Bruciato — Restaurant in Bainbridge Island

What a disappointing dinning experience. From the moment we entered the restaurant, we were not acknowledged and only after a few uncomfortable minutes of silence later, the young hostess said “hello” and told us the waiting time would be 15 minutes. No problem. She then said we were welcome to sit at the bar while we waited for our table. We proceeded to the bar where they gave us menus and cutlery/plates, which led us to believe it was Ok to order food and drinks there. So rather than waiting for the table, I figured I’d let the hostess know we were going to eat there, so she wouldn’t have to wait for us and so that other dinners could have a readily available table. As soon as I opened my mouth, the young lady told me in the most patronizing way possible that, “for future reference that’s not allowed.” And I said, ok “what do you want us to do? Not sit at the bar? What do you suggest we do? “It doesn’t matter because you’re next in line waiting for a table so that’s fine,” she said. “But just so you know for future reference, you can’t do that.” Strike one.

Clearly disappointed and confused, I go back to the bartender that had already taken our food order at the bar and told her about the whole exchange with the other girl. In a sympathetic manner, she explained it must have been a “misunderstanding, because they deal with a lot of “stress at the front of the store,” which I think is understandable due to the nature of customer service and how horrible people behave these days. However, I’m not sure where the misunderstanding part was other than the hostess didn’t appreciate me doing something I thought it was kind—alerting her we won’t be needing the table after all because we’d be sitting at the bar, as she had originally suggested. Perhaps she thought we were cutting in line? Instead of taking off at this point, we stupidly decided to stay, but in hindsight we should have left right then and there.

While waiting for the food to arrive, I observed one of the bartenders touching her hair constantly. And I mean a lot of hair twirling and re-arranging, which I personally think is totally unacceptable and disgusting at a restaurant setting. The music was kind of loud too.

Now, let’s talk about the food: It took 25 minutes for the burrata salad to make an entrance. The young hostess that wasn’t good at dealing with “stress” (or people) is the one who brought us the salad. Her serving skills were as poor as her customer service; she placed the plate in front of me very loudly, as she was slamming it. “Great, a salad with a side of angst brought to you by some miserable, passive aggressive 19-year old,” I thought. Strike two.

The pizza arrived 40 minutes later after arriving at the bar counter. Presentation-wise it was fine; it was brick-oven style pizza and cooked really well. The pizza was actually tasty. It was served with pizza scissors which I found useful. The server who explained the “misunderstanding,” served us the pizza and only asked us once if we needed anything, to which we responded, “pepper flakes.” After that neither she or anyone else for that matter bothered to check in on us as we ate our food. As we finished eating, I found a short blond hair in the pizza scissors. Not sure how that’s even possible since I have long black hair that was pulled pulled back at the time I sat down for the meal, but I can tell you that pretty much all of the young women/men that worked there had fair skin and blonde hair, so as much as I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt, I cannot. Strike 3.

We tipped only 10%. Your pretentiousness and lack of proper customer service provided by a supposedly hard-working yet clueless, millennial staff made us decide that there won’t be a “future reference” or visit...

We ate there today. Was recommended by a local shop owner who knew I had a dairy (cow) allergy bit did not realize that the meatballs had cheese in them. So had to read menu more. The restaurant was so load music and tables so close that others conversations were so loud that my daughter and I texted. So my daughter and I peruse the menu, listed in Italian. It's okay I can fuddle through and I don't have a problem asking questions. We decide on a salad of kale, leeks, sweet onions, apples, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and gorgonzola cheese we got it on the side for my daughter. We also ordered a sheep milk cheese pizza with tomato sauce, camelized onions, fresh herbs and a touch of honey. The salad took a good 10 minutes to arrive, not that big of a deal, the four slices of onions and 7 half inch cubes of fruit were in about a cup and a half of shredded kale. Only a walnut or two and no seeds. There was a full ramekin of cheese. Except for the ratio of ingredients it tasted fine. not enough for two people to split and feel any kind of full. So we waited another 20 minutes for the pizza. The server refilled my water about 6 times and finally said that she thinks our pizza is almost ready. The people next to us ordered their food after us and got it before us. I know that they use a pizza oven and that the pizza would not be perfect, but more rustic. When we saw the pizza, there are huge sections that have burnt (black) bubbles of crust. The actual pizza is totally minimal, barely and dough, thinner than a flat bread, less and visible tomato sauce, onions only on 2 slices, the herbs so few that they were barely noticeable. The only item on the pizza that was in fair portion to the size of the pizza was the globs of sheep cheese that were not melted. The amount of honey was so generous that it drenched the pizza making it totally soggy. I needed napkins to soak it off the top of the pizza. We could not taste anything besides burnt and honey. We were starving and could not wait another 20 minutes for a pizza so I used the napkins. Was this dinner worth the $40 plus tip? Absolutely NOT. The flatbread and olive plate the people next to us got looked awesome. Not a positive experience food or...

Simply amazing. Absolutely delicious. Chef Brendan has done it AGAIN!

I haven't had pizza this good since visiting Naples, Italy where pizza was first invented. This is what traditional wood fire pizza is supposed to be - crispy, lightly carbonized homemade crusts that compliment the salty savory and/or sweet authentic toppings. The prosciutto is unbelievable and cured by the chef in his deli down the street and sliced fresh for each pizza. The sauce is also made in-house. The rest of the menu, including the cocktails, are innovative and authentically Italian.

The atmosphere is lively and vivacious, with a smiling and attentive staff. The interior is warm and embracing due to the beautiful visual balance of exposed wood beams and brick, Italian marble, subway tile, brushed stainless light fixtures, handblown glass, candlelight and of course, the glowing woodfire pizza oven. Filled with inviting smells and laughing, friendly locals and visitors that appreciate a great pizzeria experience.

The only downside is that you will become completely addicted to this pizza and will find yourself craving it daily.

My (current) favorites are the Black Manhattan Cocktail, the Prosciutto Crudo or Dateri e Prosciutto pizzas and Tartufo Affogato, which should not be skipped regardless of how full you are. The menu does change so check the website for current options.

Also, if you show up and there is a wait, don't let the line or crowd deter you from sticking around. Just belly up to the bar, order a glass of wine, beer or cocktail, watch the chefs dance in front of the woodfire oven and enjoy the subtle vibrations of the prosciutto slicer peeling off tissue thin slices of this...