Inside the Carrello Media Dinner

We’ve partnered with Sarah Lemmon of Lemmon PR to support our restaurant client, Nathan Lockwood of Altura and Carrello restaurants, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Neighborhood. Altura opened in 2011 to much acclaim, and remains one of the first-to-mind fine dining establishments in the city. However, Carrello opened just before COVID hit, burying the headlines and halting the typical flood of foodie visitors to the newest spots. Carrello uses many impeccable ingredients from Altura, in a format that is more affordable and designed for a family-style group experience. You would think that a beloved restaurant’s more affordable offshoot would easily flourish, but unfortunately Carrello suffered from an awareness problem. So, how do you tell a city about a restaurant that has been open for multiple years already? Sarah Lemmon’s idea was to leverage her connections and host a media dinner.

“Media dinners are all about creating that connection to the restaurant for the media,” Lemmon explains. “It's the kind of experience we want them to not just post about on social media but when they are thinking about some of their favorite bites or sips of the year, they think of Carrello. I recently got together with a reporter, months after our media dinner and they said, ‘omg, that aerated hot chocolate was one of the most amazing desserts I had last year.‘ And you will see that translate to the stories and mentions that start trickling in weeks and months after the event. The descriptions of the dishes, the dining room, and the chef start to get so much more enticing, showing how they truly loved their experience and so will diners reading that story.”

Take a look at the beautiful photos for a look at the event. The immediate reception was great, but even more wonderful was the flurry of press to follow in the next three months: “Seattle’s Best Italian Food,” Eater Seattle; “The Seattle and Eastside Guide to Christmas Dining,” Seattle Met; “These Tasting Menus for $100 or Less Are Cause for Celebration,” Seattle Met; and more are rumored to come!

Photos by Jenna Phillips