Some restaurants chase trends. Carmine’s has never needed to. Forty-one years after Carmine Smeraldo opened the original Pioneer Square location in 1984, the institution he built is still drawing loyal regulars and first-time visitors alike, now from a new downtown address inside the US Bank Center on 5th Avenue.
We sat down with General Manager Joel at Carmine’s on 5th to talk through one of the restaurant’s most enduring dishes, the rigatoni Bolognese. Made with a combination of veal, pork, and beef, finished with a touch of wine and fresh grated Parmesan, it is the kind of dish that explains why people keep coming back. Simple in concept, exacting in execution, and deeply satisfying in the way that only a long-practised recipe can be.
