You want genuine Italian prosciutto, by all means head down to Salumi in Pioneer Square. Wrote about it back in February. Can't get there? Armandino Batali's amazing meats are now available online .
At the other end of the gastronomic spectrum, there's Italian based entirely on atmosphere, and it's alive and well at Buca di Beppo. The "Chef's Table" made a perfect setting for a family birthday.
Huge portions ... cheery staff ... infectious good humor ... it's what the company calls southern Italian immigrant cooking.
The wine--a thin Chianti--is outrageously overpriced ... the sauces inexplicably bland ... but the Birthday Boy was delighted. So let's celebrate Beppo's sense of celebration ... and lose no sleep over the [regrettable] absence of flavor.
