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I again had a great meal on Friday. The veal was perfectly cooked and my filet was yummy. Their sauces are outstanding. The only thing that they could work on is their salads. Some of the dressings are a little on the stiff side.
It's a great place to bring out of town people as long as you're not expecting booths. The room can get pretty packed. Make sure you're not seated in the front section by the door. It can get chilly.
I took my boyfriend here for his birthday a few weekends ago and had a very enjoyable experience. I made reservations ahead of time and asked the restaurant to put a candle in the dessert for him. It was a Saturday night and we made reservations for 6:15 p.m. and were seated promptly.
I didn't care too much for the table setting here. Our table was between two and just too close for me to feel really comfortable. I don't really like it when I can hear the other table's conversations. Our server was great, but I disliked how he was a little over-the-top with the a group of ladies in the table next to ours. The atmosphere of the restaurant is not the most romantic and it was really busy and a little loud in there; however, the food made this place one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle.
We started off with some specialty cocktails. I had the Tuscan Limoncello Rosemary Drop and it was very good. Great balance of sweet and sour. My boyfriend really enjoyed his Grappa, which was just too strong for me. As an appetizer we had the special, which was steamer clams in a leek and herb broth. The clams were cooked perfectly and had great flavor. The broth was bland, which I think is okay for an appetizer. The bread was very tasty here as well, but not served warm. I wasn't really wowed with the fennel salt, but I'm not too crazy about salt in the first place.
We decided to share a pasta dish as our second course and had the Pork Jowls and Wild Mushrooms. It was hand-made egg pasta with truffle butter with pork jowls, a very flavorful pancetta with real wild mushrooms. It was heavenly. It was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had in my entire life and wanted to go eat it again the next day and the day after that and so on. I get really upset when restaurants advertise wild mushrooms or foraged mushrooms that are not wild at all, but these were the real deal. The mushrooms added a nice textural element to the overall creamy, rich dish.
For my entree, I had the seafood stew. The broth in the stew was phenomenal, but the seafood in the dish was overcooked. I suggested to my boyfriend to get the Wild Boar with Gorgonzola Sauce because of the Yelp reviews and a recommendation from a friend that had it. Steve was nice enough to share one bite with me and that bite was devastating. It ruined me for the rest of my life and was hands down one of the yummiest foods I have ever eaten. The sauce so good that I can't do it justice in written form. You'll just have to have it yourself.
Last, but not least dessert. Unfortunately, we didn't get to choose dessert, our server chose for us. We were presented with tiramisu with a candle on it. I never order tiramisu because I have never had one that I liked, but it was really delicious and it will definitely be my go-to dessert here.
When the bill came, I was surprised and delighted that the dessert was complimentary and there was no split plate charge for the shared pasta dish.
Although I didn't like my entree, wasn't crazy about the table setting, and the service was good, but not the best, the Wild Boar with Gorgonzola Sauce, the Pork Jowls and Wild Mushroom pasta, and the Tiramisu were so awesome that this is now one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle. I want to go here everyday.
I know it's beside the point, but the evening might have gone off the rails when my dinner date told the waiter that there is no Santa Claus. The poor guy staggered a bit, shocked disbelief on his cherubic face, but came back to the table with our wine, and his game face on. I was so proud of everyone, it could have been WAY more awkward (shattering a 40-years long held belief for someone in public can be awkward, you know?) and that would have messed with this beautiful meal.
We wondered how it came to be, the innocence-shattering dinner date and me, as we were eating our pork jowl & mushroom pasta with truffle butter, that this is our version of comfort food. Really, I'm from a basic, American, middle class family. And I love mac and cheese for sure in a pinch, but Volterra is serving up my grown up kind of comfort. I just got over a cold, the evening was chilly, and I took a bite of the pasta and felt, well, better. No. I felt GOOD.
The wild boar sausage risotto was delicious, too. Oh my god it was delicious. As well as the super tasty house salad (peppery, perfect acidity). The meal (or was it my comfort?) made complete with a lovely white burgundy (for him) and Valpolicella (for me). There may be no Santa Claus, but there is a Volterra. And Volterra is better.
A friend took me to Volterra for the first time last weekend and I absolutely loved it. The Truffle and Wild Mushroom omelette was DELICIOUS.
While I thought $3 for a cup of coffee was a little ridiculous, I enjoyed the friendly service and their cute interior, I am definitely planning on going back.
My friend and I had such a nice experience at Volterra last week. After being referred to this Ballard restaurant by several friends, we decided to check it out for brunch on Halloween weekend. We were seated right away, such a pleasant surprise coming from 2 hour waits for brunch in Chicago. I ordered an egg scramble with truffled mushrooms (I'm newly obsessed with all things truffle). Delicious! Food came out promptly which made us hungover girls extremely excited. I can hardly wait to check out Volterra for dinner.
I returned here for dinner with my mother after a llloooonnnnggg weekend of moving. We were thinking about canceling our reservations and just getting some take-out since we were both exhausted from all the heaving lifting from my move - but thinking about a good drink and some great food convinced us to go out.
I had been waiting to take my mom here and we lucked out with great weather so we could sit outside. We both started with wonderful cocktails, I had the white peach thyme bellini and my mom had the limoncello rosemary drop. We shared the beet and walnut salad which is large enough for 2 people (especially when you want to add dessert to the meal :) ). I had the tagliolini pasta with pork Jowls and wild mushrooms that had wonderful truffle butter that added some richness to the dish. My mother had the spinach bowties with chicken. Although I thought her dish sounded boring it was anything but. The bowties were large, delicate, hand formed bowties. Nothing like your boxed variety at the grocery store. Both dishes were delicious and we both had leftovers for lunch the next day too. For dessert we had a tarte tatin sort of apple treat with ice cream and caramel. It was perfect!
What a great way to reward ourselves for a weekend of hard week and a wonderful welcome to my new neighborhood!
I loved this place! A friend and I went to dinner on Sunday night at 6pm and the place was just… Read more »
Another great restaurant in Ballard! Service was good, the food was great... Great beer selection. Overall had a nice experience here, not overly memorable but worth a try for sure.
Having eaten at a gazillion Italian restaurants all over the globe, I can honestly say that Volterra is one of the best. The menu is thoughtful with some of Northern Italy's best flavors and the wine list is HUGGGGE! A sommelier roams the restaurant offering suggestions on wine, but you can't go wrong. Volterra also has an interesting cocktail list, my favorite is the lavender martini - soo yummy! Located in the heart of Ballard, Voterra is a MUST for brunch or dinner. You will not regret it!
Volterra is second only to Cafe Campagne for brunch in Seattle. I went to Rover's for brunch last week and it was great, but Volterra is just more accessible and down-to-earth.
I ordered the "Milano! Milano!" - herb bread pudding with asparagus, smoked gouda cream, and 2 eggs any style. It was so delicious! I ordered my eggs poached, and they were the perfect compliment to the moist bread pudding and the rich, savory gouda cream sauce. My arteries were probably crying, but no matter.
My boyfriend ordered "Francesco's Eggs" - scrambled eggs with Italian sausage, mushrooms, cheese, and spinach. He liked it a lot. I liked the whole grain toast that came with the eggs, it crunched perfectly slathered with the variety of freezer jams available. Volterra's hash browns were the best that I've had in Seattle so far, so beautifully molded and golden that they looked like the type you see in pictures.
My friend ordered the fruit and yogurt plate which contained very fresh, sweet fruit and thick, creamy yogurt, but somewhat stale granola. Oh well. Coffee was a little too strong and bitter, but I guess some people like it that way.
I've been to Volterra for dinner too and liked it a lot then too. Definitely an excellent all-around restaurant. I'll be back for sure!
Great Food, Great Atmosphere, Great Location!
I have had nothing but great service and food here. I enjoyed the food so much after my first dinner here that I returned the very next night!
It is a bit on the expensive side but well worth it and it's an excellent place for a first date or an anniversary or just a friday night! They also have a nice private area that is perfect for groups.
We went here for brunch and the food was yummy...particulary the duck hash.
I will definitely be going back to check out the dinner menu.
so i only came here for drinks,but the place has some really chillax atmosphere :)
the bartender was really helpful and he seem like he knew his drinks and enjoy doing his job and chatting with people just like a bartender should be ...
the place is real nice and cozy i will def come back for dinner with my GF
it seems to work for a romantic dinner :)
great service, beautiful restaurant, and the food is fantastic, grilled eggplant and the sausage and mussel are my two favorites appetizers and the lamb shank is well season and delicious!
the only reason that I give this restaurant four stars instead of five, because a while back, when I order baby spinach salad with octopus the spinach were a bit old and yellow.
For winning a lot of awards and being featured in many magazines, I was disappointed. I don't think Italian food is *hard* to make, everyone can boil pasta and open a can of tomato sauce, but it is hard to make WELL and interesting in a novel way. Volterra simply was mediocre, especially for all the hype surrounding the place.
I liked the outdoor patio seating, but the service was slow. They gave us bread with olive oil and herbed salt? The salt was weird... and felt like it had been sitting out for who knows how long on the table. We ordered the bruschetta with mushroom and truffle puree and minced artichokes. It was good, but dry and not great. For dinner, I had the ravioli. Are you serious? I might be 61.75 inches, but I CAN EAT. You better give me more than four pieces!!! My boyfriend ordered the bowtie pasta which was bland and undercooked. We were so unsatisfied by dinner that we decided to skip looking at the dessert menu and get it elsewhere (we rarely skip LOOKING).
Perhaps I'll have better luck with the brunch sometime?
Best pasta I have had in Seattle. Great ambiance. The oil soup is a must. The service can be a little condescending. The steak was very good for an Italian restaurant but I wouldn't go here specifically for it.
A few weeks ago, I hit up the Ballard Italian restaurant/institution known as Volterra for the first time (yes, was living under a rock for the six years I lived in Sea-Town).
Volterra has a combination of indoor/outdoor seating which is great if you can make the right reservation. It's generally pretty packed so there's a bit of electricity in the atmosphere.
We had a few people help us throughout the evening - the first of which got us going on Framboise - raspberry beer (keep in mind that unlike getting a blueberry beer at Boston Beer Works that comes with Blueberries in it, this is more of a refined beer without raspberries floating around) -still pretty good.
We kicked off the evening with some Baked Gnocchi with Wild Boar Sausage. The Gnocchi were huge and flavorful. Followed that up with the Mussels and Sausage App. The mussels were great, but the spicy sausage was, how do you say... re-fucking-tarded (it's a word...trust me)
For entrees, we tried the Bass special which was pretty good and the Pork Ribeye - a little too fatty for me, but other folks really liked it.
For dessert, I tried the Panna Cotta - learned I hate Panna Cotta and the one person at the table who liked Panna Cotta in general said PASS. The Tiramisu was good, but nothing I would mandate as part of your Volterra experience - whereas the Mussels and Sausage is mandatory - skip this app and you've blown it.
Volterra is a Ballard gem. I've been three times and am always impressed with the service, the food, and the ambiance. Last week I took a friend of mine to dinner here for her birthday. Our waiter was delightful. He gave us just the right amount of attention, without hovering. I wanted to order to eggplant appetizer, which is to die for. He said they were out of it, so recommended the mushroom polenta. We were not disappointed. It was amazing. The food is fresh with wonderful flavor combinations. Excellent wine list as well.
Sure, it's a nice space and the service is good, but the food sucks and costs way too much.
I've been to Volterra in the past for drinks and dessert (the Tirami su is sooo good) and for brunch this morning. Got there around 11:00am and got a table right away. Hung out until 12:00pm and the place never got too crowded. Not bad for a Sunday brunch. Ordered the french toast, which was egg bread with flambeed bananas. Bananas were a great touch. French toast was really good for the first 2 out of 4 pieces, but the bread is so thick and so sweet that the dish became overwhelming...got old quick. So, I also ordered the fresh fruit with yogurt and granola. Yogurt was great...sweet and slightly sour like the Greek Yogurt you can get at the grocery store. Fruit was fresh and good. They also serve some fancy little tea bags for their green tea.
Had a good brunch and good time. I want to go back for dinner.
Fantastic food, savory sauces, fair price, shaky table
The wait to sit in the bar can take over an hour, and call at least a week ahead of time to get a reservation. This restaurant is currently very popular!
The wait staff was very friendly, though they did not convey extreme knowledge in what was being served. We were allowed to taste a few wines before committing to a glass, which is a great touch. We also love when the regular red wine glass can be substituted for a larger glass, a perk not found at all restaurants.
On this evening we ordered the mussels and sausage in tomato based broth to start. The sauce was excellent, and dipping bread in it almost killed my appetite as I couldn't stop myself from eating almost a whole loaf. We followed with the house salad, which included shaved fennel. A nice touch to the typical arugala/parmesan/balsamic vinaigrette house salad.
For our main courses we had two pasta dishes: the eggplant ravioli and beef cheek ravioli. The former was promoted as being spicy, and it lacked in that department. Overall it was fine. The other ravioli, though, was excellent. A nice beef ragu, very tender, inside large pasta pockets, in a fantastic tomata and cream sauce. Only complaint was that the pasta could have used like 30 seconds more cooking time to be perfect. Oh, and the table we sat at moved up and down like a teeter totter, as we both had our arms on it...a little thing, but they should have this fixed.
Would we go back again: YES, for sure.
I like it. A lot.
Nice place friendly servers. Knowledgable wine buyer. Chris, I think his name is. Nice Captain's list.
Its definitley in the rotation.
Arghhh! Parking in Ballard.
We went out tonight looking for a nice place to celebrate our anniversary and we decided on Volterra.... big mistake. The bread was bland and heavy. Then our entrees: the crispy baked chicken was decent, but the mashed potatoes were a pile of butter with a couple of potatoes mixed in. Everything was incredibly salty! We also had the lamb sausage risotto, and it had HAIR in it! I mean it was a good risotto, but that was negated by the fact that there was a freakin long black hair sticking out of it.....
Then our waiter said he would give us a free dessert to compensate for the hair incident, however, none of the desserts looked to great either. The best thing about our dinner with the white wine sangria, needless to say it was not a great dinner. Also, the service was not what we expected for a $20 / plate restaraunt. Our water glasses went empty and server was not helpful...or friendly. 2 stars...! Don't bother going.
I want to get married JUST so I can have Volterra cater. HOLY COW!! Please attend their brunch and have the Bacon, Provolone, Avocado, and Green Onion Scramble; you won't regret it. That wasn't what I ordered. I'd only had a BITE of that dish....oh yesssss it's so amazing.
I'm afraid to go for dinner as I may not be able to dine anywhere else for as long as I live.
The food here really is excellent.
Wifey and I had the Bruschetta and the Chef's choice antipasto to start. Both were excellent. The Antipasto was 10 bux and had about 12 little things (olives, cheeses, dips etc) on the plate. Fantastic value.
Ordered a bottle of WA Sauv Blanc- $36 and very nice. They have a good wine list but no origins other than Italy and the NW.
I ordered the pasta with the mixed mushrooms & smoked pork jowls (a first on the Jowl for me) and it was out of this world. I would go back tomorrow to order another plate of that rich deliciousness.
My better half ordered the pasta with olives and lamb sausage. Not as good as my pasta but still mighty tasty!
Their pastas (they have about 8 on the menu) range from $15 to $18- so very reasonable for the large portion you get.
Finished with cappachino for the wife and some desert wine for me. Both were excellent.
Can't wait to go back- probably next weekend in fact.
I've eaten at a lot of Italian Joints and I think Volterra is one of the best.
Holy overrated. Yes I've experienced better. Maybe it was an off night but this place sure got a whole lot of press when they opened and they better deliver every night. I thought this place was nothing special that I seriously have nothing to say. I have to mention that I sent the dessert back and I never send food back, but it was raw and unbaked and tasted like sugary nothing. So sad.
Yummy yummy yummy, I've got brunch in my tummy
And I feel like passing out
Brunch is such a sweet gig, come and grab a bite
Eggs, bacon and whole wheat bread, you're such a treat
Good enough to eat
And that's just what I did!
Oooh love, to eat ya
Oooh love, to mash you in my mouth
Oooh love, to drink the booze
And make a mess on my face
*oh, and I thought the brunch price for my meal was pretty decent, under $10 for a damn good dish
This is one of our favorite brunch spots in town! So many places around town serve a decent brunch, but have long waiting times. We've been able to get a table as soon as we walk in the door at Volterra on numerous occasions, which is kind of surprising given that the food is GREAT and their prices are right in line with what you would pay at a greasy spoon. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes a non-descript omelette, two slices of bacon and heavily buttered toast is just what the doctor ordered. But sometimes, it's nice to change it up with Volterra's French Toast, which is Challah bread topped with flambeed bananas or a wild mushroom and truffle cheese scramble. My favorite though is their Milano! Milano! which is a savory bread pudding topped with eggs served over a smoked gouda sauce and asparagus. Go to their website and check out their prices for brunch and I think you'll find that it's pretty reasonable. Oh...their basket of pastries is a great way to kick off your brunch as well.
My first and only experience at Volterra was this past Valentine's Day. It was a prix fixe dinner, so there wasn't much to choose from, but I did get a taste of what they had to offer. The bread, as usual in many restaurants, was worth passing up. Each course was well executed, but didn't reach the sublime that I would expect of such a well respected restaurant. I know I'm spoiled by my own kitchen pursuits (and owe a lot to Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything) - but I think that home cooking is a reasonable bar to set for a high priced meal. It needs to meet or exceed expectations. When I go to a nationally recognized restaurant, I expect to be more than satiated - I expect to be utterly impressed. Unfortunately, this did not happen.
They have an impressive wine list, and innovative cocktail offerings featuring Italian liqueurs. Their waitstaff is conscientious and helpful and though I was unimpressed, the food was solidly executed.
After several years of walking by their lovely LOVELY patio and watching people 'Ooh and Aaahhh' over their food, I had finally had enough!
Tonight, we dine at Volterra!
We walked in at around 6:45pm, and while we didn't have a reservation, they were still able to seat us. It was pretty busy on a Monday night and while there was no chance of being seating 'Al Fresco', we were okay with that and settled in for what we hoped would be a fantastic meal.
We started with drinks. My glass of rose was pretty good and he loved his Manhattan. While the list was predominantly expensive bottles, it looked like you could drink glasses all night long and be in the $8-10 range.
We started with (what I call) Blasted Broccoli- sauteed and seared with chili flakes, garlic, and lemon. It didn't rock our socks off, but it was still pretty good.
For entrees, the menu was chock full of seafood, lamb, and beef. The menu was actually much more expansive than I anticipated, and while I almost went with the lamb, I ended up having the seafood risotto which consisted of plenty of mussels and clams, (there was only one scallop *sigh*) bathed in perfectly cooked risotto in creamy tomato sauce. It was very good, and when the waiter asked if it was okay, I blurted out, 'Clearly..' and then pointed at my empty plate. He thought that was pretty funny.
My dining date had the Dungeness crab ravioli, and to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what he thought of his meal, ONLY because we were both too busy stuffiin' our faces to worry about what we thought about our own food. I'm pretty sure he loved it, but you can read what he had to say in his review. :)
All this, AND never ending bread (and no, not like the Olive Garden)! Seriously though, beware the bread and olive oil.. and by that I mean.. If you are on some crazy 'I don't eat carbs' diet, than STAY AWAY. Their bread is amazingly hearty and tasty, and paired with their very own olive oil.. well, we didn't have a snowball's chance in hell, getting out of there with less than two huge baskets full.
The bill was extremely reasonable, the wait staff was polite and attentive. The food was good and the atmosphere is nice.
I will definitely be back for some reserved Al Fresco dining soon.. and I need to try their brunch. Someone (maybe 25+ reviewers) seem to think it's some of Seattle's best.
Well we had to celebrate M'Lady's first day at work and my 2yrs of living here in Seattle. So we wandered down to Volterra for a proper meal. We scored ourselves a good table and service was nothing but spot on the whole time. M'Lady goes with a glass of wine(as always) and I opt for a Nocciola Manhattan. Seriously that Manhattan was probably the best I have ever had. Oh and yah M'Lady is right their bread is so freaking good we had to get two basket's of the stuff. So far a 5 star establishment.
Our Blasted Broccoli comes out and it was alright but a few of the pieces I got were super chewy. I pretty much felt like I was eating the root of some weed. So they lost a star for that mediocre appetizer.
And my Dungeness Crab Ravioli was equally mediocre as the app because the egg pasta was over cooked and there wasn't enough crab inside the pasta to fill my belly. For a $18 plate I feel a little cheated so they lose another star for this plate.
So 5-2=3 Stars. But don't get me wrong I will give this place another try. Because I am all about second chances and I of course I loves me my Manhattan's!!!
1st visit was good but pricey. 2nd visit was for my brother-in-laws birthday on a hot Sunday afternoon, very hot. The place was empty and we (8 people) were sweltering in the back of the restaurant. We asked if they could prop open the back door, which they had done for their convenience, they said no. We asked if we could move to join two or three empty tables near the windows so we wouldn't be so hot, no. Could we have a fan- no.
Trying again as it seems Yelp somehow doesn't show this to you (the public) but it still appears on my profile as a review I wrote- with 3 Helpfuls!
I then went and spoke with the manager if there is anything they could do- maybe move tables outside? They disappeared and then sent the hostess back to do their dirty work- no.
We walked out and spent our $800 somewhere else- never going back. Oh, my wife tried to speak with the general manager later that week, who was rude to her and of no help.
Sad... food had potential but horrible treatment IMO.
Was cajoled into returning to Volterra, after one of my companions on our last, abortive visit, suggested that I was too irate about the attitudes to fully appreciate the food. Went back and sat quietly, eating and tasting. Result: still wannabe Italian; Italian food for people who don't know Italian food, with a LOT of gratuitous liberties taken. I tried, I really did.
Apparently, the owner of Volterra is insecure about his restaurant, so anyone who dares to say… Read more »
Ever since I moved to Seattle from NYC, I haven't found a single restaurant comparable to what I was used to in the city (NYC) but damn, this place was good!!!!
Awesome food and nice atmosphere. Price is reasonable too. No wonder why you need to make a reservation way in advance.
I highly recommend this place!
I'd heard the stories of spotty service, but we certainly did not have that to worry about on the evening we dined here. Great waiter, great sommelier, very attentive busser.
Food presentation was artful, dishes were flavorful, the house salad is delicious IF you like arugula, which I do. Wine list is tremendous, and the help in wine selection is not snooty but informative.
A restaurant for romance: at least four tables around us were two-tops with dates holding hands (I'm serious here, we all remarked at how many couples either just had great make-up sex or the dude was about to propose -- that's how hand-holdy people are there).
Only minus is that it's very noisy. No way I can take my hard of hearing mother here. But enjoy nonetheless.
FIRST TIME I'M LAYING JUDGMENT UPON OTHERS on here....
Cool, here goes:
Speaking strictly BRUNCH here...(Sunday at noon)
I walk through the door into a small area and think it's dead, but then am promptly walked to this pleasant smelling larger room on the side, with quite a few people quietly enjoying their meals. Someone is rocking their iPod at a comfortable level, with tunes a little less groovy than Thievery Corp but it's chill and classy enough to work well here. (I'll notice music as soon as a good plate of food)
The cute waitress is quite helpful and steers me towards a fantastic scramble involving bacon and avocado (fresh n tasty), among other things. The toast is Essential Wheat which, if you are a bread enthusiast, is a good thing. Hashbrowns are a little dry but I would prefer this over the opposite.
They gave me plenty of raw sugar with my tasty coffee and made sure I was never close to getting low. They let me chill and read my book without over-bugging me, too.
SO, it's slightly more posh than the normal brunch for me, (lots of folks ordering the duck which I ain't into) but I'll take it any day over somewhere loud and dirty.
To quote that governor dude, "I'll be back"....
Two words. Fennel salt. OK, a lot more words, but I'll get back to the salt.
My wife took me here for my birthday a couple years ago and although I haven't been back (side note to Ballard: Why are you so far away?) I still remember the lovely meal we had in the outside eating area, and all the wine we drank. I don't remember exactly the dishes we ordered, but there were some good game meats (boar? rabbit? wild hipster?), roasted veggies and pasta.
At any rate, we were seated on time (seating time = reservation time, shocker!), the service was attentive and the waiters seemed to know the food well. I hate when waiters tell you the specials and it's basically reading the dish/ingredient list. I can do that myself. Tell me something about how the food tastes, or why one dish might go better with another, etc. They also didn't make a fuss about us sharing an appetizer, entree, salad, etc. (which we do to keep the price down and let us taste more flavors when there's only the two of us).
Back to the salt. They make this fennel salt concoction here and it's just a fantastic flavoring, even if just with olive-oil/vinegar on your standard bread they serve with the meal. We liked it so much we bought some from the restaurant so we could have it at home to season dishes.
Highly recommended, especially if you can get a table outside.
We can here mainly for the Tuscan Limoncello Rosemary Drop cocktail: vodka, fresh rosemary, lemon sour, housemade limonchello, and a rosemary sugar rimmed glass. I could have done without the fresh spring garnish, but the beverage was yummy!
Our server Paul was awesome and gave us some wonderful suggestions on what to have and what went best with what. Excellent service!
We ordered the Cured Meats, House Salad, Seafood Risotto and the Rhubarb Napoleon for desert.
The Cured Means were perfect for two people and a great compliment to our beverages.
House salad was good.
Seafood Risotto was delicious and savory. I highly recommend it.
The Rhubarb Napoleon was a great end to a wonderful evening. I would definitely come back again.
Ballard needs Volterra. It's a place for special occasions, you can take your family or friends. One of the best memories I have is having "dessert drinks" here on my birthday about two years ago - their bar is lovely and the espresso martini. SO amazing I had to have two... after only intending on one. BUT, it was my birthday...so...
I have been here a few times for dinner, once for breakfast. I highly recommend their brunch for the value and quality of what you get. Mille Grain toast? YES. Great coffee. Scrambles with cheese that you can identify, not some orange mess that tastes of margarine. Dinner has been alright, but never really stupendous. Last time I went, I had the nettle pasta with peas, parmesan and prosciutto - not to mention copious amounts of olive oil. It was... decent. The appetizer was a big disappointment, sliced culatello and truffle custard with Shaved Tuscan pecorino. The truffle custard tasted like butter... unsalted butter with the texture of still hard butter. Mixed with some creamy custard textured goop. It was bland and... I tried to keep an open mind thinking maybe it was supposed to be a textural treat. Will not repeat that order, thank you!
I was impressed by their wine steward who helped us pick out a few glasses of Italian white - which I of course know nothing about! He even wrote down the names of the wine since I showed interest. What great service, and not a bit of 'wine snobbery'!
All in all, I like the atmosphere here, but sometimes the food is not as good as you would like it to be and it's not as romantic in the main room... stick to the bar for good service, wine, cocktails and atmosphere.
Volterra isn't bad, per se. But, I was definitely expecting more. Eating there, earlier this week, I was reminded of the types of places I'd go to before a formal dance in High School. Pricey, tasteful, but unexceptional. Safe and what you'd expect if you didn't eat out much. I'm just not sure that's a good thing.
For example, I ordered the wild boar tenderloin with a Gorgonzola and mustard sauce... which you'd think would be Crazy Flavorful(tm). But, instead, the sauce lacked both the pungency of Gorgonzola and the zing of good mustard. The boar was nice, but it didn't linger memorably like it should have.
Another example is the bread and olive oil that was served with the meal. The olive oil was nice, but it was hard to notice it through the doughy, undercooked tasting bread.
That said, I will mentioned that their beet and arugula salad was nice. And, I just had a glass of their house red, and it was quite good... a nice berry mouthful with a hint of white pepper. I'd definitely welcome another glass.
So, in short, if you are looking for some nice ambiance and a safe, quality meal, Volterra would be a good suggestion. I just don't know if you'll remember it a week later. And, for the money you'll spend, you should expect a memorable meal.
Sigh.
This place holds a soft spot in my heart. Both times here were with the same friend, and life was interesting to say the least. Nevertheless. The atmosphere is great, and both times I've been we've had chance to sit at the tables right in the front window of the entrance, which in my opinion is probably one of the best tables in the place.
Sometimes the service (and the cocktails) are a little hit or miss, but it's worth it for the food. Recently I ordered the Lobster and Saffron Risotto...which seafood risotto, which always runs the risk of being waaay to fishy, came out just perfect. The rice had the right amount of al dente, and the waiter didn't even look at me weird when I asked for extra lemon. (Seafood needs acid people!)
My dinner guest had the Duck ear pasta with wild boar ragu, which was amazing. There was actually no ducks ears involved in the process, but apparently that was the shape of ducks ears, but really just looked like shells to me. The pasta is as always orgasmic, super al-dente but not too hard. almost indescrible. The ragu was very rich, and the boar was slow cooked and in pulled apart pieces.
We also split a $150 bottle of brunello, which was uber tasty. The mojitos we're less than be desired (not enough mint!)
For dessert we had the tiramisu, and the gelato. The tiramisu was actually formed correctly and not a glob of mess on the plate.
Outside of the pasta and seafood dishes, I'm not too amazed by what else is on the menu, all of the meat dishes are really safe, kind of boring and what you would expect from any upscale american/italian restaurant now. However, Volterra does excel in pasta, wine, desserts and seafood. And really, who needs meat when you have have all of those other things?
Four for 48
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
$4.00 Off Pizza
Neighborhood: Eastlake
Neighborhood: Ballard
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Ballard
Category: French
Neighborhood: Ballard
Category: Wine Bars
Neighborhood: Ballard
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Ballard
Category: Tapas Bars
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