Nosh Pit

Taste of the Town: Katherine Anderson

Between jaunts to her Snoqualmie farm, the Marigold and Mint owner fills us in on her favorite foods.

Posted by: Judy Naegeli on Sep 02, 2010 at 09:27AM 0 Comments

Marigold and Mint’s Katherine Anderson.

When she’s not running the show at her newly minted shop Marigold and Mint, you can find Katherine Anderson at her other outpost: a several-acre farm on the Snoqualmie River. There she harvests the seasonal organic goods—herbs, produce, and flowers—that line the Melrose Market boutique.

While checking out the Melrose Market Street Festival, swing in to stop and smell the New Dawn roses—summer’s their season.

Vita, Stumptown, or Starbucks? Stumptown.

Favorite way to burn calories: Running as fast as I can.

Where do you take out-of-town guests to eat? Sitka and Spruce.

Do you use recipes or wing it? Recipes. My favorite cookbook is At Home in Provence by Patricia Wells.

What’s your guilty food pleasure? Ice cream at Tilt on Rainier Avenue.

Are you or have you ever been a vegan? Only for a week here or there.

What’s your desert-island condiment? Pepperoncini.

Dessert or appetizer? Appetizer.

Three restaurants that sum up Seattle: Spinasse, Canlis, and Dick’s.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Food Finds, Taste of the Town, Melrose Market

Glo’s on Capitol Hill Goes Late Night

After plans for a second restaurant fall through, owners of the iconic diner opt for new weekend hours.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 30, 2010 at 11:32AM 0 Comments

Capitol Hill scores another late-night destination: Glo’s.

More proof Capitol Hill is taking the cake when it comes to late-night grubbing. This weekend, Glo’s is set to cater to the buzzed barhop crowd.

Starting September 3, and every Friday and Saturday thereafter, the Olive Way diner is shifting its weekend hours to midnight-4pm. (Yup, PM. Take that, Night Kitchen.) Early AM eaters can expect the same menu they’d find during normal-people hours, says Julie Reisman, one of three owners, but shouldn’t come looking for boozy breakfast bevs. Reisman did note she’s hoping to eventually take the new hours seven days a week. If that happens, the Glo’s management will likely apply for a liquor license.

The idea to go late-night came when plans for opening a second location fell through, Reisman said. Hopes for another diner fizzled when it became apparent the capital needed to purchase and subsequently use the Glo’s name just wasn’t there, she elaborated.

The nano-sized eater’s icon—long considered home to the best eggs benny in town—tried to go late-night 20 years ago but hasn’t since adopted night-owl hours.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Brunch, Late-Night Grub, Late Night

Pinto Thai Bistro and Sushi Bar Opens

Thai and Japanese cuisine collide in the former home of Broadway’s Ali Baba.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 27, 2010 at 03:12PM 0 Comments

Pinto opens, brings more of this stuff to Capitol Hill.

The paper’s coming off the windows at Pinto Thai Bistro and Sushi Bar. The new occupant of 408 Broadway is opening Friday, August 27 at 5pm.

From the Facebook page: A new team, new chefs and a mix of Japanese and Thai food for the first time do bring a challenge, but we think we are ready and would love to have you over and try our food. We offer popular Thai and Japanese dishes and a sushi bar stocked with a great selection of fresh wild fish.

And so the sushi invasion continues.

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Tags: Openings, Capitol Hill

Varro, an All-Day Italian Bar, Opens in October (Maybe November) on Capitol Hill

You likah the Italian restaurant? Bene, here’s another one.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 20, 2010 at 12:18PM 2 Comments

Stylish mid-century Italy, immortalized in the 1960 movie La Dolce Vita, is the inspiration for Varro. The bar/cafe opens this October on Capitol Hill.

I had a chat the other day with Richard Troiani, one of the partners in Varro, the 1,600 square-foot Italian bar opening this fall in the Packard Building at the corner of 12th and Pine.

One of the questions I had for him was: Aren’t there already a lot of Italian restaurants on Capitol Hill?

Yes, agreed Troiani, who closed his eponymous downtown eatery last September. But his new spot distinguishes itself from Spinasse, Anchovies and Olives, Osteria La Spiga, and Tidbit Bistro (to name just a few) in three ways:

1. Concept: Varro is modeled after Troiani’s favorite way to eat in Italy: At casual bars—he compares them to Spain’s tapas bars—that are open all day and into the night. He says such places are always full of neighborhood people who pop in for an espresso in the morning (Varro will serve Lavazza coffees) and come back later for some lunch, and then again in the evening for a beer and a snack. You can stop by for cocktails or eat a full dinner. “It’s all good,” if you will.

From a conceptual standpoint, then, Varro resembles Oddfellows more than it does Spinasse. It’s just the food is Italian.

2. Decor: In contrast to all the sparsely appointed restaurants popping up around the town, Varro will be an elaborately decorated affair with lots of color and a collage of images from 1950s-60s Italy—that highly stylized, highly decadent era immortalized in the movie La Dolce Vita.

3. Price: Troiani has a Class-two commercial hood system in the kitchen. The upshot of this is that he’s making most of the food in a 1,100-degree wood-burning pizza oven. Look for rustically (and, given that oven, quickly) prepared proteins like chicken paillard and roasted prawns with peppers. His menu will include five or six pastas and a Calabrese sausage and peppers sandwich.

Varro’s dinner menu prices top out at $17.

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Tags: New Restaurants, Openings, Capitol Hill, Bar Openings, Italian Food

Anchovies and Olives Among Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants

Ethan Stowell’s third fourth establishment chalks up another national accolade.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 18, 2010 at 09:04AM 0 Comments

Capitol Hill’s Anchovies and Olives: a national favorite. Photo: courtesy Geoffrey Smith

Lately, when it comes to Ethan Stowell, the conversation inevitably orbits around Staple and Fancy Mercantile, his just-opened Ballard restaurant. But it’s his previous venture, the stunner Anchovies and Olives, that today gives us cause to talk up the Seattle toque.

Stowell’s third fourth establishment (the since-departed Union, How to Cook a Wolf, and Tavolàta came first) is among Bon Appétit‘s “10 Best New Restaurants in America,” a list released in the AM of August 18. In its description, the glossy lauds Stowell’s geoduck crudo, mackerel, and seared prawn preparations, and declares: In a city full of outstanding seafood restaurants, Anchovies & Olives is arguably the best. “Less is more” seems to be the theme here—from the 40-seat space (with a beautiful open kitchen) to the pared-down menu that’s divided into two sections: crudo and plates (entrees). What’s more, nothing is priced over $16.

This isn’t the first time A & O has been favored by far-flung critics. GQ ’s Alan Richman deemed it among the nation’s 10 finest to open in 2009, and in February Anchovies was named a James Beard semifinalist for best newbie (and Stowell a finalist for Best Chef Northwest).

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Tags: Celebrity Chefs, Capitol Hill, Awards and Accolades, Rankings, Ethan Stowell

First Look: Capitol Hill’s La Bête

Tour the new Bellevue Avenue restaurant before it opens on Thursday.

Posted by: Douglas Bair on Aug 17, 2010 at 06:45PM 3 Comments

Co-chef-owners Aleks Dimitrijevic and Tyler Mortiz spent over $400,000 remodeling the former Chez Gaudy restaurant.

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Co-chef-owners Aleks Dimitrijevic and Tyler Mortiz spent over $400,000 remodeling the former Chez Gaudy restaurant.

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An all natural edge walnut bar—like a tree trunk fell on the bar floor and was perfectly sliced then polished—stretches 24 feet parallel to the 1802 Bellevue Ave entrance.

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These pebble jeweled and silver-stained plywood tabletops mimic the backyard creek that co-owner-chef Aleks Dimitrijevic once splashed around in as a young boy. Mahogany church pews complement the Gothic window trim.

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The smell of freshly cut walnut, mahogany, and Douglas fir intoxicate guests as they enter the new restaurant.

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Snacks, plates, and platters: All dishes will be prepared in front of guests thanks to the new open kitchen layout.

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A fairy tale dinner wouldn’t be complete without drinks, and Gary Abst—former bartender at both Licorous and since-closed Market St Grill—is soon to be behind that mahogany bar mixing them.

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During Sunday brunch, choose from three to five different Bloody Marys.

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Menu items included grilled fava beans with sea salt and lemon zest and a plate caramel braised pork belly.

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You say you’re a beast yourself? Then order a platter of bone-in ribeye with porcini and faro ragout.

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Diners will remember the intricate gilded ironwork from Chez Gaudy.

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When Aleks Dimitrijevic and Tyler Moritz decided to take over the cozy Bellevue corner once belonging to Chez Gaudy, they envisioned a fairy tale environment for their debut restaurant. Good work, guys; by the look of our tour on Tuesday, we’d say you nailed it—this place is anything but “the Beast,” as the French allusion would imply.

General manager Dan Rodgers expects La Bête will open Thursday. When it does, Dimitrijevic and Moritz, they of the accomplished culinary backgrounds, will showcase a locally minded menu—snacks, plates, and platters—that will rotate every week.

To tour the newest resident of Bellevue Ave and E Howell, click on the slideshow.

All photos by Alexandra Notman.

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Tags: New Restaurants, Openings, Capitol Hill

Matthew Dillon to BBQ at Melrose Market Street Festival

And other tasty reasons to attend the first-ever block party.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 17, 2010 at 01:36PM 0 Comments

The Melrose Market Street Festival takes place September 12. Photo courtesy Eagle Rock Ventures.

If that headline didn’t have you hook, line, and sinker, consider the other reasons to hightail it to Melrose Market for its inaugural street festival September 12:

The whole gastro gang will be there—Homegrown, Calf and Kid, Marigold and Mint, Rain Shadow Meats—fixing their sammies, cheeses, produce, and meats. While Dillon does his thing behind the grill (squee!), reps from his other M-squared post, Bar Ferd’nand, are slated to sling drinks alongside basement bar Still Liquor. And a beer garden will be set up along the closed-off Pike/Pine byway, with proceeds from that benefitting Seattle Tilth.

The party announcement comes hot off two other food-centric neighborhood bashes, South Lake Union and the 12th Avenue Neighborhood Fest —here’s to hoping we don’t see them wane with the warm weather—and hot off The New York Times confessing its crush on the market.

You and me both, NYT.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Food Events and Festivals

New Hours for Homegrown

Including—bonus!—a late-night weekend menu.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 09, 2010 at 10:38AM 0 Comments

Homegrown in Melrose Market is introducing a late-night menu.

The bad news: The Fremont Homegrown is nixing the weekend dinner hours it initiated in May.

The good news: Come Monday, August 16 the sandwich shop’s Melrose Market location will take them on daily, giving Cap Hill–goers until 8pm to get their Bluffernutter fix.

The even better news: Also debuting next week is Homegrown’s late-night menu, which means on Friday and Saturday relish in round two of Bluffernutter-ing (maybe with a side of catfish hushpuppies?) as late as 3am.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Sandwiches, Melrose Market, Late-Night Grub, Late Night

Delays for La Bête

The “opening will unfortunately be pushed back momentarily.”

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 04, 2010 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

The opening of La Bête has been

La Bête, the new Capitol Hill restaurant at 1802 Bellevue Avenue, will not be opening Thursday, August 5 as originally planned.

The trio behind the venture sent out the following message Wednesday afternoon:

“Due to inevitable delays, the likes of which afflict most new restaurant start-ups, La Bête’s opening will unfortunately be pushed back momentarily. We’re sorry to get your appetites wet and not deliver when we wanted to, but trust that we are working diligently to get you through our doors and our food on your plates. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Check back for updates.

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Tags: New Restaurants, Openings, Capitol Hill

Feast of the Week: The Tin Table

The theme rotates each month at these three-course dinners.

Posted by: Judy Naegeli on Aug 02, 2010 at 01:47PM 0 Comments

The Tin Table on Capitol Hill hosts a chef’s dinner every first Thursday of the month.

What: First Thursday Chef’s Dinner

Where: The Tin Table, 915 East Pine Street

When: 5-9pm

Why you should go: Because galleries aren’t the only ones turning it up on First Thursday. Consider chef Travis Chase’s assemblage for this week’s three-course feast, inspired by Argentine cuisine: lobster porcini empanadas with chilled avocado honey soup and candied cilantro; spicy grilled octopus with sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, and black beans; and skirt steak (braised, grilled, and smoked—impressive) with celery root fennel puree and chimichurri.

Cost: $40 per person; wine pairing and other drinks cost extra

Reservations: Highly recommended, call 206-320-8458

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Special Dinners, Feast of the Week

12th Avenue Neighborhood Festival: One for the Food Lovers

More than 20 restaurants line the Pike/Pine corridor for the inaugural celebration.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jul 29, 2010 at 12:05PM 0 Comments

The 12th Avenue Neighborhood Festival takes place August 15 in the Pike/Pine corridor. Photo courtesy 12th Avenue Neighborhood Festival.

If my belly had its way I could nosh hop along 12th Avenue the way other people tackle bar crawls, but one Café Presse chicken in and my senses get the better of me. They tell me I don’t need pretzel dots from Licorous. That Lark ’s pork belly would be downright piggy (on more than one count).

To this logic I always listen, but on August 15, pssshhh. That’s when the first-ever 12th Avenue Neighborhood Festival takes place, for which nearly 20 food mongers are tapped. They’ll be dishing up bites costing $5 or less noon-6pm.

Retail vendors and buskers will be there, too, but here’s the lineup of participating restaurants so far: Café Presse, Osteria La Spiga, Lark, Barrio, Boom Noodle, Zobel Ethiopian Restaurant, Elliott Bay Cafe, Marjorie, Plum, Ethan Stowell’s Lagana Foods, Kokeb Ethiopian Restaurant, Bluebird Homemade Ice Cream, High Five Pie, Ambassel, Molly Moon’s Ice Cream, Cupcake Royale, The Tea Suite, Tavern Law, Elliott Bay Cafe, Kokeb Ethiopian, Quinn’s Pub, and Tidbit Bistro.

See you there.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Food Events and Festivals

La Bête on Capitol Hill Sets Opening Date

The restaurant taking over the Chez Gaudy space sets its sights on August 5.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jul 28, 2010 at 08:14AM 0 Comments

Tyler Moritz, one of the chef-owners of the soon-to-open La Bête.

Remember way back in April when the stalwart Jessica Voelker told you about La Bête, the new Capitol Hill restaurant taking over the corner of Bellevue Ave and E Howell ? Well, the venture from Aleks Dimitrijevich and Tyler Moritz is nearing completion and is looking at an August 5 opening.

When it opens, La Bête will have transformed the former home of Chez Guady into a space seating 44 and will feature a 24-foot bar, a central open kitchen, and a dining room partly taken from refurbished church pews (certainly a nice complement to those iron-laden, stain glass–like windows.)

The locally minded menu is divided into snacks (“finger foods”), plates, and platters, the former intended for the “very hungry, or just those who want a dish to pass around the table.” Examples of the offerings include grilled fava beans or chicken wings; pork belly, pastas, or crudos; and leg of lamb, Pollo al Mattone (a roasted chicken cooked under a brick), or whole grilled fish, respectively.

Dan Rodgers, a six-year veteran of Lark , will run the restaurant. Mortiz also honed his culinary craft at Lark, and Earth and Ocean, before moving onto the since-departed Union, where he befriended Dimitrijevic. His resume includes stints at The Harvest Vine and Licorous. Mind you, these are only the most recent gigs for the well-traveled, accomplished toques.

Hours so far are set for Tue-Sat 5pm-11pm, and weekend brunch 10:30am-2:30pm.

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Tags: Openings, Capitol Hill