Restaurant name: Cucina! Cucina!Food type: Italian
Category: Used to be frequent flyers... first time back in I don't know how many years
Location: Issaquah, WA
Reason for dining out: Lunch while The Guys were at camp... again.
Bonus features: Everything was a bonus today. Diet coke, food I remembered, decor... the fact that it was THERE!
Food ordered: Linguine con pollo
Items of inspiration: "Balsamic Cream Sauce". I might work on that!
Chance of repeat visit: Without a doubt... With The Critic (and likely The Guys).
Once again, I had the opportunity to spend 4 hours alone in Issaquah while The Guys were at camp. First stop was Panera where I kept up the mantra "I will not order food so I don't have to blog about it... I will not order food so I don't have to blog about it..." until I saw the four cheese souffle and realized I hadn't eaten anything all morning due to rushing around for swim lessons. So Chai and souffle started my morning off. Incidentally the Panera souffle is not a bad option if you need a fast food breakfast item. But I prefer the four-cheese mini quiche (or the roasted veggie one) Specialty cafe in Bellevue Square and have been known to drive a LONG time for one of those when I'm hungry. They are worth it every time. And I nearly drove out there after eating the Panera souffle simply because I spent so much time comparing them in my head. But I didn't. And it was a GOOD thing!
Instead I tried to find a Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is one of those elusive stores around here that just will NOT build close to me, no matter how much campaigning my friends do. There are certain foods you can only get there so I figured if there was one in Issaquah that would be good use of a portion of my 4 hours off. Check the GPS... score! As long as it's still there, right....
So I follow the directions and pull in to where it should be. Then utter and complete disappointment, not because of not finding TJ's, but seeing a beautiful sign for Cucina! Cucina! Flashback 10 years ago to a time pre-Guys when The Critic and I would go, often. Cucina! Cucina! offered my favorite pasta dish that seems simple enough to appear anywhere but only was ever THERE. Even when the Southcenter one was taken over by new management and took it OFF their menu (horror!) they kept it on as a secret "in-the-know" kind of thing because it was so good. That time, I ordered it and, well, it wasn't right. And that was YEARS ago and I have never really been the same.
So I drive around staring at that sign longingly... so sad that the amazing chain has disappeared. And then I see the banner. It looks new and, assuming it's the actual restaurant which contains the building, I read it (it says something about steaks I notice).
"Now serving grilled steaks at Cucina! Cucina!"
Now? As in NOW??? As in TODAY? No way. They closed years and years ago. Man that banner looks good for being tattered in the wind for so long!
And then I see the reader board. With dry erase marker. That says "Lunch Specials at Cucina! Cucina!" WHAT?!?!?! As in TODAY???? This can't be happening.
Fast forward... found Trader Joe's across the parking lot... still thinking about Cucina Cucina. Still rationalizing. How on earth is that even possible? I had all but decided to go to the gastro-pub I found last time in Issaquah and really wasn't hungry after the souffle anyway... but it kept gnawing at my brain.
Finally I write it off. Even if it is the "same" restaurant there is no way they would have the same food. Sigh. It's all too good to be true. But.... yeah, I have to at least look at the menu.
Still not hungry I get out of the car and look at their specials reader board (nothing stands out). Then I see their dinner menu behind glass. Walk over. There it is. "Chicken Linguine with Goat Cheese". Uhhhhh... ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I read the description... "roasted garlic, balsamic vinegar cream sauce, broccoli, creamy goat cheese, and toasted pine nuts". And I have one thought. THAT'S IT!!!! And now I know I have to come back for dinner. Tonight. Forget that we have circus tickets. Not important. Okay... I suppose I can wait until the next day. If I must. Sigh.
So I head in just to see what is for lunch. "Oh, our dinner menu and lunch menu are the same." As casually as I can muster I ask if they serve Coke or Pepsi and when I hear Coke I simply faint inside a bit and decide that I will FIND the ability to eat lunch right then and there.
I walk in and it's CRAZY how nostalgic I am. It's the same walls, same decor. I get to the table and it's the SAME WHITE PAPER! Oh my gosh, I think, they used to write their name upside down with crayons on the table. We used to color while we waited! I have my jaw on the floor and am shocked at what a time warp the whole experience is. I wish more than anything that The Critic was there to experience all this with me. I entertain the idea of waiting, but I just can't. I'm totally drawn in.
Then I read the lunch special and GUESS WHAT'S ON THE LUNCH SPECIAL FOR TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, "Linguine con Pollo" *is* Chicken Linguine with Goat Cheese. It is! It's the same dish! Okay, well it won't likely be the same dish, but it's the same ingredient list! I am thrilled.
As casually as I can (can you imagine how freaked out my server would be if she knew what was going on in my head at this point???) I keep saying how I didn't know this place still existed. Apparently this is it. The last one. After Joey's bought them all out then sold them off one-by-one, the current owner bought it. AND THE RECIPES! I tell her how much I loved that dish 10 years ago and she says "It's so good... I hope it's as good as you remember it." And guess what? Like I have to tell you... it's the same dish. Exactly.
I was not The Coach Foodie the last time I ate at this restaurant. No idea about amuse bouches or mis en place. The only chef names I had heard of were Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse, and I wasn't at all starstruck by the idea of them. Yet I have always, always remembered this pasta. It's probably the first food I ever really craved. And now that I know it is back and exactly the same? Well... I'm simply giddy.
Thanks for reading. I really wanted to share that experience with you. :-)
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