Go Eat! From sound engineer to chef at two restaurants

"It's tricky, but I have a great kitchen staff and having some really talented sous chefs and a lot of people who have stuck around here for a long time that I really trust," says Dylan, who plays head hash slinger for both Serafina and it's newest sibling, Cicchetti.

"Serafina's got a long reputation and a lot of followers. Some people going over to Cicchetti are expecting Serafina Junior and aren't really finding that, but they're finding something different that they like."

While Serafina offers a romantic twist on rustic Italian fare, Cicchetti s a Mediterranean small plates restaurant.

"We're doing a roasted lamb leg with some lentils and a garlic yogurt. We make our own focaccia bread and serve it with a really nice organic Trampetti olive oil. One of the favorite things is the dessert -- it's a ricotta fritter filled with huckleberry sauce, kind of like a jelly doughnut. We've got a couple of pizzas on (the menu)."

You can't miss Cicchetti; it's right across the courtyard from Serafina and, according to Dylan, more of a party.

"Serafina, you know, it's loud and romantic and bustling. Over (at Cicchetti) it's a little more sleek, a little more fun, I think; for me, it's a little more fun!"

And fun is exactly why Dylan chose to cook for a living; it beat out sound engineering, a career that brought Dylan to Seattle from Chicago 10 years ago.

"Being in the field that I was in, I wanted to be in a larger market city and Seattle won out over Atlanta."

Dylan's first gig in Seattle was at Flying Fish.

"When I came to the Northwest, that's really where I found the passion for being in the kitchen."

He worked there for eight months before landing a job at Serafina, a job he says has been great ever since.

"Making people happy with food is just really satisfying."

Places Dylan likes to Go Eat!: Cafe Juanita, Quinn's, Le Pichet, Monsoon.

For more information

http://www.serafinaseattle.com/

http://serafinaseattle.com/cicchetti/