Salumi

So there are many things from my Italian life that I have tried to find in the states, one of those is a good panini, and mio dio! I found it hidden away, at a not so secret store front, Salumi in the heart of Pioneer Square in Seattle.
A quick background on Salumi, it is founded by Armandino Batali (yup Batali) father to the famous celebrity chef Mario Batali, now when I heard this fact two things came to mind. 1) I love mario! 2) this has to be the authentic scene I've been searching for.  I did my trusty research, and in fact it was even more authentic than I could have hoped for! It runs Italian Hours! (Tues-Fri 11am - 3pm(ish)) when they run out of food, they close. So I had to take the day off of work, and made my adventure down to this Seattle icon.

I got there around 1pm, and it was just a little late, and they were out of almost everything. There was a small line for Salumi, during the summer the rumors are the line gets to around the corner and the wait can be at least an hour. (I told you, a not so secret) I got lucky, it was a mythical sunny day in Seattle, and I only had to wait about 20-30min. The guy in front of me got the last porchetta sandwich (get it if you can!) But they had this amazing red wine salami (their special for July) so I got that panini. I was full, and did not want to stop eating. The panini was loaded with the red wine salami, peppers and onions, and there two special house sauces. This combination just blew me away (and in all honesty, I really want one right now as I write this). As you can imagine everything is made fresh, daily, and on premises. This is the most authentic you can get, with out really going to Italy, and the love and care that this family puts into everything is just incredible. So worth the wait!

Just a heads up, the store front is really quite small, so this is the type of place with maybe 10 tables in the back, but don't count on sitting inside, especially if its raining. But grab your sandwich, take a walk into Pioneer Square, and enjoy the rich history it has to offer about the settling of Seattle, maybe do an underground tour if you dare!

Adventure on!
-Amanda