Eating, drinking and living La Dolce Vita at Mama Melina

Photo credit: Seattle Times

I've really been into this la dolce vita concept lately. Not sure if it's my longing for summer and long loungy afternoons that dwindle into muggy nights on the patio. Or the fact that's it's my chosen wedding theme. This is across the street from the Silver Cloud Inn, my home away from home where I stay when I'm up in Seattle's University District for classes. But when you walk inside you're not in rainy Seattle on 25th Avenue stressing about reading your corporate finance case. You're in a swank cafe in Milan, wearing Dolce and sipping Chianti and greeting your friends, "ciao bella!"

Apparently this "new Mama Melina" is quite the departure from what used to be a down-home little Italian joint where the owners putzed around in the kitchen and sometimes serenaded diners. It's sleek and swanky, with tufted white chairs, sparkly chandeliers, industrial chic concrete floors, penny round tile, and even heated toilet seats (I kid you not). But it's still got the nods to the old world Italian roots, an open kitchen with a stone pizza oven turns out Neapolitan pizzas with perfect chewy crust with just the right amount of char. I am a pretty big fan of the paintings on the ceiling in the bar, which has inspired me to do this in my own kitchen or dining room (one day). It's never empty, and usually just the right amount of crowded. The kind of busy where it's hard to find a table, until you find it just in time. You'll find graduate and professional students mingling with professors, to undergrads out with dates or girls nights out. The after work crowd brushing elbows with the university folks.

The best part is the Happy Hour, Mama Melina has the kind of happy hour that doesn't make you feel like you're ordering happy hour. It's every day from 3-6pm and 9-11 pm. All bar menu items are half off, some of the Neapolitan pizzas are $6, and bottles of wine are only $14. Their bar menu runs the gamut of typical happy hour fare, but it does it well. You'll find the burger, calamari, bruschetta, a few pastas and Caesar salad. It's the kind of place to gather in the bar after class for a drink, or late at night after meetings. The new Mama Melina is the new Italia. It's sleek, sexy, and modern with appropriate throwbacks to the culture that made them.

Next time you're up in Seattle's east side, particularly the U-district, try to stop in. And for just a little while, eat, drink and live la dolce vita.