Volterra

Anniversaries are a time to review the past and look to the future. Volterra hit the big five this year and we sat down with owners Don Curtiss and Michelle Quisenberry to talk about the ride.

At first glance, you wonder how Don and Michelle got together. A chef and a CFO for emerging growth companies? They met through a mutual friend—Chef Kathy Casey. Don had known Kathy for years and was consulting on Dish D'Lish prior to its opening at Pike Place Market in 2003 (since closed). Michelle was working with Vulcan on opening EMP (Experience Music Project at Seattle Center). Michelle had hired Kathy to work on the restaurant and bar concept at EMP and they had become friends.

Michelle Quisenberry and Don Curtiss on the patio at Volterra

Although Don spent most of his childhood in the kitchen cooking with his Sicilian mother, it wasn't until he was nearing graduation from the University of Minnesota, where he studied accounting, that he decided to pursue a career as a chef. His professional culinary career started in 1982 in Minneapolis at Figlio, Prego and finally Le Café Royale at L'Hotel Sofitel. It was at the hotel that he was trained in classic French cuisine and went on to teach in the Sofitel French Culinary school. He transferred to Miami where he took the helm at Le Café Royale for three years. He moved on to become the executive chef at Café des Artes on Ocean Drive.

Upon moving to the Northwest in 1992, Don became the executive chef at Al Boccalino. From there, he was recruited to design and open Andaluca at the Mayflower Hotel, where he was touted as "One of America's most innovative chefs" by Wine Spectator. He moved to Assaggio, then left to head the kitchen at Prego Ristorante in the Madison Hotel. Italian Cooking and Living named him "One of America's Top 26 chefs."

After Prego, he began consulting with Kathy. When the project was completed, he became chef partner at Il Fornaio to gain corporate experience. He thought about opening his own restaurant, but the timing needed to be just right. After he and Michelle met, she had the opportunity to run a large project in Europe, covering seven countries. Don left Il Fornaio and they spent 2004 based out of Paris and traveling through Europe. "I made it my mission to visit every market in Paris," laughs Don. Michelle would bring colleagues home and Don would cook dinner for them with ingredients from the markets.

They rented a villa and brought 30 friends over for their marriage in September 2004 in Volterra, Italy. Don and Kathy Casey created the rehearsal dinner. Some of these dishes and the dinners Don made in Paris are still on the Volterra menu in some form. In November, Don returned to Seattle while Michelle finished her project and returned in January 2005.

Wedding day in Volterra, courtesy of Don and Michelle

Don was now in "high search mode" for restaurant space. It would be "a job" for Don and Michelle would keep her job, coming to the restaurant in the evening to dine and talk with guests. Burk's Café in Ballard was Don's dream space and he had told John Casey (Kathy's husband) that if it came up, he wanted it. One day John called and said there was a "for lease" sign in the window. Don applied for the space, along with 100 other people. He was just about to move on to another location when he got the call that the space was theirs as of February 1, 2005. Don and a friend did the remodel, even building the banquettes. The opening date moved several times when chairs and tables didn't arrive as expected. Despite assurances, nothing arrived by April 14; chairs and tables had to be rented. On April 15, the restaurant was fully booked. The chairs and tables arrived late in the day and everyone contributed to putting them together, the restaurant opening just 15 minutes late.

"We opened at the perfect time," says Michelle. "Things were just beginning to change in Ballard. We did a soft opening with an 'open' sign in the window and we would fill up every night." Sometimes the crowd would overwhelm the kitchen and they would close the door to new customers. "I'd much rather disappoint someone by not letting them in than have them come in and have a bad experience," says Don. Business stayed good until they were written up by Nancy Leson in The Seattle Times. Then it skyrocketed. "It's really been nonstop since then until the recession last year," says Michelle. "At that point, our early week tapered, as did catering. Late week and weekends have always stayed strong. It's coming back now."

Volterra 5411 Ballard Ave NW Seattle, WA 98107 206-789-5100 The Drawing Room 5407 Ballard Ave NW Seattle, WA 98107 www.volterrarestaurant.com

"We'd been open long enough to have very loyal customers," says Don. "And our original philosophy has worked well. I've always felt Seattle is a great place for an Italian restaurant because Italians get their products from within 10-20 miles of the restaurant. We have so much great food nearby, we can do the same. We've kept our price point reasonable, we're in a great neighborhood and we haven't changed our products or suppliers over the years. We started with the best and are staying with them." They use predominately local and organic ingredients as much as possible. Everything is made in-house—bread, pasta, desserts, sausage—basically everything except gelato and salami. They buy vegetables from Brian Scheehser (chef at Trellis who has his own acreage in Woodinville). "He'll pick it at 4 p.m. and drop it off here at 5 p.m.," says Don. "It doesn't get any fresher or more local. Our menu is truly seasonal. We change it 8-10 times per year. and about four times a year over 40% of the menu will change." The menu is primarily from Tuscany in northern Italy with a few other regional dishes.

They've also created a gluten-free pasta they make every day, along with gluten-free scones for weekend brunch. "It took a long time and a lot of experimentation to get it right," laughs Don. "With the gluten-free pasta, we can say that over 50% of our menu is gluten-free. We use no roux in our sauces."

Connie Adams/July 2010

Click here to read part 2 about Volterra's wines, salts, celebrity status and future plans.