When people come into our Bothell Italian restaurant, they are sometime surprised to find that there isn’t any spaghetti and meatballs on the menu. They reason that a dish so quintessential of Italian dining should be a standard for any proper Italian establishment. However, this is based on a popular misconception.

In truth, spaghetti and meatballs is not quite representative of authentic Italian food. Though the Italians will often enjoy both spaghetti and meatballs, occasionally in the same meal, the two are never served as a single dish. Mixing the meatballs in with the spaghetti is an innovation popularized by Italian-American immigrants, but remains largely unknown within Italy itself. Come on down to Amaro Bistro for a more traditional dish today!

The creation of the first Caesar salad is attributed to two Italian brothers by the names of Caesar and Alex Cardini, who ran a restaurant in Mexico back in 1924. Though the details are not entirely known, the popular account is that their restaurant ran short on supplies after an especially busy Fourth of July celebration, so they took all of the remaining ingredients they had left over and combined them into a single dish. For extra theatrics, they tossed these ingredients together at their patron’s table.

You can find this long-time insalate favorite at our Italian restaurant in Bothell under the name of insalata Cesare. Try it today at Amaro Bistro!

There’s nothing quite like a sweet wine to go with your dessert at our Italian restaurant in Bothell. If you don’t know which dessert wine to pick, try a bottle of port. This long time favorite has been enjoyed with dessert ever since it was first brewed.

Port gets its name from its birthplace, the port city of Porto in Portugal. The drink comes in the form of wine, generally a red variety, fortified with a grape brandy during the fermentation process. The end result is a strong, sweet brew that retains some of the natural flavor of the grape. It makes for great match for many different foods so, if you’ve never tried this delightful brew before, treat yourself to a glass at Amaro Bistro tonight!

Cheese can be a high-maintenance food item. We all know the frustration that goes along with discovering a horrible, fuzzy patch of mold on a block of cheese that we failed to take proper care of. After all, you can’t eat moldy cheese. Or can you? You may be surprised to learn just how many people eat moldy cheese at our Italian restaurant in Bothell, and are happy to do so!

Don’t worry; this is not the result of bad sanitation in our kitchen. This is the magic of the famous Italian blue cheese, gorgonzola. This blue-veined classic is infused with mold spores, specifically the Penicillium glaucum variety, as it develops, resulting in the blue coloration for which it is so well known. The end result is a distinctly salty taste sensation that many find irresistible.

It’s important to remember that, though many molds are toxic to humans, the molds used in gorgonzola and other blue cheeses are perfectly safe for human consumption. This is because, unlike toxic molds, the Penicillium glaucum does not feature harmful mycotoxins and aflatoxins. So, feel free to partake of one of our many delicious gorgonzola-based dishes at Amaro Bistro!

Olive oil is an important part of many dishes at our Bothell Italian restaurant. It is a crucial ingredient in a lot of Mediterranean cooking, and a big aspect of the superior health benefits offered by the same. But how does this oil make its way from the olive to our wood stone fired pizzas, our pomodoro, and other selections?

The process of brewing olive oil begins in the olive harvest. As soon as the olives are picked from the tree, they are sent to the olive mill as quickly as possible to prevent the acidity level from getting too high and destroying the taste of the final product. At the mill, the olives are cleaned and turned into a paste. This paste is then pressed to squeeze out the oil and water. The oil then needs to be separated from the water, which is accomplished with the use of a centrifuge. The oil is now ready to be bottled, sold, and cooked into a delicious Italian meal!

It’s no mystery why garlic has made its way into the hearts of cooks and diners throughout the globe. This amazing clove adds a delightful flavor to many dishes, and it comes with a set of powerful health benefits to boot.

In ancient times, garlic was often used as a medicine to treat many conditions. In the modern world, we now know that a diet rich in garlic offers many legitimate benefits. The clove is good for lowering your cholesterol level, decreasing your blood pressure, and serving as a powerful antioxidant and a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Amaro Bistro offers many classic Italian dishes that feature garlic, so join us to make the clove a bigger part of your delicious and nutritious diet today!

Italy has been cooking with clams, or vongole, for many years. To the city of Naples, these classic shellfish are an important part of their signature dish, spaghetti alle vongole. Visitors to the region would be well-advised to go during the summer months, when fresh clams are readily available.

Nutritionally, clams are a great form of meat. They are surprisingly rich in iron, with a three-ounce serving of cooked clams providing you with 24 milligrams of the mineral. This represents more than the average adult’s recommended daily intake of iron, making clams a great choice for people struggling with low iron.

On top of the iron content, clams also give you a good supply of omega-3 fatty acids, phosphorus, copper, potassium, manganese, selenium, and zinc. They are also a lean source of protein, with less than two grams of fat in a three-ounce serving.

At our Bothell Italian restaurant, you can benefit from the rich nutritional content of clams in our cozze e vongole. Come and try it tonight at Amaro Bistro!

Though not as well-known as beef or chicken, lamb has been a popular source of protein throughout the Mediterranean region for a long time. Chefs know it as one of the world’s most versatile varieties of meat. It is characteristic of a tender consistency and a taste that many people find irresistible. Counted among the red meats, it is a rich source of protein, vitamin A, vitamins B3, B6, and B12, as well as calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc. The meat also contains trace amounts of other valuable minerals, like selenium, manganese, and copper.

Though a three ounce serving of cooked lamb contains about eight grams of fat, only about a third of this is unhealthy saturated fat. The remaining two thirds are monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, which are actually beneficial for your body.

At Amaro Bistro, we offer several great ways to enjoy the hearty taste of lamb. Come to our Bothell Italian restaurant to try a rigatoni bolognese or a lasagne, both made with ground lamb ragu sauce.

Though liquor is not generally a health food, many doctors will tell you that a moderate consumption of red wine is a fair addition to a health-conscious diet. Though the effects of red wine are not well understood, it has been observed that such wines might serve to decrease one’s risk of a heart attack or stroke.

The reasons behind this may be multi-faceted. The alcoholic content has a certain relaxing effect, which can reduce the stress that aggravates heart disease. Red wine pairs this effect with resveratrol, an antioxidant that has been found to protect your blood vessels from damage while also decreasing your levels of LDL cholesterol and discouraging clotting. This antioxidant is not found in beers, white wines, or other liquors.

Unfortunately, most of these observations have only been made with animal testing, and nothing conclusive has been drawn from human testing on the effects of red wine. All the same, it remains clear that red wine is a delicious way to complement many of the meals at our Bothell Italian restaurant. Come try one of Amaro Bistro’s many red wine offerings tonight!