,700 square foot space heavy on the Mediterranean motif, with two lounges, additional seating outside, a fireplace, and plenty of Lake Washington views. If all that weren’t extravagant enough, owners Trevor and Leigh Canlis Greenwood (who run the critically-acclaimed Italian restaurant Cantinetta in Wallingford) have commissioned a wood boat that can transport six guests to and from Seattle.
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the whole enterprise was — as the name suggests — inspired by the Greenwoods’ love of Lake Como, the fancy resort area in Italy’s Lombardy region that George Clooney calls home. Many of the items on the menu reflect that vibe, from the casoncelli alla bergamasca (pasta stuffed with meat) and saffron risotto, right down to cocktails such as The Deep, with bourbon, amaro, and carpano antica (an Italian vermouth).
Kirkland denizens may welcome a summer dining destination in a neighborhood that often gets overlooked for its restaurant scene. It helps that there’s already an intimate familiarity between the Greenwoods and Chef Chavez, who have worked together for many years, both at Cantinetta and the excellent Northern Mexican spot Chavez in Capitol Hill, before it shut down earlier this year.
