Best Restaurants 2006
Best International Restaurants
Harvest Vine
2701 E Madison St, Madison Valley| 206-320-9771 www.harvestvine.com
Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, aside from having the best name in the industry, crafts the most glorious tapas in town: small plates brimming with stuffed peppers and garlicky vegetables; caramelized beans, grilled meats, and seared seafoods glistening with oil and executed to a turn. Harvest Vine’s small corner space is a very long way from Spain, but is lined with enough regional wines and sherries to evoke a cozy Basque country bodega.
Order up! Grilled venison; fried Galician peppers with sea salt
Prime time The no–reservations policy is now a thing of the past if you’re okay with a table downstairs. Or chance a drop–in if you’re yearning for a piece of the primo real–estate near Jimenez’s kitchen.
Pssssst You’ll be tempted to fill up on the tapas, but don’t—co–owner Carolin Messier de Jimenez is a world–class pastry chef.
But… Carolin and Joseba are in the process of transforming a 160–year–old chateau near Navarrenx, France, into a destination inn—a project that may leech some of their considerable energy but will no doubt enrich their regional culinary inspiration.
Salumi
309 Third Ave S, Pioneer Square| 206-621-8772 www.salumicuredmeats.com
Seattle’s only truly Old World eatery is this skinny storefront in Pioneer Square. It’s cramped, the line crawls, and you probably won’t find a seat at the communal table in back. None of which matters once you sink into one of Armandino Batali’s Italian–style cured meat sandwiches, crafted from his blue–ribbon porchetta and coppa and prosciutto. We’re pretty sure they offer other stuff too—we saw a fine–looking heap of pasta drift by once—but we can’t seem to get past the city’s best sandwiches.
Order up! The finocchiona (fennel salami) sandwich; the prosciutto sandwich with fig spread and goat cheese
Prime time Come before they unlock at 11am (Tue–Fri) if you don’t want to stand in line—for an hour if you’re unlucky.
Pssssst You think an hour is long? The waiting list for Batali’s big weekend dinners is three years, so get over it. Then inquire about his backroom, open a few times a week for private lunch parties of up to 10 diners (book two months in advance).
But… It’s a cruel irony: The more addicted a body becomes to this restaurant, the less able it is to wedge itself into the damn place.
Le Pichet
1933 First Ave, Downtown| 206-256-1499 www.lepichetseattle.com
Tartines au chèvre, jambon, et confiture d’abricot: If the words transport you directly to the Marais—wait till you start sampling. Other restaurants in town give you French food the way we think of it. Le Pichet gives you French food the way it’s done in France, from the classics—cold potato–leek soup, moules frites, plenty of charcuterie—to contemporary multicultural forays, like falafel fritters with bing cherry sauce and cumin yogurt. All in a narrow storefront with a little black awning, along a charmingly leafy stretch of First Avenue.
Order up! The roast chicken, which takes an hour, with a little je ne sais quoi off the single best list of French country wines in the city.
Prime time The restaurant that feels like Paris all the time feels most like Paris in the dewy freshness of morning, over a perfect croissant and a bowl of café au lait.
Pssssst A little sister, Café Presse, will open on First Hill some time after the first of the year, featuring more of a drop–in–for–a–plate–of–olives ambiance along with racks of international magazines and newspapers.
But… What was originally conceived as a nibble–and–nosh menu doesn’t provide much variety when asked to do the destination–dining–room duty its fans demand.
