Molly Moon's

Molly Moon's, Wallingford

Background - With two sets of house guests in one week, we found lots of excuses to go to the hottest ice cream spot in Seattle. The line is usually 30+ out the door as late as 10pm at night. Twice in a week is crazy - we went for three but they were closed on the last one which might not have been a bad thing after all!

Atmosphere - Simple and crowded. You aren't here for the atmosphere!

Drinks - Nor the drinks unless it's a malt or a shake which I tried both and they were delicious.

Food - The ice cream doesn' t disappoint. They have a mixture of exotic flavors like balsamic strawberry and thai ice tea as well as more traditional coffee and scout mint. They will let you get two flavors in a "small" but the servings are huge, so consider a kiddie cone.

Service - Genterally, great. They dole out the samples here without making you feel the slightest amount of guilt. While there is a line, it moves fairly quickly. My only complaint was showing up at the Capitol Hill location at 10:58 and being told they were closed (they close at 11pm) - not the kind of service I expect from a neighborhood spot.

Verdict - Three times in a week...need I say more. This spot lives up to the hype and is worth the wait. I am not even a huge ice cream person and it's worth it.

Cantinetta

Cantinetta, Wallingford

Date - May 19

Background - My book group picked this spot for our latest get together.  I had been once before and thought it was good and was excited to give it another try.

Atmosphere - They've done a great job replicating a cantina in an Italian hill town in Tuscany or Piedmont.  It was crowded even on a Tuesday night which is always a good sign.

Service - Great.  We had to wait about 30 minutes in the bar and the host came by multiple times to give us updates on the wait.  Our waitress was cheerful and attentive.

Drink- Good selection of Italian and Washington wines for the purists and locovores. We went purist with an Italian white that I've already forgotten the name of -I need to start taking notes!

Food - Amazing.  We shared a few appetizers including roasted cauliflower, a cheese plate, and stuffed dates.  I must confess I wasn't excited about the cauliflower or the dates when we ordered them, but both were delicious.  I had halibut as a main and it came with perfectly smokey beans.  I talked the girls into a dessert and the rustic lemon tart was not too sweet and made a perfect end to our meal.

Verdict - 3.5 stars. I feel really lucky to have this little gem in my neighborhood.