Palomino Seattle Gets a Facelift

So on February 22nd, changes took place in the form of a grand reopening at Palomino Seattle. From interior design to menus and from china to flatware, their Seattle location – the original birthplace of Palomino, founded in 1988 – received an “unbridled” face lift, so to speak.

Here’s what the press release (which accompanied a media tasting for your Hedonista) said, in part:

“… its principals knew Palomino Seattle’s graceful maturity called for a brush of inspiration. Floor-to-ceiling, purveyor-to-plate, fresh changes have swept the City Centre Palomino restaurant into a timeless, artisan-meets-metropolitan culinary magnet.”

Indeed, it has. This local-Italian-American eatery has freshened itself up nicely, without throwing the baby out with the bathwater (again, so to speak).

Their new small plates are very artisany, from Macrina Bakery bread, to Salumi salami, to lil’ pigs in a blanket made with Uli’s Famous (Spicy Italian) Sausage, to Californian Cypress grove chevre (which is kinda local). Choose from bruschetta (3 for $10 or 5 for $15), charcuterie (3 for $14 or 5 for $22), or cheese (3 for $14 or 5 for $21).

And they’ve kept some of their most popular menu items, like: the cream of mushroom soup, the Dungeness crab artichoke dip (which they’ve finessed slightly), the calamari, the chop chop salad, the baked four cheese trenne (that’s triangle-shaped penne), the rigatoni bolognese, the chicken parmesan, the steak frites, the warm pear bread pudding and, of course, the tiramisu.

Highlights worthy of trying from the new menu include the tuna crudo  for $14 (light ‘n’ tasty, and already very popular, I’m told) and the absolutely excellent filet mignon ($36).

Executive Chef of Palomino Seattle Steve Linder – who’s been there for 15+ years (he joined Palomino Seattle in 1994 as its Pizza Cook) – remains at the helm. (Incidentally, he’s also as the bass player for Kilgore Trout). Michael Giampa, complete with over 20 years of back-of-the-house culinary and consulting experience, has recently come on board as an executive chef for Palomino corporate. (They made him an offer he just couldn’t refuse!) He is helping each restaurant to incorporate the new, more local ‘n’ artisany menus.

Palomino Seattle has been the first restaurant to incorporate the new menu – a more than 50% overhaul. (Bellevue will be next).

And as if all this weren’t enough to get you going, they have a nightly dinner wine program called 25 for $25 that calls out a selection of worldly and local wines by the bottle (good bang for the buck). Happy hour from 3:00 p.m. ’til close also trots out one of the best deals in town.

So gallop on over and try out the new trough, as it were.

You’ll be glad you did.

Note: In order to comply with FTC Act 16 C.F.R. 255, Heed the Hedonist would like to disclose that it does receive media “comps” and/or media discounts – but not in exchange for favorable coverage, or for withholding unfavorable coverage, of the given venue/meal/performance/product/service.