FriDate Feast: That’s Amore Italian Cafe

Exterior of That’s Amore Cafe

If you’ve just moved somewhere new and don’t know where to start in exploring and connecting with your new city, my advice is to get out of the house and simply walk. I promise it’s a lot more fun than reading Yelp reviews, and a lot more accurate! For me, that looks like checking out the local food and drink scene.

I recently moved to Seattle from a neighboring city with my husband. Seattle is very familiar to us, as we were close by before, but still far enough removed that we know little about our new neighborhood. So we’re now on the lookout for new-to-us spots, and a strategy we’ve picked up over the years is that food helps us connect with our surroundings and each other. We often will go on walks with no clear plan, just a nebulous “let's find something good to eat” agenda. I’ve never lived in a “big city” before, so this is a fun way to experience city life, diversify my food choices, and get my steps in for the day.

A couple of weekends ago, my husband and I decided to try an Italian restaurant recommended to us. That’s Amore in Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood is a cozy little spot that offers good vibes, delicious food, and quality service. It’s a relatively small restaurant with natural lighting, which creates an intimate, calming atmosphere. The staff was kind, attentive, and very professional. It was a good dining experience from start to finish.

Overall FriDate Rate: 9/10

Friday date nights are always a much-needed pick-me-up after a long workweek. It’s good for my soul to go out and have a cheesy, carb-y, comfort meal and a glass (okay, two glasses) of wine with my favorite person.

​We took our time reviewing the menu and settled on ordering the following:

​Appetizer: Baked Goat Cheese with Veggie Chips

​Entrees: Husband- Buccatini Carbonara with sausage, Abigael - Tortellini in a cream sauce with tomatoes and broccolini

​Dessert: Cannoli

​The Goat Cheese was INCREDIBLE! I already had high hopes, as Goat Cheese is one of my favorite cheeses and has never done me dirty before. As expected, it did not disappoint! The Goat Cheese was warm, tangy, and slightly sweet. It paired perfectly with the saltiness of the homemade Veggie Chips. Simple and delicious.

Rate: 10/10

The Tortellini was good; the cream sauce really made it come together with the broccolini and tomatoes. The pasta itself was okay, with a soft but not too soft consistency that didn't feel mushy. Generally, I prefer my pasta a bit more al dente, but overall, it didn’t detract from the meal.

The ricotta cheese on the inside was creamy and mild, so that it didn’t overpower the sauce, which was the cornerstone of the dish. The white sauce was rich and creamy with a mixture of sun-dried and oven-roasted tomatoes. It was perfectly seasoned to enhance the cream's flavor, not change it into something else; it appeared to contain only black pepper, salt, and garlic. While the sauce was rich in flavor and texture, a subtle acidic brightness gave it a lighter overall feel.

Rate: 9/10

​We paired our meal with a house Lambrusco, and it was perfect. I love carbonated bevvies, so finding a wine that is more like grape soda than an alcoholic drink makes me a happy woman. It was sharp, sweet, and had a heavier texture than other Lambruscos I’ve tasted.

At the end of our meal, we decided to split a Cannoli for dessert. This sounds dramatic, but that Cannoli made me believe in Cannolis again. I’m telling you, I was NOT expecting to like it as much as I did. Generally, I’m not a huge fan of cannolis, which feels a little sacrilegious, since Italian is my favorite genre of food, but it’s true! Something about the texture and the sweetness usually gives me the ick after a bite or two. But this one, it was perfection. The texture was rich and thick, not whipped, and it had a subtle orange flavor that was just tangy and bitter enough to combat the sweetness. It balanced the texture and complex flavors perfectly, creating the best Cannoli I think I’ve had.

Rate: 10/10

After finishing our meal, we felt like walking around our neighborhood some more to let our food digest a little longer before going home. It was dark outside by then, so we had fun moseying around the neighborhood, looking at all the houses lit by streetlights, and we got a lovely view of the illuminated Seattle Skyline.