Everything new that pops up on Capitol Hill is far cooler now, all courting hipsters and yuppies like a calculating lover. Pike's Bar & Grill, the new restaurant in the old digs of 1200 Bistro, isn't cool, it isn't trying to be and it's perfect that way.
July 15, 2008
When I go out to eat, I love being treated like a guinea pig. Waiting for my four friends the other night at Branzino,
a new Italian seafood joint in Belltown, I saddled up to the bar, where
a bartender was plucking leaves from the stem of a mysterious
bright-green herb. I asked for a cocktail menu, and instead got one of
my favorite propositions: Let me try something out on you. If you don't
like it, it's on me.
July 10, 2008
You knew Caribbean food had soul. But did you ever envision soul food from the Caribbean? If Island Soul,
the newest addition to Columbia City's restaurant row, had an ounce of
pretension, they might start throwing around words like "fusion."
Instead, they're calling their miraculous marriage of Jamaican and
American southern cooking a lucky accident, and everyone else is just
calling it awesome.
July 1, 2008
When my sweetie and I arrived at new West Seattle restaurant Spring
Hill, we were seated at a table set with gleaming forks on
lemongrass-green placemats, and we felt a little like we were playing
house in an IKEA showroom.
June 24, 2008
The only problem with Portage Bay Cafe, the 10-year-old University District brunch
favorite, was that it could indeed be the next ice age before you got to
stick your fork into a crab Benedict. So John and Amy Gunnar took the right cue and opened the doors of
their second restaurant in South Lake Union, without changing a thing.
This is much better than a little sibling. It's an identical twin.
June 10, 2008
If, as Michael Hebb says, the vitality of a society's food culture can be measured by its street food, our little corner of the world can add some more cream to its burgeoning crop. The One Pot impresario's first legal Seattle restaurant -- complete with a permanent address and (nearly) regular hours -- is to fish 'n' chips what Frites was to French fries: a joint that honors proletarian street grub by giving it the respect it deserves.
June 3, 2008
New name, same brunch. Different decor, same brunch. New dinner menu, new chef, more wine, full bar, same brunch, same brunch, same brunch.
May 27, 2008
Local entrepreneurs Dave Lefkow and Justin Esch are one of the greatest success stories to come out of the Seattle food world in the last year. Since late 2007, their culinary creation has made it onto grocery store shelves in 50 states, plus Canada, Guam, Mexico and Singapore by tapping into the belief that everything -- yes, everything -- should taste like bacon.
May 20, 2008
The fourth annual Seattle Cheese Festival brings artisan cheese makers from all over the world to Pike Place Market, offering the perfect opportunity to hone your cheese-tasting chops.
May 13, 2008
The most basic item at Mr. Lu's -- good old fish 'n' chips ($6.25) -- was the best I've ever had. They'll fry up cod, halibut or salmon, with tartar, ranch, cocktail, barbecue and Cajun sauces for dipping. The fries are the kind that put others to shame. They're firm and crispy with that outer coating of crunchy texture that gives them an added lift.
May 6, 2008
