10 Best Restaurants 2009
Boat Street Cafe
3131 Western Ave Ste 301, Belltown, 206-632-4602; boatstreetcafe.com
THE VISION
“The original Boat Street was a unique and odd restaurant for Seattle, a cross between a shack in New England and a sunny spot in Provence. It was on the north end of Portage Bay, at the end of a gravel road with potholes. The building leaked. It wasn’t trying to be part of that whole ’90s dot-com restaurant scene. It had an end-of-the-farm-road feel. When we had to move it didn’t seem right to reopen just anywhere. I think the new space at the foot of Denny holds some of the same old sweetness and charm, but in a more urban location. I love the white. Everything I own is white: my car, my house, my dog. I guess my cooking style compares to the white—food that’s about the ingredients, food that’s simple, comforting. The more I cook the more I’m drawn to grandma’s French food. I don’t love a list of 25 things in my dish.” — Renee Erickson, owner and chef, Boat Street Cafe
THE VERDICT
Improbably, the sunken space in the farthest corner of Belltown in the Northwest Work Lofts Building captures the airy essence of Boat Street’s dockside original, with its whitewashed walls and mismatched chairs, its chalkboard menu and panorama of twinkling votives. The idiosyncratic charm of the decor—check the dog art, check the Chinese umbrellas—exquisitely reflects the postmodern-farmhouse sensibility of owner and chef Renee Erickson.
It comes through on the plate in the form of simple compositions, mouthfilling textures, brainy contrasts, and fat Provençal flavors. Medjool dates oozing sugars are sautéed in olive oil then spangled with fleur de sel; crab cakes are crammed with crab crisped in the pan, then served with banana–hot pepper confit and Erickson’s own homemade pickles. Lately she’s been pickling anything that isn’t nailed down—wax beans, huckleberries, figs; each in a unique brine—which isn’t so French, but is very Erickson; owing to her fine-tuned belief that something has to balance out the richness of her creamy cuisine.
The results are dinners—and, in next door’s Boat Street Kitchen, lunches and brunches—that reveal brilliance through contrast. Add in gentle service and a tranquil atmosphere, and you’re dining at the most winsomely romantic restaurant in town.
Published: October 2009
Serious pie is amazing! We try to treat ourselves every month.
Fairly new to the Seattle area, and this list was great. I am excited to knock out all 1-10!
We are from Wisconsin. While visiting our son in Seattle this summer, we celebrated my wife’s birthday at the Boat Street Cafe. A nice ambience. A varied menu. Fabulous food. The service was excellent.
I love this list! We’ve enjoyed a few of the Top 10 before, and look forward to going to the rest. Good to see Seattle classics on here like Canlis and Rovers, as well as some of the newer places like Spring Hill.
I agree with Jefferson…great list. Classics deserve to stay on the list if they continue to innovate and impress! Can’t wait for the parentals to come to town…going to Boat Street and Crush for sure!
I went through the whole list wrote them down and I want to try them all. Your reviews were great. My birthday is in feb and we are going to try one of these fabulous sounding restaurants. Thankyou Sherry in south king county.
Hey,
how are you?
i’m coming into seattle and was wandering if a pro like this blog could help me out in terms of…
1. best breakfast – i’m coming in on thurs, so cant do the corson building- so depressed
2. best lunch/dinner place to eat good seattle grub fare.
thanks so much!!! anything else i must eat etc like donuts just let me know too – yum yum.. i’m so jealous you have it all at your fingertips!
michelle
Serious Pie is great but for 2010?
Is there any list of top restaurants for 2010?
Mike,auto insurance quotes
Serious Pie is pretty damned good, but it says a lot about Seattle that one of it’s best restaurants is a pizza joint.
If Rovers can nail it’s consistency problem down, it would probably be a strong candidate for top spot in WA, maybe even contend for a michelin star.
For serious foodies, hop a ferry to Bainbridge (half an hour, great for visiting relatives) and walk to “The Harbourside Pub.” Looks like a fun, happy Pub joint with lots of micro-beers. What it really is that’s different is locally grown foods, highly creative seasonal choices of organic and grass-fed beef. The foodies will be happy and so will the whole family (no kids). There’s even a sunny deck. The owners have made this possible by working directly with local farmers—you can really taste the difference in the food. Best list for 2011?
Serious Pie is seriously UN-amazing. None of Tom Douglas’s restaurants are at all impressive compared to chef owned restaurants in Seattle including most that are on this top ten list. Tom knows how to market himself and make money. Cooking great food with authenticity and sustainability? He doesn’t have it. Serious Pie is a step up from Pagliachi, but not anything I would write home about. I miss Brasa’s fig pizza…. that is worth writing home about.