It was one of those classically rainy Seattle mornings when I checked into the Hotel Vintage Park, located on a quiet corner in the heart of downtown. Hungry and exhausted after a long flight, I resisted the temptation to curl up in my bed's soft white sheets, and instead dropped off my luggage and slid into a cushioned booth at the hotel's restaurant, Tulio, for lunch. Despite never having been there before, the warm, dark wood interior felt familiar; there was no pretension or fuss, just smart, soulful Italian cooking served on clean white tablecloths to a busy lunch crowd. Chef Walter Pisano, who has been cooking at Tulio since 1992, wandered out of the kitchen often to check on his guests—he and I chatted about the dining scene in Brooklyn, where his Italian-American family hails from. My lunch that day was a perfectly-prepared piece of local fish adorned with a pile of tender, seasonal vegetables followed by a pillowy pistachio
semifreddo; by the end of my second cup of strong hot coffee, the rain had stopped and I felt completely taken care of.
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