The Pink Door

The Pink Door is located in the heart of Pike Place Market at 1919 Post Alley between Stewart and Virginia Street. This restaurant was recommended to us by a friend who went to Seattle not long ago. After reading some further reviews online, I mentally pegged it as a restaurant we had to try. We decided to stop by the restaurant earlier on that day when we were wandering the streets of the marketplace to see if we could make a reservation for dinner. The restaurant is divided into three major sections: a main dining area that's got a more fine-dining feel (where they take reservations for tables), a lounge area that's more casual and is connected to the bar (reserved for walk-in customers), and a patio area that is (usually) heated and overlooks the water. Unfortunately, the patio wasn't heated that day and their main dining area was fully booked. So, we decided to take our chances with the lounge. We returned at around 5:45 pm that day for an early dinner and was lucky enough to be seated right away in the lounge.

And now, a little bit about the history of the restaurant ...

The restaurant was founded in 1981 by an Italian-American woman named Jacquelina Di Roberto. She had a vision to marry art with food (clearly evidenced by the interior design of the restaurant). The "pink" in the name comes from Jacquelina's fondness of the pink-coloured tiles of Brunelleschi's Dome and Della Robbia's works in Florence, Italy. It's also rumoured that the restaurant is named after her favourite pink Max Mara scarf. The restaurant is known for its constantly changing seasonal menu and its preference for using organic and sustainable sources. The Pink Door is also known for its nightly offering of Caberet/Burlesque dinner shows. 

One of my favourite things about the restaurant is that there's no sign at the entrance ... because there's no need for a sign! It's easily identifiable by its pink metal door. 

This is the view of the main dining room area when you first open the door. 

The lounge area is located just around the corner, further into the restaurant. Below was my view from where I was seated.

Our waiter was great and was very knowledgeable about the menu. Since the menu is seasonal and constantly changing, we decided to go with two classic items that are always on the menu - the Lasagna Pink Door and the Cioppino Pink Door. The waiter said that both of these items have been on the menu since almost the opening of the restaurant in 1981 and have been perfected over the years.

Note: the bread only comes with organic olive oil. The balsamic vinegar is 50 cents extra, but worth it in my opinion. It's high-quality aged balsamic vinegar that's well-concentrated.

I love Italian food, but I tend to be quite picky with restaurant pasta (especially ones with tomato sauce). Good tomato sauce is actually not that easy to perfect. I find that a lot of times, it's either too sour, too salty, or too bland. Needless to say, fresh pasta and well-made sauce makes a huge difference in any pasta dish.

The Lasagna Pink Door is actually a vegetarian lasagna.  Here is the menu description (because they do a good job at explaining), "fresh spinach pasta layered with besciamella, pesto and topped with marinara sauce). At first glance, the lasagna looked quite plain.

After one bite, I was blown away. The bechamel sauce and pesto mixture was so creamy that it made every bite melt in your mouth. The ricotta cheese was so well-blended into the mixture that you could only taste hints of it. The tomatoes in the marinara sauce were not too overpowering. The sauce tasted fresh, but wasn't too flavourful such that it masked the taste of the spinach pasta. 

Here is a better close-up of the inside of the lasagna:

When I first started eating, I definitely thought I was still going to be hungry after because the portion size was fairly small. However, the portion size turned out to be just right considering how rich and creamy the dish was. Any bigger and I likely would've felt too stuffed or wouldn't have been able to finish it entirely. 

Another rumour I heard is that Bill Gate's personally asked Jacquelina Di Roberto for her lasagna recipe, but she wouldn't give it to him.

The Ciopinno Pink Door was only "good" in comparison to the lasagna. The menu describes it as a dish with "prawns, mussels, clams and calamari in a spicy tomato and white wine broth."

The seafood was definitely fresh and the broth was tasty, but it wasn't extraordinary as a whole. I would describe the dish as "hearty", "wholesome", and even "classic", but I wouldn't order it again. Although the "spicy tomato" part of the broth stood out, I had trouble tasting the white wine. Before our waiter pointed the Cioppino out as one of the restaurant's classic dishes, I was actually going to order the Agnolotti Di Burrata (with truffle butter and fresh herbs). After trying the Cioppino, I kind of regret not going with my original choice.

Despite my review of the Cioppino, I would highly recommend this restaurant solely because of the lasagna. I would easily say that the Lasagna Pink Door is the best lasagna I have ever had. And for that reason, I give The Pink Door two thumbs up!