Barolo is one of those areas of Italy that is beautiful and it really hasn't been done in the city; the whole Piemonte area and the cuisine and the wine and the emphasis on the wine list," says owner Leo Varchetta, adding that northern Italian cuisine has more earthiness to it.

That Sweet Seduction. As versatile as the chef using it, honey plays well both sweet and savory. At Barolo Ristorante, chef James Best turns out a stunning tuna tartar appetizer with a honey-ginger glaze. Best uses wildflower and fireweed honey from High Country Honey in Darrington, available at the Pike Place Market and area food stores. "I love the floral flavor and color," he says, "and the texture is perfectly paired with sashimi-grade tuna in this dish."

Golmarvi is focused on high quality, authentic Italian cuisine with an emphasis on the North Central Adriatic region. He goes shopping each morning at the Pike Place Market for fresh fish and takes regular trips to Italy to stock his wine collection. Golmarvi's ultimate goal is to have the salt and pepper removed from the tables entirely; the food being left seasoned just as it is "in the old country".

Golmarvi says his theory on creating rich, flavorful sauces is simple, "The burners in Assaggio's kitchen are never turned off," he says. The sauces simmer throughout the night, never heated at too high of a temperature or boiled to damper the taste.

"Food is an art, and we are the artists," says Golmarvi, in emphasizing the importance of having respect for food in cooking. "In Italy, we truly cherish food and take cooking very seriously."

When asked what he considers the biggest compliment to his cooking "Scarpetta!" Golmarvi proclaims. In Italy this expression means for the plate to come back to the chef completely clean. "The highest praise you can give a chef in Italy is to take a piece of bread, the size of one's heel, and finish off any remaining sauce. Then the plate is returned to the chef with everything having been eaten," Golmarvi explains.