We talk a lot, on this blog, about what good food Seattle has. Allow me to break habit for a moment and discuss what good food Seattle could use. Yes, a lot of these involve the nostalgic whinges of a whiny East Coaster. But I guarantee that everyone would enjoy these restaurants if they were here.

1. A New York–style bagel shop I’m elated that Capitol Hill is getting a Montreal-style bagel bakery. Good stuff. However, we still need a good New York–style bagel shop. Roxy’s knows how to dress a bagel, if someone could supply it with really good bagels, we’d have something. But what I’m thinking of is more like the Bagel Deli or Bagel Oasis only, well, better. And with better coffee for sure.

2. A sub shop. My family hails from Philadelphia. Cheesesteaks were a big part of my childhood. I’m not about to start expecting that Seattle will ever have a cheesesteak shop that will live up to my impossible expectations. What would be nice is a very good sub shop. Salumi is wonderful, but I’m talking about something a little less involved. I’m talking about good meats, fresh veggies, bread that has a soft enough crumb to absorb condiments but with a crunchy crust. Oil and vinegar, provolone…the right stuff. The kind of place Subway was modeled after.

3. A good Chinese restaurant that delivers Hello?

4. An ice cream parlor This is not a comment on the quality of our ice cream. We are rich in butterfat-laden frozen delicacies. The emphasis here is on parlor, the sort of old-fashioned wonderland I remember as a kid, with round tables and hot fudge sundaes in tall glass cups that taper at the bottom and have a petaled rim at the top. Strawberry milkshakes, banana splits, round white bistro tables and curlicue chairs. Know what I mean?

5. Twenty-four hour diners Okay, 24-hour everything. But before I moved to Seattle, I imagined a city overrun with fluorescent-lit, booth-lined diners where you could get Salisbury steak and hash browns at three in the morning that came to you by way of a hard-living server named Rose. Where are they?

6. An upscale Indian eatery Dear Vikram Vij, we await you.