Osteria La Spiga

A little bit of Italy right on Capitol Hill

When Sabrina and Pietro Borghesi and Sachia Tinsley (Sabrina's sister) opened Osteria La Spiga in October 1998, they had high hopes for the success of their upscale piadina (flat bread) shop. In fact, they've created such a following that their menu has grown to keep up with customer demand and they'll soon be making the move to larger quarters. Who knew this mix of Italian and Alaskan backgrounds would work so well.

Sabrina Borghesi amidst the beams at La Spiga's new location

Sabrina and her sister grew up in Alaska. Their mother had a huge garden and they raised pigs and chicken. "We grew up in a culture of whole, fresh foods," says Sabrina. Her studies took her to France; afterward she moved to Salzburg, Austria, to teach kindergarten and become the librarian at an international boarding school. She met Pietro in a café and soon she was visiting his city of Cesena every weekend. After a year, they decided it was just too much and she moved to Cesena. They married and started a piadina sandwich shop in Macerata.

Meanwhile, Sachia had made Seattle her home. The Borghesis came to visit and liked Seattle. They were at a decision point: expand their business in Italy with a piadina shop in Rome or come to Seattle and start a more upscale shop. Seattle's economy was booming and the taxes were high on small businesses in Italy. Seattle won. "Besides these factors," explains Sabrina, "I was ready to come home."

Sachia found the space on Capitol Hill and sent blueprints to them. Their plan unfolded in Italy: Pietro's brother designed the restaurant, the interior work was built there and shipped to Seattle. Their menu concept expanded from piadina sandwiches to enclosed (hot pocket) sandwiches, cold cut platters and cheese. Four or five months after opening, it was clear that there was a demand for homemade pasta. Gradually, they also added soup and meat specials. "We felt we needed to be patient. You have to understand what you're doing," says Sabrina.

Customer demand is also driving the move to a new space. Although everyone loves the current location, they also want a full bar, private dining, outdoor seating and an expanded menu. "We actually knew three years ago that we'd be moving into a larger space, so we signed our lease with that in mind. We've known for about a year about our new space. There was a point when we knew we were growing out of the space and thought ‘let's just get regular jobs for now," remembers Sabrina. "But we feel a real dedication to our customers. You can't just drop the ball and pick it up later and take off. Even now we want to make sure that people don't think we've gone commercial; we're actually going deeper into tradition with our expanded menu."

They're moving into the historic Piston-Ring Building on 12^th and Pike just a few blocks from their current space. The building is being redone with its history in mind and an urban eye. As an interesting twist, a current parking lot will be turned into a pedestrian area. Pietro's brother, now married and living in Seattle, has once again designed the interior of the restaurant which will contain a piadina area with a tile background (about the size of their entire shop in Italy), a bar area with an iron overhang, a pasta-making area, dining room with several booths, an outdoor courtyard and a loft for private dining. "If we have a large group in, we'll reverse the areas and serve our regular customers in the loft," says Sabrina. "It will have a rustic feel with lots of iron work, recycled wood from interior demolition, a wood floor, high ceilings and lanterns blown by the same person, Pino Cherchi, who did the stained glass in the current location. There will also be large, exposed beams which is very typical in Italy."

Their philosophy will stay the same: stick to authentic cuisine and don't alter tradition. "I do like to invent things, but my inventions follow the Italian style of cooking. I like to reproduce dishes I've had in Italy; things that people here have not had. I always have to go against the grain in some way," Sabrina laughs. "I don't want to do what anyone else does! We talked with an Italian chef who sold his restaurant and is moving here. He looked at our menu and said it was just what he would look for in a restaurant and that it's hard to find this kind of tradition even in Italy."

Italian aperitifs and cocktails will be offered in the bar. Pietro picks their wines and he will stick to a full Italian menu and add some Portuguese ports.

"We feel a lot of anticipation," says Sabrina, "and can't wait for the move." We second that.

Connie Adams/August 2006