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
Un-Restaurant
It’s the hottest trend going—restaurants that aren’t exactly restaurants. Like tiny and idiosyncratic Elemental@Gasworks and Sitka and Spruce, or One Pot, which is not technically a legal operation (Shh!). Or like Skillet —the Airstream trailer, which lands in one parking lot one day, another the next, serving delicious kobe-style burgers and Moroccan-style lamb sloppy joes. At press time Skillet was opening a permanent installation Downtown—but, adventurers, don’t despair. The Airstream will still be roaming, its daily location accessible online. Skillet, www.skilletstreetfood.com
Design
The first was a novelty, the second happenstance, the third clear evidence of a trend. Minimal pure white decor once seemed so LA, but as more white places opened—Veil, Taste began to appreciate how appetizing food can look against a stark backdrop. But dang if our favorite hasn’t remained Crush, where wunderkind Jason Wilson shows us night after stunning night that a restrained decorative style plays beautifully off a lush extravagance of flavors. Crush, 2319 E Madison St, Madison Valley, 206-302-7874; www.crushonmadison.com
Fusion
The marrying of cuisines known as fusion has become so commonplace we barely use the term anymore. Unless we’re at Joule, where Northwest ingredients, French technique, and the pickled and fermented delights of Korean cuisine commingle to form a hybrid so unprecedented, intelligent, and flat-out delicious it can only be called thrilling. Really, what else are you going to call kalamata gnocchi with Gruyère, almonds, and pickled red pepper? Joule, 1913 N 45th St, Wallingford, 206-632-1913; www.joule restaurant.com
Organic Restaurant
Seattle has a green-certified Italian restaurant, a 75 percent organic pizzeria in the making—and even a ristorante, Bizzarro, which gets almost all of its food from within a 300-mile radius. But the Most Organically Correct By Far is Tilth, Maria Hines’s 95 percent organic eatery in Wallingford, one of two organic-certified restaurants in the country, and one of the finest fine food establishments in town. Tilth, 1411 N 45th St, Wallingford, 206-633-0801; www.tilthrestaurant.com
Late-Night Restaurant
The more cosmopolitan we become, the later we nosh—and the newbies understand that, from Tavolàta to Café Presse. So why do we still find ourselves midnight-supping on the apple-wood-grilled chicken and Burger Royale at Palace Kitchen, which serves dinner every night till 1am? Because everyone we know is eating there too. Palace Kitchen, 2030 Fifth Ave, Belltown, 206-448-2001; www.tomdouglas.com
Izakaya
Time was you had to cross international borders to get the small-plate pub food that the Japanese tuck into after clocking out for the day. But it’s caught on here—from high-end Umi Sake House in Belltown, to Capitol Hill newbie Vi Bacchus, and the one we love most is the dimly-lit I.D. walk-up, Maekawa Bar, where authentic little snacks—seared tuna with ponzu, squid legs with pickled cabbage—keep the happy late-night hordes coming back. Maekawa Bar, 601 S King St, International District, 206-622-0634
Gourmet Ice Cream
While we certainly have cupcakes covered, Seattle once fell short when it came to the cold, creamy stuff. That all changed with the much buzzed-about opening of Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream in Wallingford. An 11pm closing time and flavors like Balsamic Strawberry and Vivace Coffee hinted that owner Molly Moon Neitzel wasn’t just catering to the kiddies. Her rich scoops turned out to be well-balanced, complex confections that please even the most persnickety adult. Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream, 1622½ N 45th St, Wallingford, 206-547-5105; www.mollymoonicecream.com
Bar Menu
Pub grub has evolved, and it’s the most burgeoning category in town, thanks to publicans like Linda Derschang, who injects restaurant energy into her watering holes (see King’s Hardware, Smith), and restaurateurs like Scott Staples, who injects bar energy into his restaurants (see Quinn’s Pub, Restaurant Zoë). But the best remains the foodie bar extraordinaire: Licorous. There is just no spot in town that matches it for culinary verve or spirit(s). Licorous, 928 12th Ave, Capitol Hill, 206-325-6947; www.licorous.com
Spirits
Locally speaking, it was a banner year for liquor, and our fave new concoction results when something fruity takes a long bath in good vodka. Infused vodkas are the rage all over Seattle (try the pear vodka cocktail at Crush), and—happy for us—the specialty of the house at South Lake Union’s tiny Venik Lounge. Just see if you can resist a shot of Venik’s cherry vodka. Venik Lounge, 227 Ninth Ave N, South Lake Union, 206-223-3734; www.veniklounge.com
Dive Bar
If we were designing the perfect dive, we’d put it in South Park and get the folks from the 9LB Hammer to run it. We’d wood-panel it rumpus-room style and add booths and a back patio. Then we’d hire a sassy staff to sling $3 burgers to the sort of souls who love nothing more than a round of Yahtzee and a belt of whiskey. What would we call it? Loretta’s Northwesterner sounds good. Loretta’s Northwesterner, 8617 14th Ave S, South Park, 206-327-9649
Tequila Tavern
To think that The Saint, the new, Tiffany-blue-painted agave bar at Bellevue and Olive Way, once housed the Wing Dome. Inside, owner Quentin Ertel (the man behind Havana) has stocked the bar with 80-plus specialty tequilas, white-washed the walls, and hung framed portraits of notable mejicanos. The effect is calming and classy, and offers a welcome retreat from the rowdy cantinas that pepper this slice of Capitol Hill. The Saint, 1416 E Olive Way, Capitol Hill, 206-323-9922; www.thesaintsocialclub.com
Beer Bar
Once a hippie holdout, Fremont now hosts the city’s frattiest bar—goers, but that doesn’t keep connoisseurs of the sudsy stuff away from Brouwers Café. The occasional chugging contest is worth an endless list of global beers, first-rate frites, and a patio that’s as much like a beer garden as anything between here and Leavenworth. Brouwer’s Café, 400 N 45th St, Fremont, 206-267-2437; www.brouwerscafe.com
Published: July 2008
