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
FOOD & DRINK
Crepes
Seattle’s suddenly sprouting creperies like champignons after a cloudburst, and our favorite is the tidy little boîte on Madison, La Côte Crêperie. We love the crisp French nautical decor, the good wine, the crisp-edged buckwheat crepes (particularly divine filled with Yukon Golds, crème fraîche, bacon, and Fleur des Alpes cheese), the sweetly simple dessert crepes (lemony Citronnée is a hit), the lovely small price tags, and the servers who know their customers by name. La Côte Crêperie, 2811 E Madison St, Madison Valley, 206-323-9800
Weekend Brunch
Leave the icing-bomb cinnamon rolls and the all-you-can-eat groaning boards to other brunchers. Boat Street Kitchen cooks up something simultaneously more sophisticated and more down-to-earth, offering take-your-breath-away dishes like rustic cornmeal custard cake or baked eggs topped with buttered crumbs—all taken from a decidedly Old World playbook but made to the discriminating specs of the modern-day epicurean. Boat Street Kitchen, 3131 Western Ave, Belltown, 206-632-4602; www.boatstreetcafe.com
Coffee Tasting
Seattle’s a little embarrassed about its ecstatic devotion to Stumptown Coffee Roasters—it is, after all, a Portland import. But the combination of a sustainable business model, exacting small-batch roasts, hip urban locations (two on Capitol Hill), and, at the 12th Avenue roaster, daily 3pm “cuppings” where patrons taste and compare brews pretty much eliminates the shame. Stumptown Coffee Roasters, 616 E Pine St, Capitol Hill, 206-329-0115. 1115 12th Ave, Capitol Hill, 206-323-1544; www.stumptowncoffee.com
Food Tour
The new three-hour Tour de Chocolat begins with tea and truffles downtown at the Chocolate Box, then continues with a scenic drive to the Theo chocolate factory in Fremont, followed by another tasting at Fran’s in U Village. By the time the chocotourists get to Oh! Chocolates to learn the art of covering graham crackers with melted—you guessed it—chocolate, many find they’re too full for free samples. Well, almost too full. Tour de Chocolat, 108 Pine St, Downtown, 206-443-3900; www.sschocolatebox.com
New Neighborhood Joint
The best restaurateurs know it’s not just about the eating. And although Austin Cantina serves up tremendous Tex-Mex eats—big fiery platters of beer-braised pulled-pork tacos with apple chutney and beans and rice; plates of silken garlic-chipotle shrimp—the big love goes to its great prices, killer margaritas, Southwest soundtrack, and hearty welcome from affable proprietor Jefe Birkner. Austin Cantina, 5809 24th Ave NW, Ballard, 206-789-1277; www.austincantina.org
Fast Food
Dick who? Burgermaster boasts a broader selection (Veggie burger! Salad bar!), a kids’ menu, shakes and malts, the better claim to history (it was founded in 1952—two years before Dick’s), and Bill Gates as a regular. Just try and beat the Baconmaster or fries dipped in their garlicky-delicious tartar sauce. Burgermaster, 9820 Aurora Ave N, Greenwood, 206-522-2044. 3040 NE 45th St, Ravenna, 206-525-7100. 10606 NE Northup Way, Bellevue, 425-827-9566; www.burgermaster.biz
Takeout
Villa Victoria (born in Madrona, relocated to Columbia City) is simply the apotheosis of perfect takeout: a sweet space up the road from Rainier Ave, a large selection (chilaquiles verdes, tofu burritos with guacamole), a fleet of dependable regulars, and those headliner tamales—moist and jalapeño flavorful. Villa Victoria, 3829 S Edmunds St, Columbia City, 206-329-1717; www.villa-victoria.net
Vibe
Seattle’s got no shortage of restaurants whose crowd, ambience, decor, and neighborhood placement add up to that thing we call “vibe.” But this year’s best was an easy pick; as easy as walking into the capacious, Tokyo-hip, lime-green Boom Noodle and lighting at one of the shared cafeteria tables for a steaming bowl of wild salmon udon. It’s just as right for an afternoon nosh as for a drenched-in-cocktails destination dinner. Boom Noodle, 1121 E Pike St, Capitol Hill, 206-701-9130; www.boomnoodle.com
New Chef
He’s not exactly a rookie—at age 39, Keith Luce has already worked alongside La Côte Basque’s Jean-Jacques Rachou, cooked for the Clintons at the White House, and walked away with the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year award. He’s just new to Seattle—as head chef at the Herbfarm lucky us. Luce’s gifted palate and subtle hand make bright new music of Cascadia’s bounty. Keith Luce, The Herbfarm, 14590 NE 145th St, Woodinville, 425-485-5300; www.theherbfarm.com
Steak Frites
At Betty, the Crow people’s newer joint at the top of Queen Anne, the signature dish also happens to be the best of its ilk in town. Here, the steak is a Brandt Farms rib eye, gilded on the grill, oozing glorious juice, heaped with a mess of crisped fries, flavorful in every bite—and utterly fork tender. Betty, 1507 Queen Anne Ave N, Queen Anne, 206-352-3773; www.eatatbetty.com
Sweet-Potato Fries
We loves us some sweet-potato fries. And where do we love ’em the most? Pig Iron Bar-B-Q, of course, where Georgetown meets Shangri-la. Sure, whatever, have some baby backs or some sliced brisket. But the must-orders here are the sides, from the corn-bread dressing to the mashed-potato salad to those beautiful orange fries—those crisp, salty-sweet little beauts for which, try as we might, we can’t stop driving to Georgetown. Pig Iron Bar-B-Q, 5602 First Ave S, Georgetown, 206-768-1009; www.pigironbbq.net
Restaurant Row
Great restaurants cluster—from Queen Anne to Madrona, Ballard to Madison Valley—and there’s no better than those on (or near) Columbia City’s Rainier Ave Row. Just imagine the progressive dinner: a meaty salad from Tutta Bella, a Moorish pasta from La Medusa, a Georgia Gold sandwich from Roy’s BBQ, a cheese plate from Verve Wine Bar, French toast from Geraldine’s Counter, corn bread from Jones Barbeque something good and rummy from the newest import, the Caribbean outpost called Island Soul. Columbia City’s Rainier Ave Row, 4800 and 4900 blocks of Rainier Ave S, Columbia City
Ethan Stowell
Most Toqued-About Chef
Yeah, 2007 was kind of a big year,” Ethan Stowell recently told us. “I got married!” That he did. Of course, eight months before the wedding, he opened Tavolàta, the restaurant that gave Belltown its best reason to stay up late; and four months after he opened How to Cook a Wolf, the acclaimed pasta house at the top of Queen Anne Hill. Those months in the middle he spent reimagining Union, the downtown dinner house that made his name—listening to the zeitgeist with the savvy of a seasoned businessman, then cutting prices to reflect a downsizing market—and afterward he received two of the highest honors in the national culinary stratosphere: coronation by Food and Wine magazine as one of the Best New Chefs in America, then nomination for the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef in the Northwest award. Ethan Stowell, How to Cook a Wolf, www.howtocookawolf.com. Tavolàta, www.tavolata.com. Union, www.unionseattle.com
Published: July 2008
