Best of the City 2008
You're about to see your city in a whole new way.
Edited by Jessica VoelkerWith contribution from Christopher Werner, Ben Schock, Kathryn Robinson, Rachelle Robinett, Erin Pursell, Laura Peach, Kelly Huffman, Leah Finn, James Ross Gardner, Lee Fehrenbacher, Stefan Durham, Wilson Diehl, Laura Cassidy, Roger Brooks, Sarah Anderson, and Steve Wiecking
Mexican Restaurant
Ballard, the neighborhood with its own gravitational pull, really reels ’em in around dinnertime, when the aromas of organic blue-cheese burgers, wild-boar ragú, and extra-añejo tequila mingle into an olfactory siren song detectable from Bothell to Burien. But local noses begin to downright quiver when they isolate the black chili mole of La Carta de Oaxaca, that Old Mexico eatery with the consistently stunning food, ever-present crowd, and undying devotion of Seattle diners. La Carta de Oaxaca, 5431 Ballard Ave NW, Ballard, 206-782-8722; www.lacartadeoaxaca.com
Service
In a perfect world every server in Seattle would be a food lover. Every server would inform without condescending, advise without pandering, attend without hovering, and possess that brilliant sixth sense that tells him or her when to advance and when to retreat. Guess what? Café Juanita, where owner and chef Holly Smith, a 2008 James Beard award winner, rigorously trains every employee, turns out to be a perfect world. Café Juanita, 9702 NE 120th Pl, Kirkland, 425-823-1505; www.cafejuanita.com
Clone
What was the likelihood that Pike/Pine’s Via Tribunali one with the medieval candlelight, wood-fired pizza, and bracing urban buzz—would duplicate its Neapolitan ambience so faithfully? The Queen Anne outpost offers the same sexy Italian atmo, the same impressively blistered pies, even the same low profile from the street. We’ll see if the big new Trib in Georgetown (set to open as we went to press) will follow suit. Via Tribunali, 317 W Galer St, Queen Anne, 206-264-7768; www.viatribunali.com
Face-Lift
This year’s restaurant revitalizations came in all shapes and colors: new chefs at Artemis and Beàto, a more affordable menu at Union, and new looks at Sazerac and Elliott’s Oyster House. But our favorite improvement happened at local legend Le Gourmand. Say what you will about the new vanilla color palette and the new decorative element of suspended puppets. It beats heck out of a floral mural and grandma’s pink upholstery. Le Gourmand, 425 NW Market St, Ballard, 206-784-3463
Happy-Hour Menu
Brasa, that sprawling Iberian dream world in Belltown, is this city’s number-one place to be weekdays after work. It simply fires on every cylinder, with a creamy room that accommodates the gamut from intimacy to celebration; a chef and co-owner, Tamara Murphy, invested in every single dish; a signature plate, roast pig, that stuns; and a terrific happy-hour deal—half-priced everything—that has seriously addicted the locals. Brasa, 2107 Third Ave, Belltown, 206-728-4220; www.brasa.com
New Seattle Restaurant
Count us among the many who would walk a mile (you might have to park that far) and wait an hour (you’ll wait that long) for the golden-skinned roast chicken at Café Presse. Sweet, simple French fare aside, what we love best about this Gallic nosherie is its ambience: a centuries-old sense of place evident in everything from the old trees out the towering windows to the Lillet in the cocktails. Café Presse, 1117 12th Ave, First Hill, 206-709-7674; www.cafepresseseattle.com
New Eastside Restaurant
It’s Trellis, of course, the Kirkland Heathman Hotel’s farm-to-table dining room, and as such, the most serious new enterprise east of Lake Washington. The room is Napa chic, the ingredients Northwest fresh (chef Brian Scheehser’s farm supplies much of the produce), and the preparations—from pan-roasted brook trout to the chef’s signature leafy-topped flatbread—solid and fine. Trellis, 220 Kirkland Ave, Kirkland, 425-284-5900; www.trellisrestaurant.net
Pasta
There is now a clear answer to the question everyone asks restaurant critics: Where is the best place to go for a great bowl of pasta? Though a few exemplary spots come to mind—"*Café Lago*":/eat-and-drink/find-a-restaurant/#/search:business_listing.name=cafe20lago/, Volterra, Sorrentino most outstanding is the tiny new joint with the great big name, How to Cook a Wolf20to20cook20a%20wolf/. Order up a bowl of trofie with parsley-walnut pesto and pecorino Toscano or garga-nelli with tuna and capers and you’ll see that Wolf’s pasta’s all about big flavors, flawless execution, and, well, magic. How to Cook a Wolf, 2208 Queen Anne Ave N, Queen Anne, 206-838-8090; www.howtocookawolf.com
Published: July 2008
