Bottega brings handmade noodles and wood-fired pizza to Lacey

Rick Nelsen is making his return to the South Sound restaurant scene with Bottega, a new Italian spot set to open in a 5,600-square-foot space in the 640 Building at Huntamer Park in Lacey. The June 9 soft opening gives the project a clear arrival date, and the move tells a bigger story about what kind of dining room can still draw attention in Lacey right now: one with a recognizable operator, a defined neighborhood setting and a menu built around craft.

Bottega is being positioned as a chef-driven, Italian-inspired restaurant with fresh pasta, wine and wood-fired dishes at its core. The menu is expected to stay deliberately tight, with a single-page format that points to focus rather than sprawl. Garage-style doors and a gold-accented interior should give the room a lively feel, one that can handle a casual dinner crowd while still looking polished enough for a special night out.

The location adds to the appeal. Bottega is going into the Woodland Square Loop area, looking across Huntamer Park, a 1.5-acre city park at 618 Woodland Square Loop SE. The 640 Building sits inside The Hub at Lacey, a mixed-use campus owned by MJR Development that includes about 620,000 square feet of Class A office and retail space, more than 200 apartment units and 1,400 free parking stalls. The building itself was built in 2000 and spans 85,704 gross square feet over four floors.

For Nelsen, Bottega is also a comeback. He previously owned Ricardo’s Steakhouse and Ricardo’s Kitchen + Bar, and earlier reporting noted that he taught himself dry-aging meat in 2009. Ricardo’s moved into its Woodland Square Loop location in July 2016 and became known for steak and pasta with a more formal edge, while his Wood Fired Express concept in downtown Olympia leaned more casual with pizzas and subs. Bottega appears to pull from both sides of that history, pairing handmade noodles and wood-fired pizza with a room designed to feel more glamorous than a typical red-sauce stop.

That combination is what makes Bottega worth watching. If the kitchen delivers on the fresh pasta and the wood-fired oven, Nelsen’s next act could land as both a date-night destination and a neighborhood anchor, which is a rare balance in Lacey’s dining market.