The Ballard mainstay heads East

If something's popular in Seattle, it invariably catches on on the Eastside, as evidenced by the fact that Kirkland is full of people who're always saying they'd NEVER live on the Eastside now has a Volterra of its own. A "more modern" take on the original in Ballard, this 2500sqft Italian stallion boasts a 55-seat dining room set off with Dale Chihuly drawings, a sparkly Murano glass/Swarovski crystal chandelier in the entryway, and music chosen by a KEXP DJ

Eats stay close to their original menu, with favorites like a chili-roasted porchetta ragu tossed with hand-rolled Tuscan spaghetti, baby spinach & goat cheese, and tagliolini tossed with wild mushrooms, truffle butter & smoked pork jowls, aka guanciale, aka "oh crap, that's what guanciale is?". Newer stuff includes specialty 'tails crafted by celebu-chef Cathy Casey that range from the Grappa 75 w/ gin, Grand Marnier, fresh sour, champagne, and, er, grappa, to the Nocciola Manhattan w/ Woodford Reserve Bourbon, red vermouth, Frangelico & vermouth-plumped Bing cherries, which most people end up popping when Google Maps crashes for the millionth time on Firefox

Though they're currently just doing dinner service, you're likely wondering when they'll start serving up lunch and weekend brunch, like a Dungeness crab ravioli and a wild mushroom and truffle scramble. Well, they'll cross that bridge in early October (as long as it's not 520).