Seattle’s standing in the country’s culinary pantheon has ascended in
recent years, and although we’re not quite Zeus, we’re definitely a
Demeter. Or, at the very least, an Artemis. Casually upscale affairs
are popping up all over town—from the sexy roughhewn plates at
gastropub Quinn’s (Map 4) to the cozy and inventive flavors of Belltown’s Tilikum Place Cafe (Map 1).
Seattle’s restaurants have been able to fly mostly under the radar,
resulting in a flourishing, inventive, and casual culinary scene that’s
been spared intense scrutiny—so get eating quick, because the ability
to get a table without a wait is diminishing fast. We’ve now got a
formidable contingent of award-winning chefs, it’s true, but most of
them have set up shop here to avoid the flashbulbs and fancy cars, and
just cook some damn good food. The scene swells with top-notch
restaurants (foie gras, foraged morels) that are decidedly
unpretentious (fleece and Tevas usually permissible) and highly
affordable (an entree under $30? Incredible!). It’s just quality that’s
valued, rather than trendiness. The recent eco-friendly sustainable,
free-range organic fascination has always been a founding principle of
Northwest cuisine, which relies on locally sourced ingredients. Chefs
are downright obsessive about it. Flavor profiles range from Pan-Asian
flair to rustic Italian to provincial French. But often, it’s a little
of this, a little of that. Given our proximity to the water, it’s only
natural that Seafood is our culinary crown jewel. So do yourself a
favor and cram as many Dungeness crabs and King salmon into your craw
as you can possibly afford. And while the variety in ethnic cuisines
may not impress a New Yorker, Seattle’s international selections are,
for the more enterprising diner, worth seeking out. The point being
that, above all, food here is accessible. And that’s how we like it. It
makes it a whole lot easier to get it into your mouth that way.
Seafood
Because
of Seattle’s proximity to the Pacific, it makes sense that seafood
seems to wiggle its way onto every menu in town. Now, that’s not to say
that you’re going to get the best stuff everywhere; selectivity is key.
Ray’s Boathouse (Map 28)
is a venerable waterfront institution that’s been doing it right for
decades, with a prime waterfront location and a slightly older crowd
(including, yes, lots of tourists). Downtown, our local
chef-cum-restaurateur Tom Douglas serves up calamari and Copper River
salmon for his adoring fans at Etta’s Seafood (Map 3). The luxuriously-minded might head over to the mahogany-sheathed den at Shuckers (Map 3). To get a true taste of Pike Place, go straight to Matt’s in the Market (Map 3), or the Market Grill (Map 3) for a blackened salmon sandwich. If you get a greasy jonesing for fish and chips, Spud on Alki (Map 35) and Alki Crab and Fish Company (Map 36) are classic, but newcomer Pike Street Fish Fry (Map 4) ups the ante with late-night hours, jars of homemade pickles, and fancy-schmancy sauces.
Seafood, Nippon-style
Sushi
is huge in Seattle. Our easy access to fantastic things from the sea,
coupled with a keen interest in Eastern cultures and a large Asian
population, has resulted in a spread of sushi restaurants that would
make any free-swimming fish shake in his fins. Purists requiring the
very finest will seek a spot at Nishino (Map 19),
the eponymous establishment of Tatsu Nishino (a former disciple of
famed Nobu Matuhisa). Put your dinner in his skilled hands
omakase-style for a spectacular experience. A little more affordable is
Aoki (Map 17)
on Broadway, an unassuming little place serving good quality sushi and
a selection of Japanese sakes. Or in West Seattle, make sure to try the
chef specials at Mashiko (Map 35). Chiso (Map 24)
takes sushi for a spin in a hip, modern setting, inventing new rolls
that are, more often than not, very oishii indeed. The ID offers more
traditional sushi experiences, like at chef-favorite Tsukushinbo (Map 8) or Maneki (Map 8)—the oldest sushi bar in Seattle. The U District recently acquired its own formidable contestant in the form of Village Sushi (Map 26),
giving an unpretentious, affordable and totally solid performance in
the sushi arena. They also have an incredibly knowledgeable sake
sommelier. And for the newly initiated, or those for whom California
rolls are adventurous, Blue C Sushi (Map 24, 26) rolls out cheap and accessible dishes on a gimmicky (though admittedly fun) conveyor belt system.
Classy Joints
Most
restaurants here don’t have a dress code—Seattle is simultaneously
famous and infamous for its constant state of casual dress. But there
are those establishments that do request a bit more refinement from
their diners, and sometimes, it’s just dang refreshing to step out of
the Birkenstocks and into leathered, crystalline luxury. The hands-down
mother of them all is Canlis (Map 13),
a 55-year-old Seattle fixture with a view to die for, impeccable formal
service, and spectacular food. Canlis is for when you not only want to
eat fancy, but you want to feel fancy too. Rover’s (Map 19),
helmed by the “chef in the hat” Thierry Rautureau, laces
French-inspired Northwest with immaculate flair and boasts the best
wait staff around. Chez Shea (Map 3)
in Pike Place Market is tops for expensive dining of the romantic
variety, and every C-note is worth the glory of its prix-fixe. Also in
Pike Place, you can’t go wrong at Place Pigalle (Map 3) for gourmet dining with a view. Crush (Map 18)
is where the sexy people go, and where James-Beard nominated chef Jason
Wilson’s lusty dishes pop against the sleekest minimal interior. And if
you never associated the word classy with a pizza joint, a trip to Via Tribunali (Map 4) will change your mind.
No Animals, Please
If
your dietary preferences don’t involve any fuzzy animals, or even their
byproducts, you’re not alone. Seattle’s a haven for vegetarians and
vegans, so much so that even the carnivorous can be found relishing
faux meat products. Araya’s Vegetarian Place (Map 26)
is popular with the college crowd, featuring tasty Thai and an
excellent (and cheap) lunch buffet. Vegans needn’t be deprived of the
late-night delight only greasy pizza can bring: Pizza Pi (Map 32)
is an exclusively vegan pizzeria, and the dairy-free cheese is decent
enough. When die-hard meat lovers can’t stop talking about how
delicious the fake meat is at Bamboo Garden (Map 15),
it’s worth taking note. The sweet and sour “pork,” as well as anything
deep-fried, is almost better than the real thing (well, maybe not). For
an upscale evening out, you can drop some coin on the pre-fix menu at Sutra (Map 25),
where the local and sustainable ingredients are prepared the way that
only culinary school graduates can manage. And if you imagine puny
wheatgrass shots and flaccid faux patties when you think vegetarian,
get thee to the gritty Georgetown Liquor Company (Map 39),
where you can dig into flavor-packed meatless sandwiches and Super
Nintendo, quite literally, from the wrong side of the tracks.
Extra Meat, Please
But
if you are into the eating of animals, Seattle will not disappoint. If
you aren’t lucky enough to work in Pioneer Square, it’s worth taking a
vacation day to grab a glorious sandwich and buy a few pounds of
Armando Batali’s amazing pork products at Salumi (Map 7). To help you reach artery blockage bliss, order a double bacon deluxe at Red Mill Burgers (Map 30) or the criminally good “dork” (duck plus pork) burger at Lunchbox Laboratory (Map 29). Rancho Bravo (Map 25)
offers meat, Mexican-style, and primarily in the form of tacos. We
guarantee you they’ll be the most delicious brain, tripe, or tongue
dishes you could ever get this side of the border (though if you’re in
mixed company, they have a terrific veggie menu too). Ezell’s Famous Chicken (Map 5)
is so good that Oprah literally has it flown from the Emerald City
straight to her constantly fluctuating waistline. But the best way to
get your meat fix in Seattle is to head straight to Pecos Pit BBQ (Map 39) and tell them to “spike it!” If you’re a true meat aficionado, you’ll probably end up crying puddles of protein-loving joy.
Eating Ethnic
Like
most metropolitan cities in America, the cuisines of Mexico, Thailand,
China, Vietnam, and Japan are well-served with numerous restaurants, of
assorted quality, peppered throughout Seattle, but the adventurous
foodie can find plenty other culinarily-minded cultures to sample from.
Tempero do Brasil (Map 32) serves up Brazilian favorites with authentic atmosphere in the University District, while in West Seattle the Salvadorean Bakery (Map 37) specializes in fast food El Salvador-style. Fans of Malaysian fare need look no further than the Malay Satay Hut (Map 8) in the International District. Never had Cambodian? Head to Phnom Penh (Map 8) for some tasty noodles. The mysterious Marrakesh Moroccan Restaurant (Map 1) is housed in a dusty-pink, windowless building downtown, but inside all the romance and intrigue of Morocco comes alive. Vios Café (Map 18)
brings homemade Greek fare in the friendliest family atmosphere (read:
playground, toys, and crayons). Clustered around Seattle University
you’ll find a bunch of stellar Ethiopian spots, including the much
loved Mesob (Map 4), or head to Enat Ethiopian (Map 34) for the city’s best. To venture further into African cooking, Pan Africa (Map 3)
boasts a variety of earthily spiced dishes from around the continent.
The titular cocktail does not disappoint, and neither does the South
American fare at La Casa Del Mojito (Map 26).
Cheap Eats
A
high concentration of colleges and universities in the area means there
are a lot of hungry, drunk, and otherwise intoxicated students prowling
the streets for food they can buy with their Coinstar winnings and
leftover laundry change. With most of a co-ed’s budget going to beer
and textbooks, cost efficiency is top priority; quality, irrelevant.
Fortunately, there is an endless supply of local restaurants for the
hard up, hungry, or hung over—with no unnecessary sacrifice in taste.
Pho, the eminently filling and fragrant Vietnamese noodle soup, is one
of the cheapest and most mouthwatering meals you can get for a scant $5
or so. Pho Cyclo (Maps 17, 39) ladles out a most intriguingly flavored version, but the ubiquitous local Than Brothers’ (Maps 17, 23, 26, 30, 35, 49)
chain does it a little more cheaply and a little more sweetly (you get
a free cream puff with every bowl). For unique gourmet sandwiches on
the relative cheap, stop by Baguette Box (Map 4) for their tasty tofu version, Bakeman’s (Map 3) for an old-school hand-carved turkey on white bread, or queue up at the always popular Paseo (Map 24) for a hearty Cuban. Many a penny pincher have realigned their eating schedules to the happy hour at McCormick and Schmick (Maps 3, 16),
where the $1.95 half-pound burger and fries makes you wonder if you’re
dreaming—or, maybe for a moment, where they get their meat. The
forward-thinking cheapskate heads to Gorditos (Map 30)
for the infant-sized burritos that will feasibly supply at least two
additional meals. And if a late-night craving for the lovably limp
burgers you downed as a kid proves unshakable, local institution Dick’s (Map 15, 17, 25, 33, 34) will sling you a paper sack full of ‘em for not much more than your leftover change from that evening’s bar-hopping.
Take Out
There
is very little food delivery in Seattle. Agonized East Coasters are
usually appalled; Seattleites, unfamiliar with the wonders of
doorstep-delivered Chinese, just sigh and order a pizza. Yup—those days
when you’re just too tired to cook, you’ll still need to muster up
enough energy to pick up your take out (unless, of course, you actually
do want pizza). In the U District Thai Tom (Map 26) is always packed with pad thai devotees, but you can always call in an order. Taste of India (Map 31)
clearly laces their addictive sauces with delicious crack. Regular
customers will be treated to a bonus brick of Halva for dessert. But
Seattle isn’t completely devoid of delivery. Some of Seattle’s best
Thai restaurants will provide dinner without the need for putting on
pants. Lotus (Map 25) and Djans (Map 25) in Wallingford drive as far as Ravenna with their tasty curries. Judy Fu’s Snappy Dragon (Map 34); will bring U.D. and Maple Leaf residents their divine dumplings. But be prepared to wait as long as 90 minutes for your food. Jack’s Tapas (Mainly Chinese) (Map 26) also delivers their outstanding and inventive gut bombs to U.D. residents. In Capitol Hill, Samui (Map 18) will bring the most scrumptious pad see ew in town straight to you. In the Bowl (Map 4), will also deliver its tasty vegetarian noodle bowls—good thing, because it’s usually impossible to find a seat.
Spots We Love
It’s
not just us; everyone’s taking note. Open later, looking sexier, sized
smaller, and cooking better, these spots are the new pillars of
Northwest cuisine. Places like Ethan Stowell’s latest sensation,
Anchovies & Olives (Map 4)—a love letter to seafood. Seattle foodsters can’t get enough. Tilikum Place Cafe (Map 3), Urbane (Map 3), Pair (Map 32), and Steelhead Diner (Map 3) all exhibit the same golden touch in their quintessentially Northwest approaches.
Then there are the gastropubs like Quinn’s (Map 4) and Smith (Map 18),
which prove a neighborhood watering hole’s food needn’t be watered
down. They serve things like roasted marrow bones and wild boar sloppy
joes, dishes that manage to be both primal and elegant. For a Seattle
take on the perfect French bar/cafe, Café Presse (Map 4) is
your savior for a weekend brunch or late-night steak frites. The great
Spanish bar food legacy, tapas, has effectively become official Seattle
tradition as well. Txori (Map 1) is the place that nailed it on the head, with some truly magical San Sebastian-style pintxos. Bilbao (Map 26) in the U District also does an outstanding Tortilla Espanola.
The
greatness goes one rung down further—the humble ice cream cone gets the
royal Northwest treatment, an Airstream trailer grills up Kobe beef
burgers, and a strip mall is a natural home for a quintessentially
Seattle restaurant. Salted caramel, Thai iced tea—you may think you’ve
dreamt up such wonderful flavors, but they’re real, and they’re but a
few of the luscious options at Molly Moon’s (Maps 25)
a sustainably run ice creamery that started in the heart of Wallingford
and expanded to Capitol Hill. On those rare hot days, you can wait up
to 45 minutes for a cone. It’s that good. Skillet (location varies,
www.skilletstreetfood.com), a fancified meals-on-wheels, defies the
idea of trailer trash—one taste of the bacon jam-topped burgers settles
that score.
If the Seattle style of cooking was hard to pin down
before, our new favorite spots indicate there’s absolutely no confusion
about what we do here now—our food is authentic, yet open to creative
interpretation; it’s accessible without sacrificing quality; it’s
conscious of its impact on our community and our environment. We love
our Seattle, yes we do. And if you eat at these fantastic spots, you’ll
love it too.
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On Our Radar:
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Posted By:
Jessica Baxter
Photo:
Jessica Baxter
A La Mode Pies
2011 was the Year of the Pie, with shops springing up all over Seattle. Our offerings were even featured on a Food Network special about the rise of the pie across the country. The people had spoken. Cake was dead. They wanted crust and fruit filling and mounds of cream. A la Mode gave competitors a big run for their money. While pie men came and went (R.I.P. Piecycle), they expanded, going from just an online retailer (with home delivery) to brick-and-mortar when they opened their café on Phinney. Now you don't have to give 24-hours notice to enjoy their incredible desserts, which include crumbly French Apple, Mexican Chocolate Mousse, Bourbon Butterscotch and a Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tart that renders your fork useless with its gooeyness. See their website for more mind-blowing regular flavors and check with the café often for their rotating flavors. Sour Cherry was a recent gladiator in their grand pie arena. You can still order whole pies online for a very reasonable $25, but it's a lot more fun to mix-and-match slices for the complete a la Mode experience. Don't forget a quart of Bluebird ice cream from their freezer to fulfill your pie destiny.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Posted By:
Jessica Baxter
Photo:
Jessica Baxter
Holy Cannoli
You may not have been aware of this, but for many years now, there has been a tube-shaped hole in the Seattle pastry scene. Fortunately, Detroit transplant, Adrienne Bandlow, has just the cylindrical pastries to fill it. Namely: Four varieties of cannoli (traditional Detroit custard, mocha, chocolate and rum raisin) and three different Stromboli (hog, chicken and vegetarian). They’re pretty small, so you're going to need to buy a couple of each. Fortunately, they're also crazy cheap (plus, you get price breaks for half and whole dozens). Let's face it, Seattle is so hurting for cannoli, that they don't even have to be that good to make me happy. But they are good. They are excellent, in fact. A word of warning for Sicilians: Bandlow does her cannoli Motor City Style. That means custard instead of ricotta and marscapone. But don't worry. They will still hit your Italian spot. There are also a couple of salads and sammies on the menu if, for some insane reason, you’re not there for the star attraction. All this, plus extremely friendly service will make you a loyal customer after one visit. Bandlow should be canonized for ending the Seattle Cannoli Famine. Holy Cannoli indeed.
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Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Posted By:
Karen Watson
Photo:
Karen Watson
St. Dames
Finally! A vegetarian restaurant that actually cooks with vegetables--not just soy-based meat substitutes, serves fantastic cocktails, and the bill doesn't equal my car payment. St. Dames, where have you been all my life? Oh, and thank you for making kale taste good. Braised in tamari, it is outstanding. The seasonally rotating menu includes everything from comfort food to light salads. One of my friends rated the fried mushrooms as some of the best ever. The Banh Mi Salad, which is basically a deconstructed version of the Vietnamese sandwich, and the Samosa-style Hush Puppies are personal favorites. But it's the brunch that gets me every time. I mean how do I choose? Vegan biscuits and gravy. Breakfast burrito with house-made vegan chorizo. Banana coconut French toast. And the potatoes--crispy, with a seared crust, perfect every time. Everything is home made, right down to the bread and without yucky stuff like high fructose corn syrup. You've made me a faithful follower, St. Dames.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Posted By:
Karen Watson
Photo:
Karen Watson
Pan Africa
Can't afford to travel in this economy but spend your sleepy time dreaming of exotic locales? Consider taking a culinary journey around our foodie friendly city and definitely make Pan Africa the jumping off point. Lush spice scents waft forward to greet you when you enter, enveloping you in a welcome aroma. Come hungry because you won't want to leave one bite of the hearty portions behind on the plate. Ethiopian specialties like Groundnut (a peanut based stew), curried goat, and Piri Piri fish are served on a bed of injera which is basically a soda bread paper towel that you use to wipe up all the yummy sauce. Vegetarians are also well served here with an extensive list of combo platters filled with veggies in every color of the rainbow. If the spices go to your head and have you feeling really adventurous, sign up for one of their weekly cooking classes and learn to cook like a local. No round trip ticket required.
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Sunday, June 05, 2011
Posted By:
Jessica Baxter
Photo:
Jessica Baxter
Nook
Seattle was once known as a granola hippie town. Now, it's all about flour and butter. Following the heels of the pie renaissance, an apprentice of Top Chef's Richard Blais and former Mad Woman/self-taught baker opened up a cafe that specializes in biscuits; REALLY AWESOME biscuits. They're buttery as hell without leaving you feeling like you've just taken a dip in a deep fryer. You can eat them plain, with a variety of gourmet toppings, or in breakfast sandwich form. For lunch, they offer creative warm sandwiches on Grand Central Bakery bread, rotating soup, and customizable grilled cheese with twelve options. Weekends, they do a biscuit brunch. The selection includes poutine biscuits and strawberry shortcake. I'll let that sink in... Nook is as cozy and adorable as the name suggests. Owls and Mason jars abound. Small booths line the left wall and there are smaller booths by the window. It's like eating in your hipster grandma's kitchen. The downside is the limited hours (Tue-Fri 8 am-5 pm; Sat 8 am-2 pm, Sun 10 am-3 pm). Fortunately, they have plans to extend them through dinner. They've also applied for a liquor license. Good thinking. Maybe all this extra fat will help us get through the endless winter.
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