Festa Italiana Seattle

While I do love summer, the transition to fall brings a new set of things to look forward to. This fall I'm all about (hot) matcha green tea lattes and a new pair of booties (see photos). Every fall I welcome the changing leaves, soft scarves, and frequent festival weekends. Just two weeks after the San Gennaro Festival, Seattle welcomes the Festa Italiana.

My protocol for festivals is as follows:

• Wear comfy shoes
• Pay in cash, it's faster and some items are just a few dollars
• Arrive hungry and never get too full
• ​Bring friends, more people = more food items to try

My dear friend Lilah and I grabbed a cappuccino, took a selfie, and did a lap of the festival while the vendors were still getting situated. Italians hardly seem to care very much about punctuality, nor do I!

We began our eating adventure with a bag of hot zeppole. They're little hole-less doughnuts blanketed in cinnamon and sugar.

Lilah grabbed a pepper and sausage sandwich, made with locally made Isernio's sausage and a Borracchini's bakery bun.

If the friendship and great food weren't enough, the day was sunny and gorgeous! May the sun always shine on your sausage sandwiches.

My next move was a no-brainer, I needed pizza. The Tutta Bella truck was out and about at the Festa Italiana, of course, as it was at the San Gennaro Festival.

This time I went for the classic Margherita Pizza: basil, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese. Of all of the types of pizza in the world, Neopolitan style pizzas are the very best. We learned about the beginnings of pizza while in Naples, then discovered the association that certifies pizza makers as Neopolitan once we were home. Seattle is chalk-full of them!

Don't look, this photo and my pizza are very cheesy!

The best part of every day, meal, or festival in my mind is always dessert. We had two types of biscotti cookies [one with overly colorful cherries, another the traditional anise flavor], two types of taralli [snacks made from pasta dough, one topped with frosting and shredded coconut], and two cannoli. The top three treats were 1. the cannoli 2. anise biscotti and 3. coconut taralli.

The mosaic at Seattle Center caught my eye, although I'd walked past it a number of times before. A fig tree! How Italian.

The flavors and sights of Festa Italiana were amazing, but the musical highlight was the sounds of the band that two of my friends are in! We ate pizza and cookies while listening to them play.

Until next year, Festa Italiana!