Volterra — Restaurant in Kirkland

Pretentious...Nestled in downtown Kirkland, open kitchen, white linen tablecloth, large 1 paged menu, and separate specials menu, Yada Yada, Yada. It goes downhill from there yet entertaining.

We came to celebrate a friend's birthday, his choice of venue. We get there, cozy enough of a joint, almost full restaurant, and definitely a full bar.

Our waiter comes by and in a very loud voice. Maybe he's used to senior citizens? Maybe because I have mostly "frosted" hair, as do my dinner guest, announces that he would be taking care of us tonight. He then, for whatever reason, stampers that he's got a " Brain fart." as he forgets his train of thought.

Underwhelmed, we order drinks, and while we're enjoying the company and delicious bread, a patron from the corner of the bar nearest me begins to stumble out.

I initially thought he might have been an ADA individual but, upon further review, realized that he was horribly intoxicated.

I had to press all the way into my table to allow him to pass by. When he brushes by the now deemed "server," he almost fell and had to use a nearby cocktail table to hold himself up.

A very slight female goes to his aid, and as I ask the server, "Shouldn't you go help the individual," he calmly states, "No, she's the manager." Hold the applause...

The manager helps the wretched soul out into frigid, 22 degree night, then comes immediately back in.

The server comments, " Boy! Someone's going to make another $400 night!" We were perplexed. He then explains, "When he 'hurls' in the Uber, the driver will charge the additional fee!"

At that point, I thought perhaps we deserved the additional $400 for him "hurling" this additional unnecessary banter.

The meal arrived, nothing to scream about. Standard fare, overly salted bolonese with a creamy tomato sauce. I should have read the fine print. The birthday guy had the same but gluten free, partner had the lobster risotto, which she enjoyed, and our fourth had the wild boar.

Long winded... What started out to be a great dining experience in celebration of our friends double nickle birthday turned out to be a fun night out enjoying each other's company.

No photos. Who wants to see pictures of creamy tomato blahs? I did think the plating for the wild...

I live within walking distance of this restaurant, but I hadn't tried it yet. Somehow, when it opened, I thought it looked a bit pretentious, and there are other great Italian spots. I'll state up front that I was quite wrong.

Lured in by the Seattle Restaurant Week special, my friend and I were seated at 7:30 on Thursday night. The room was initially very noisy, thanks to the all-to-common bare concrete floor and hard ceiling. However, the crowd soon left, and the ambiance greatly improved.

The SRW menu was more generous than many other places, and it was the perfect introduction. We each had a delicious salad with roasted beets. I then had the braised lamb shank, and my friend had the seafood stew. The dishes were outstanding -- perfectly prepared and seasoned and visually appealing. Bread with olive oil was included. A small dish of a tasty salt/herb blend was on the table, and the waiter let us know that they don't use much salt in the cooking, so I enjoyed the interesting flavor of the blend. The desserts were also yummy. Our Texas-transplant waiter was amazing: warm and friendly, knowledgeable and patient. I engaged him in conversation throughout the evening, since it wasn't busy by that time, and it was as if the owner or chef was taking care of us.

The only critique I could offer is that the bottled wine list prices seemed high. Thankfully, there were some great wines by the glass at fair prices, and we each had a glass that matched our entrees.

There's a nice, small bar off to one side, for enjoying a drink and perhaps some shared bites, and if you know Kirkland, you know that parking just takes a bit of patience to find a spot.

We'll definitely return for another...

Amazing customer service! This past Friday night my colleagues and I were supposed to be hosting some out of town VIPs. Originally I made the reservation for four but then realized I had forgotten to count myself and had to change the reservation to five on Thursday afternoon. Not a problem, I left a message and they promptly called me back saying everything was set. Now what you must know, is that this restaurant is beautifully intimate. It has limited seating so you absolutely must make a reservation if you will be a larger group. That being said if your group is too large (10 or more) it may not work, but I bet they would try! Anyway, as our group was only five, I thought it would be no problem. Unbeknownst to me, one of the out of town VIPs invited an extra person and another brought two extra people bringing our total to eight. Then, one of our colleagues who thought that they couldn't make it, popped by just for a quick drink bringing our total to nine. I must tell you that I have never encountered a staff as gracious and generous as the wonderful people working with us that night. Our poor hostess had to scramble to move tables and chairs as our group expanded. Everytime another person came through the door asking for our group I could see her stress levels rise as the restaurant was packed already. But she never showed it to us. She was amazing! What an amazing team of fantastic customer service focused staff! The restaurant owner/manager should be honored to have such outstanding people to work with. Additionally, the food is out...