Best of the City
Here’s Seattle Met‘s take on the year’s dining all-stars.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 02, 2011 at 11:47AM
Yum: Vongole pizza from Bar del Corso.
Did you know? Seattle Met‘s annual roundup of best restaurants is out. In this year’s survey, critic Kathryn Robinson corrals the 25 establishments, both old and new, bringing it. Writes Robinson:
In an industry where the newest and trendiest can seize the spotlight—we’re bringing you the best. Restaurants with strong culinary identities and consistency of execution. Restaurants with smart, affable servers and assuredly crafted senses of place. Most critically: restaurants where the food dazzles with invention and intention.
So which ones fit the bill? Only one way to find out.
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Critic's Notebook
Same as New York, folks.
Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Oct 10, 2011 at 09:00AM
One of the delectable options at Tilth.
In its annual diner’s-choice awards, the online restaurant reservation service OpenTable recently named five Seattle restaurants to its National Top 50: Cascina Spinasse, MistralKitchen, Spur, Staple and Fancy, and Tilth.
(Pssst: Four of these five landed on my upcoming list of the Top 25 Restaurants in Seattle, to hit news-stands end of next week. But which four…?)
The only regions to make a better showing were the Bay Area (with 10 restaurants) and Chicago (with six). And though we were a little puzzled to find the Greater Boston area tied with Seattle, we are most pleased to report that our other tie is with New York City.
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In the Spotlight
She’s one of Gourmet Live’s “50 Women Game-Changers” of food.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on May 23, 2011 at 10:28AM
Molly Wizenberg is at it again, doing Seatown proud and keeping company with the Great Ones.
Late last week Gourmet Live published a list of 50 Women Game-Changers, a rundown of “the most important women in food. Period.” On it are writers, editors, TV personalities, and toques from around the world, from years past and today. Claiming the twentieth spot is Seattle’s Wizenberg. Gourmet writes: Orangette, a blog circa 2004, has great, accessible recipes, and Wizenberg famously spun a book deal (A Homemade Life), a restaurant (Seattle’s Delancey), and a husband (Brandon) out of the blog. Not in that order—and, as she winningly relates, unintentionally.
Hazard a guess as to who is No. 1?
P.S. Wizenberg is speaking at a UW fundraiser on May 26 should you care to hear the game changer speak.
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Hometown Pride
As is the tagliatelle at Spur and lamb brain agnolotti at Tavolàta.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Apr 13, 2011 at 02:36PM
Spinasse’s tajarin: people love it.
There’s lots of love for Spinasse, the Capitol Hill Piedmontese pasta house: Seattle Met’s in-house critic loves the place. Bon Appétit loves the place. Even David Beckham loves the place. So it’s rather obvi a roundup titled 101 of America’s Most Delicious Noodle Dishes should embrace Spinasse and its tajarin.
Less obvious—but still deserving of a mention—are Spur and Tavolàta. The two Belltown restaurants also landed themselves on the list, the former for its tagliatelle with slow-cooked duck egg and Tavolà:ta thanks to lamb brain agnolotti.
To pin the best pasta plates out there, editors of the NYC-based Grub Street “scoured the country—the whole country,” then consulted with food types (chefs, Ruth Reichl, et al). The Seattle mentions start at #99 (you’re welcome, I already did all the clicking for you. And no, it’s not a ranked roundup), and includes quotes from erstwhile Seattle Weekly critic Jonathan Kauffman and Providence Cicero of the Seattle Times.
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Sun Bakery and Deli also gets a mention.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Feb 07, 2011 at 11:34AM
T magazine includes Saigon Deli in its best banh mi roundup. Photo courtesy yelp.
Will you look at that. We and T agree that Saigon Deli fashions some of the best banh mi out there.
The magazine for The New York Times ruminates on where to find the country’s 13 top versions of the Vietnamese baguettes, and the ID counter not only gets the first mention, but also scores the lead photo.
In the writeup, T calls out Saigon’s quirks—the grimy digs, the “disaster” that is trying to park—but hails the sandwiches as “second to none, especially the $3 banh mi dac biet—pork, ham and chicken liver pâté.”
Of course you already know this—Saigon Deli got top marks in our Asian Food feature —but perhaps you are less familiar with Sun Bakery and Deli. T gives the Jackson Street joint props for its “combo sandwich made with Chinese-style ham, grilled chicken and cucumber.”
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Rachael Ray is on it.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 31, 2011 at 03:38PM
Rachael Ray and Serious Eats dig Monster Dogs. Photo courtesy Monster Dogs.
So Every Day with Rachael Ray and the blog Serious Eats are buddying up to determine America’s best hot dog. You may recall they did this last year, only with pizza. For this year’s quest, three serious eaters from Serious Eats set out for more than 55 cities across the U.S., eventually locating the country’s top 64 franks. That list, first rolled out a couple of days ago and divided by region, has since been narrowed down to 16 contenders. Among them: Seattle’s Monster Dogs.
Monster Dogs, whose motto reads “BECAUSE SIZE DOES MATTER…ours are bigger!”, maintains eight stations throughout the city and is a favorite of Pike/Pine late-night spillover, thanks in part to a generous slather of cream cheese lining the bun.
We’ll know whether that cheesy touch is enough to secure Monster the title of America’s best dog imminently—she of the raspy voice will continue to pare down the contenders throughout the week. Keep tabs on the Rachael Ray site.
Worth noting: Po Dog also received a mention but promptly got booted by Casper’s Famous Hot Dogs of Albany, California.
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Seattle Food In The News
But don’t be messing with the Market, Richman.
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Dec 15, 2010 at 11:18AM
You’re still the one, Market.
I was excited when my coworker sent me news this morning that GQ’s Alan Richman has included The Walrus and the Carpenter, Renee Erickson’s Ballard oyster bar, among the 10 Best New Restaurants in America. No arguments here.
But then.
“The Walrus and the Carpenter feels like a throwback to an earlier era of Seattle dining. It reminds me of the once wonderful Pike Place Market, long before it got touristy and bland.”
I could comment extensively on why this statement is inaccurate but it all just sounds silly and defensive.
But one thing I must say about the Market, my very favorite place in this city. Yes, it attracts tourists. But it is not touristy! Anyone who has ever spent time there—cheering burlesque at the CanCan, popping fried oysters at Emmett Watson’s, watching the boats go by while scarfing up a gooey reuben from I Love New York Deli —can tell you that much. Seattleites share Pike Place with the tourists because we are awesome like that, but we have not ceded it.
Congrats to lovely Walrus, an utterly charming new addition to the Seattle dining scene.
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Rankings
A comprehensive take on where to eat right now.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 25, 2010 at 10:45AM
A thali from Poppy, one of our picks for this year’s best restaurants.
Exciting news, Nosh nerds: Our annual survey of the city’s best restaurants is here for you to devour!
In this year’s roundup, Kathryn Robinson takes a look at 12 trends that are changing the dining landscape—“whole new ways of dining—startlingly different ways of dining than existed 10, even five, years ago”—then pays tribute to the restaurants that are best carrying them out.
What kind of trends? Think molecular gastronomy and offal to unfussy French and unstuffy gourmet.
To see which other movements we mention, click your way to the Best Restaurants article.
Hope you’re hungry.
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The local sweets company makes the pub’s list of best pies.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 06, 2010 at 02:52PM
High 5’s piejars: Bon Appétit loves ’em.
Not so many days ago, we were crushing on Dani Cone and her sweet tooth ticklers, the High 5 Pies she stocks at Fuel Coffee. Today, Cone finds herself another admirer: Bon Appétit.
In an article singling out the 10 best places for pie, the mag makes mention of High 5’s innovative twists on the traditional as well as the seven-inch deep-dishers made with all-butter crusts. Author Andrew Knowlton writes: Head to Fuel Coffee for baker Dani Cone’s classic pies as well as mini Cutie Pies, Flipsides (kind of like turnovers), and Piejars (baked in mini mason jars) in flavors like spiced plum walnut.
Short and sweet, but no less commendable. Congrats, Dani, can’t wait for that retail space.
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That's Hot
Chefs’ gardens top one 2010 trends list. And Seattle’s got plenty of them.
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 05, 2010 at 03:06PM
Homegrown goodness at Trellis.
When we compiled this year’s Food Lovers’ Guide, we consulted our crystal ball to parse out the trends taking this city in new directions. One of the biggies: the edible garden. Chefs all over town—Bastille ’s Shannon Galusha, Brian Scheehser of Trellis, Jerry Traunfeld at Poppy —are growing their own produce in on-site veg beds.
Considering Seattle’s on-top-of-it stock of toques, it’s no surprise, then, to see the kitchen garden crowning the first (of what’s sure to be many) list of 2010’s big trends. When the National Restaurant Association asked a couple thousand chefs what they thought would be this year’s standouts, one-third of them responded with the grow-your-own garden, making it the top response in the “hottest restaurant concept”.
You can read more about the survey on the NPR site. Or you could make your way to Seattle’s (many) garden spots. We’ve put together a list of them for you.
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And is that term forever ingrained in our lexicon?
Posted by: Christopher Werner on Sep 30, 2010 at 12:50PM
William Belickis. His MistralKitchen is foodie approved.
Lists, they’re freakin’ everywhere these days.
OpenTable just came out with one ranking the country’s top 50 restaurants Most Fit for Foodies. The index—parsed from more than 7 million reviews of diners who are “informed, adventurous and, above all, appreciate unique dining experiences”—includes local favorites Spinasse, MistralKitchen, and Tilth.
Any other locals you’d like to see listed? The comment box is calling your name.
P.S. I’m guilty of using it too, but is that old chestnut of a label, “foodie,” ever going away?
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