BEACH DRIVE TREASURE: La Rustica Italian Waterfront Bistro
The intimate Beach Drive restaurant, La Rustica, has enchanted Alki locals and visitors since 1996 with its Roman-villa interiors, breathtaking views of the Sound, and authentic Italian food and wine inspired by the bounty of land and sea. Giulio Pellegrini, the founder, who emigrated in 1965 from his native Patrica, just south of Rome, still reigns as the bistro’s gracious patriarch. His wife Janie (a magnificent baker justly celebrated for her tiramisu and chocolate torte) planted the restaurant’s lush patio garden. The next generation of Pellegrinis continues to contribute to Seattle’s restaurant landscape with La Romanza Bistro in West Seattle Junction, started and owned by talented daughter Aimee Pellegrino.
