Foodie 100 list - Gnocchi alla Romana - The Pink Door

I had such high expectations with the Pink Door restaurant.  Nestled in the middle of Pike Place Market, this little Italian restaurant has built up quite a good reputation over the years.  People on Yelp rave about the patio and the food.  The views might be nice, but it seems they have based their success on their location in the famous market and the effects of flowing wine.

The item on the foodie 100 list is the Gnocchi alla Romana.  Translation: Roman Gnocchi.  Roman gnocchi ... using gorgonzola cheese ... that originates from a town named Gorgonzola in Northern Italy.  *in my best Dr. Evil voice* Riiiiight.

They were the biggest gnocchi I've ever seen in my life!  They weren't struck on a gnocchi board, and they had a char on the top and bottom of them.  I have never seen gnocchi charred before.  As you can see from the picture, they were quite large.  All of these traits were the "alla Romana" part, and I can't say I was a fan.  I couldn't even finish the dish.  As you can see from the picture, there is a lot of gorgonzola sauce.  It was too much for me to clean my plate.  

There were only 3 gnocchi to the plate.  Three was more way more than I could handle!  The gorgonzola and walnuts completely over-powered the dish.  The older I get, the more I lose a taste for marbled cheeses.

For the best gnocchi in town, skip the Pink Door and head over to Salumi's on Tuesdays during the lunch hour.  Wait through the line.  It's totally worth it, I promise.  Some Tuesdays aren't gnocchi days since it depends on when their aunt can fly out to make the gnocchi fresh that day.  They will sell out!  They won't serve it to go either, so you should get there as early as you can.  You can try calling ahead to see when they will be serving gnocchi next.

All around, I don't get it.  I was thoroughly unimpressed.  They do have a Yelp check-in deal for a free glass of house wine, so that was a plus.  The rigatoni pasta was under-cooked.  Their "Mama's meatballs" were also pretty good.  Though if I don't say so myself, mine are better!  Maybe one of these days I'll get around to posting my meatball recipe.

The only time I'd go back would be to show any out of town guests a nice view of the Puget sound .. if they wanted Italian food .. and free wine.  If you can read between the lines, you can probably figure out I won't be going back.

Like I said before, the foodie 100 list seems to have a 2/3 success rate.