Seattle - August 13, 2008

Excuse My Reach

Spinasse Restaurant Opens

Etiquette dictates that your napkin remain in your lap, that you select silverware from the outside in, and that you drink less than your dinner companion.

Unless said dinner companion orders an excellent bottle of nebbiolo. Then all politesse is off.

Keep your elbows off the table to make room for the multicourse meal at Spinasse. Opening tomorrow, Justin Neidermeyer’s new Piedmont-inspired space encourages communal dining with generous plates from a rotating menu.

The rustic but elegant trattoria coaxes out the kindness of strangers over chicory salads and fava bean frittatas. Couples can canoodle over a plate of, um, noodles (try the tajarin in beef ragu). Solitary diners may order single servings of the herbed goat at the bar surveying Spinasse’s quaint kitchen.

So mangia like your mama taught ya.

Just mind your chickpeas and potential queues.

Spinasse, 1531 14th Avenue (206-251-7673 or spinasse.com).