Osteria La Spiga has spent more than 25 years serving the cuisine of Italy's Emilia-Romagna region in Seattle, and executive chef and co-owner Sabrina Tinsley still writes every recipe on the menu.

The restaurant opened in October 1998. Today it occupies roughly 6,000 square feet in a converted former automotive space on 12th Avenue, after outgrowing its original, smaller location on Broadway. High wooden beams, steel elements and large glass panels that open the dining room in warmer weather define the room.

Tinsley's path to ownership ran through Europe. Raised in Alaska, she spent time in France and a year in Salzburg, Austria, where she met her husband and future co-founder, Pietro Borghesi. The couple then lived in Italy for five years and ran businesses there before deciding to return stateside.

"I spent some time in France, a year in Salzburg, Austria, and that's where I met my husband to be, who's Italian," said Tinsley. "We lived in Italy for five years and had businesses there, so that was kind of the start of my business career. I've always had a passion for eating and then later a passion for cooking. [After living in Italy], I just wanted to come back home stateside, so we opened a full-scale restaurant after that."

Seattle won out after a deliberate search.

"My sister had moved here from Alaska," said Tinsley. "We came and did a grand tour of the United States, all the different places that I had lived, and we both agreed that if we were going to move back, Seattle was the only place that we would put down roots."

The menu is built entirely around Emilia-Romagna, the northern Italian region where Borghesi is from. That regional focus drives sourcing and menu structure: handmade pastas and shared appetizers built around the products the region is famous for.

"The food is inspired by the region of Emilia-Romagna, famous for Parmesan cheese, prosciutto di Parma and balsamic vinegar. It's really considered the culinary cradle of the world, so we focus our cuisine around that region, and it's probably the apex of comfort food," said Tinsley. "We do handmade pastas and classic shared appetizers that encourage community and sharing. People leave happy and pleasantly full."

Signature items include Pesca Arrosto, a roasted local peach with fresh burrata, prosciutto and gnocco fritto — the fried bread puffs of Emilia-Romagna. Tagliatelle al Burro di Tartufo pairs handmade tagliatelle with white Alba truffle butter. Lasagne Verdi layers spinach lasagna noodles with ragù Bolognese, béchamel and Parmigiano Reggiano.

The fall menu adds Tortelli di Zucca, stuffed with butternut squash and house-made fruit mostarda and served with Sangiovese vellutata, plus Maiale al Latte, milk-braised pork cheek medallions with butternut squash vellutata and sautéed escarole.

Tinsley controls the culinary direction personally.

"I'm really just executive chef at this point," said Tinsley. "I write all the recipes, I teach and train for all the recipes, I come up with the seasonal menus, 100% yes, I do all that."

The business expanded beyond the dining room in 2022, when Tinsley and Borghesi opened La Dispensa, an adjoining marketplace selling house-made pasta, cured meats, cheeses and other products — a retail channel that extends the kitchen's output to go-home customers.

Tinsley has also built a role as mentor and advocate in the industry, mentoring emerging culinary professionals, hosting guest chefs and supporting diversity efforts in the field. For years, though, her work was invisible to guests.

"For the first many, many years of La Spiga I was just stuck in the kitchen, so I didn't really have a presence at La Spiga," said Tinsley. "But once I started coming out of the kitchen and being more visible publicly, people were very pleasantly surprised."

That visibility connected her with Black diners actively seeking to support Black-owned restaurants. Tama Smith, who first knew Tinsley as a customer and later became a friend, said the chef's background shapes what makes the restaurant distinctive.

"Chef and owner Sabrina Tinsley has created an Italian gem in the heart of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, Osteria La Spiga," said Smith. "The food is centered around a region in Northern Italy that is dear to Sabrina, and that has been interpreted through her lens as a Black chef."

Smith pointed to the lasagna, a longtime customer favorite, as essential for take-home or catering orders.

For Tinsley, the community response has been direct and personal.

"I hear a lot of Black folks really wanting to support Black-owned businesses," said Tinsley. "I personally have just felt so much love and support from the community, just share the love, spread the word."

Osteria La Spiga is a participating restaurant in Pack the House, a 10-week campaign presented by The Seattle Medium, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Byrd Barr Place and the Central Area Collaborative to encourage intentional support of local Black-owned restaurants. With the fall menu now rolling out and La Dispensa extending the brand into retail, Tinsley shows no sign of stepping back from the kitchen she has run since 1998.