Nosh Pit

Seven More Familiar Four-Wheelers Join Food Network Competition

Meanwhile: Marination Mobile sits pretty in fifth place.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 30, 2010 at 02:59PM 1 Comments

Marination Mobile represents in Food Network’s food truck competition.

Looks like Marination Mobile isn’t the only familiar four-wheeler competing for the crown of America’s best food truck.

Another seven local sidewalk gourmands—El Camion, Hallava Falafel, Maximus Minimus, the Molly Moon ice cream wagon, Buns, Here and There, and Skillet (read more about them on our food truck finder) —are trying to edge out mobile kitchens from across the country to be named top dog by Food Network, a distinction that comes with $10,000 and the chance to compete on the channel’s Great Food Truck Race.

Last time we checked in, Marination was holding steady in fifth place. If you’d like to see another Seattleite in the top 10, get clicking.

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Tags: Reality TV, Street Food, Food Network, Rankings,

Seattle Stiffed by Food Network’s
America’s Best

Say whaa?

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 25, 2010 at 03:53PM 0 Comments

Seattle fails to make the cut for Food Network’s America’s Best. Boo.

On Tuesday the Food Network released its lineup of upcoming shows, among them America’s Best. The four-episode special finds one Alton Brown scouring the nation for top takers in several categories: comfort food, sweets, classic regional dishes, and dining destinations.

Ten finalists have been already announced in each group (winners will be chosen during the broadcast, beginning September 20), but bogusly absent is Seattle. Now, pardon the affront, but isn’t Seattle a natch for these type of things? Just look at the flurry of national nods to hit this city in recent months.

P-Town’s Slappy Cakes makes an appearance as one of the top 10 destinations, but otherwise that’s the closest Brown gets to showing the Northwest any love.

Surely you, too, think this bunk. Which Seattle restaurants would you put on the list?

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Tags: Celebrity Chefs, Food Network, Rankings,

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

NuCulinary Takes a Time Out, Where Ya At Matt Hits the Streets, Spring Hill’s Fried Chicken: Now Nationally Known

Here’s your heaping plate of Seattle food news for the week of August 2.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 06, 2010 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

The Herbfarm is launching a 100-Mile Dinner series starting August 12.

On the Fly, the take-out offshoot of Flying Fish, eyes a late next week open.

The Walrus and the Carpenter and La Bête: both delayed.

Japonessa Sushi Cocina debuts downtown. Take a look at their signature items.

Capitol Hill Seattle reports on two new tenants of the Packard Building on 12th and Pine: Varro, an Italian-style bar, and the Middle Eastern-esque Eltana.

Also from CHS comes the news Easy Joe’s diner is taking over the former space of Tidbit Bistro.

Cocktail lounge, free-food-during-happy-hour-spot Suite 410 reopens downtown.

Like crispy crack: Spring Hill’s fried chicken makes Travel and Leisure magazine’s list of the 11 best preparations in America.

In other Spring Hill news, the West Seattle resto introduces happy hour starting August 10.

For the fourteenth year, Wine Spectator names Canlis among its Grand Award recipients for outstanding wine service.

The soul food-slinging Where Ya At Matt food truck takes to the streets.

The Herbfarm sets out to craft nine-course meals made only with regional items. The 100-Mile Dinner debuts August 12 and runs through the end of the month. Call 425-485-5300 for reservations.

Tan Vinh of The Seattle Times says Tom Douglas’s new restaurant is slated to open August 12.

Blame it on the economy: NuCulinary is taking a time out come September 30. The cooking school “will be placing our regularly scheduled classes on hiatus… for a few months to retool and reform the business” in response to shrinking enrollment.

Salish Lodge hires Tyler Hefford-Anderson, once of Opal on Queen Anne and the Rainier Club.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Chefs, Street Food, Food News, Rankings, Food News Roundup

Spring Hill Makes Travel and Leisure’s List of Best Fried Chicken

The West Seattle restaurant is one of 11 mentioned.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 04, 2010 at 05:52PM 1 Comments

Among America’s best: the fried chicken at Spring Hill. Photo courtesy Geoffrey Smith of LookatLao

Here’s a well-deserved plug for Spring Hill: Travel and Leisure magazine called out the West Seattle restaurant in the article “America’s Best Fried Chicken,” a roundup of the 11 premier preparations across the U.S.

In the mention, T+L gives the gold star to chef/owner Mark Fuller for his tasty, time-sucking recipe:

Fuller brines the chickens for six hours, then dredges the birds in a homemade spice mix based on his grandmother’s go-to flavoring, Johnny’s Seasoning Salt.

Indeed, Fuller’s chicken keeps people coming back like it’s crispy crack. You’re lucky to land a seat at one of the Monday night suppers during which it is served. If you haven’t yet been, by all means get on the horn stat and call 206-935-1075.

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Tags: Celebrity Chefs, West Seattle, Awards and Accolades, Rankings

Health.com Ranks 50 Fattiest Foods in the States

And all Washington got was this Crab Louis Salad?

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jul 01, 2010 at 12:47PM 1 Comments

Now that is fatty.

Earlier this week Health.com came out with a list detailing the fattiest food to hail from each state. Peruse it and you see pictures of a turducken oozing with stuffing, a BLT stacked with one pound of bacon (impressive, Michigan), and of course the Double Down, that fine Kentucky export.

For the State of Washington, h.com picked none other than the Crab Louis Salad. The explanation: “The northwest is known for healthy living. But even Washington hides some gluttonous secrets. Disguised as a healthy option—it is called a salad after all—Crab Louis Salad is a popular dish that packs a surprising amount of fat, mostly because of a mayonnaise-based dressing.”

Yawwwn. Surely Seattle is slinging something that packs more fat, no? Like the bacon-wrapped, cheese-topped wieners at Po Dog. Or how about those cholesterol patties at Lunchbox Laboratory.

What is the fattiest fare you’ve had here?

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Tags: Rankings

Seattle’s Best Sandwiches

See which sammies make our Top 10.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jun 24, 2010 at 09:28AM 5 Comments

Sustainable, and delicious. Homegrown ’s turkey-bacon-avocado sandwich.


Photo by Nick Feldman

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Sustainable, and delicious. Homegrown ’s turkey-bacon-avocado sandwich.


Photo by Nick Feldman

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At Rizzo’s French Dip, the only thing on the menu is the eponymous, cholesterol-fueled dip.


Photo by Nick Feldman

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The Drunken Chicken at Baguette Box: “banh-mi on steroids.”


Photo by Nick Feldman

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At Delicatus in Pioneer Square, order the spicy pork with jalapeno aioli or the hot-peppered Fire of 1889.

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So it’s a burger. But Skillet ’s tour de force is between two slabs of bread—that counts, right?


Photo: Iris Dumuk

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The East Coast–style Tastrami at Tat’s Deli.

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Artisan cured meats are responsible for such wowers as the hot porchetta at Salumi.


Photo courtesy havestomachwilltravel.com.

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Paseo ’s Midnight Cuban. Need we say more?


Photo credit Zaissian Logic.

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The pulled-pork Georgia Gold at hole-in-the-wall Roy’s BBQ.


Photo credit Flickr.

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The thing to get at Pike Place Market lunch counter Market Grill is the the blackened salmon sandwich.


Photo credit gotime.com

As restaurant critic/culinary crackerjack Kathryn Robinson points out in our 100 Reasons to Love Seattle, “Sandwiches rule as our current obsession.”

Right she is, which is why we’ve sifted through many, many sammies to find the very best. To see which ones rank as our favorites, click the photo on the left for a slideshow of the Top 10.

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Tags: Lunch, Sandwiches, Rankings