Chef has prepared a 4-course pre-fixed menu for Friday, February 13th and Saturday, February 14th, night for $65 dollars. This will be the only menu available for these evenings.
Category: Blog
IL Bistro Celebrates 40th Anniversary
Photos courtesy of Robin Kelley
Amaro Bistro and IL Bistro will offer its Cioppino item at its original 1975 price, $13, and its Lasagne item at its original 1975 price, $9.
Three-day celebration to include 1975 prices on signature items, live entertainment and legendary Seattle bartender, Murray Stenson
SEATTLE, Wash. (January 16, 2014) – IL Bistro will be hosting a three-day celebration to honor its 40th anniversary, beginning Tuesday, January 27 to Thursday, January 29, 2015.
Since opening in 1975, IL Bistro has provided Seattle with regional Italian cuisine in an intimate-dining setting. IL Bistro originally opened as a small restaurant at the North end of Pike Place Market, and served only two menu items, as well as beer and wine. The menu included IL Bistro’s signature Lasagne, prepared daily with an old family recipe, veal and lamb ragù. Its second dish was the Market Cioppino with the freshest shellfish provided by the Market. Due to the restaurant’s growing popularity, IL Bistro moved to its larger, current space at Pike Place Market’s entrance at First and Pike Street.
The celebration will feature live entertainment each night, as well as IL Bistro alumnus and legendary Seattle bartender Murray Stenson. During the celebration only, IL Bistro will be serving its original signature items at 1975 prices, including its Lasagne for $9 and Cioppino for $13. Amaro Bistro, IL Bistro’s new sister restaurant in Bothell, Wash., will be offering anniversary prices for its Lasagne and Cioppino as well.
Guests can also enjoy a variety of IL Bistro’s authentic Italian cuisine, including an array of appetizers, salads, pasta and entrees, each prepared with market-fresh meats, seafood and produce. IL Bistro’s menu also features a wide selection of Italian, California and Northwest wines.
To make reservations at Amaro Bistro, please call 425-485-2300.
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Media Contacts: Lorne Richmond / Abby Espiritu
Richmond Public Relations / (206) 682-6979
[email protected] / [email protected]
Eating Spaghetti the Italian Way
If you’ve ever visited Italy, you may have noticed that a lot of what they do at the dining table is not the same what we imagine. Of particular note to many is the way they eat their spaghetti. Indeed, the way that most Americans dine on this famous Italian dish would be poorly received at a real Italian table. With this in mind, should you ever wish to impress your Italian friends at our Bothell Italian restaurant, keep the following spaghetti etiquette in mind:
Firstly, you don’t want to use a spoon to roll your spaghetti. In Italy, this is considered rude. Indeed, rolling your noodles thusly is something done by children who have not yet mastered proper dining. To roll your noodles, hold your fork against the curvature of your plate and spin, taking care to only pick up as much as can be fit in your mouth. If you have to suck up stray noodles after you bite down, you’re doing it wrong.
Second, avoid cutting your noodles. To an Italian chef, this is tantamount to sacrilege. If you’re having trouble limiting the amount of spaghetti that you bring to your mouth, simply roll fewer strands on your fork.
Join us for New Year’s Eve
Start Your Meal with Antipasti!
Are you looking for the appetizers on our menu while you wait for your main course at our Italian restaurant in Bothell? If so, check out our selection of antipasti! This Italian word literally translates to “before the meal”, representing the hors d’oeuvre course. In Italy, antipasti come in four different categories: meats, vegetables, olives, and cheese.
Meats: Antipasti meat is usually served cold, and may include sausages, cold cuts, and cured meats.
Vegetables: Antipasti vegetables are generally raw or marinated, most commonly including mushrooms, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes.
Olives: Olives are a big enough part of Italian dining to warrant their own category. You will almost always see olives in a real Italian antipasti course. They will often be served either by themselves or stuffed with cheese, nuts, garlic, or peppers.
Cheese: Cheeses are another important part of any antipasti course, usually coming in the form of traditional Italian varieties. Some cheese will be served by itself, but some will be wrapped in meat, stuffed into mushrooms, or occasionally spread onto bread.
The History of Italian Pasta
One cannot talk about Italian food without talking about pasta. Be it spaghetti, lasagna, linguine, or tortellini, there could hardly be a more iconic part of the country’s cuisine. But where did pasta come from, and how did it become such an important part of the dining experience in Italy?
It is a common belief that Marco Polo was the first to introduce pasta to Italy, having brought it over from China. However, there is evidence that the country had a noodle dish as far back as the first century, AD. This dish was known as “lagane”, and was baked in an oven instead of boiled. Other than this, it apparently resembled the pasta made in Italy today.
The nutritional value and exceptional shelf-life of pasta drove its rise in popularity throughout Italy, and made it a great food for long ocean voyages. It was for this reason that Italian pasta was often among the first dishes that immigrants would share with their new neighbors when they travelled abroad. Today, you can find a rich variety of Italian-style pastas at our Italian restaurant in Bothell, so come and get your pasta fix tonight!
Amaro Bistro Comes to Bothell
According to John Lanchester in his recent article, “Shut Up and Eat”, the culture of food has undergone a serious transformation. “Once upon a time, food was about where you came from. Now, for many of us, it is about where we want to go–about who we want to be, how we choose to live.”
For IL Bistro, however, some things never change. After forty years of serving the Pike place Market, this Seattle landmark is commemorating its anniversary with a new Bothell Italian restaurant. This restaurant, which is to be known as Amaro Bistro, is scheduled to open on November 24th in the Six Oaks Apartment building. Like its sister restaurant, Amaro will feature traditional Italian cuisine made with local ingredients, an exhibition kitchen, and romantic outdoor seating.
IL Bistro’s New Restaurant Makes it Official: Bothell is Having a Moment
The city of Bothell, just north of Seattle, has been seeing an influx of exciting new businesses recently. Among these are John Howie’s Beardslee Public House and Wildwood Spirits Co, McMenamins’ Anderson School, and IL Bistro’s own sister restaurant Amaro Bistro.
Set to open towards the end of November, this Bothell Italian restaurant represents part of it’s Pike Place counterpart’s 40th anniversary celebration. The new restaurant will be housed in a 3,400 square foot establishment with both formal and casual dining rooms, an exhibition kitchen, and a 30-seater bar. With a menu heavily influenced by the classic, well-loved selections found at IL Bistro, Amaro will feature both “primi” pasta and “secondi” courses, largely made with meat, seafood, and produce delivered fresh from Pike Place Market. Patrons will also be able to enjoy delicious 10-inch pizzas from the restaurant’s wood stone oven.
Amaro Bistro to Open in Bothell’s Six Oaks
Nick Wiltz, who serves as the owner of the famous IL Bistro restaurant in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, has announced the opening of a second Italian restaurant in Bothell. This new restaurant is set to open on the twenty-fourth of November under the name “Amaro Bistro” at the Six Oaks apartment building.
This 3,400-square-foot restaurant will offer both a formal and casual dining experience, with space for up to seventy-five guests in the main dining room. Fans of IL Bistro’s menu will find many of their tried-and-true favorites in the new restaurant, along with some new tastes. Menu items are to include rack of lamb, roasted beef tenderloin, grilled salmon, roasted chicken, and 10-inch pizzas baked in a real wood stone oven. There will also be a wide selection of liquors, including wines from Italian, Californian, and Northwest vineyards. Like IL Bistro, Amaro’s dishes are to be prepared largely with local ingredients delivered fresh from Pike Place Market.
“Amaro Bistro is a vision of mine created from the ground up using ideas I have carried throughout my restaurant career,” said Wiltz, “and I’m thrilled to share this beloved Seattle dining experience with the Bothell community. As a Bothell resident, I think it’s a very exciting time to be a part of Bothell’s 104-year-old history as the city’s downtown begins to expand its restaurant and retail offerings.”