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Dios Mio, la Crema!

The Only Solid Reason to Go to Barrio

I knew the cocktails at Barrio would be good; my saucy compadre Jessica had assured me of that. (I’m thinking fondly now of a brisk little number called the Diamondback, crafted of rye and yellow chartreuse.)

But the food? Waaaaaaaaay disappointing, alas, from a gummy chile relleno to terribly uneventful guacamole. We yawned our way through dinner…only to have our socks knocked off at dessert.

It’s called the dulce de leche creme brulee, and the flavor is that milky-sweet caramel The Tablehopper remembers from a childhood sweetened with MacIntosh Toffees and Eagle Brand Condensed Milk melted right in the can. Satin textured and topped with a crackling sugar lid, this dessert managed to cap an ordinary meal in an extraordinary way.











Kathryn Robinson
Kathryn Robinson
Senior Writer Seattle native Kathryn Robinson, award-winning restaurant critic and senior writer at Seattle Met, has been anonymously reviewing restaurants for over 30 years—first as editor of the Best Places guidebook series, then as staff critic at Seattle Weekly and contributing critic at The Seattle Times and Seattle magazine.  Midcareer she spent a year-long sabbatical studying comparative religion as a Knight Fellow at Stanford University where she had been an undergrad 10 years earlier, gaining a knowledge base she now calls upon for her monthly “Back Fence” column on our collective urban existence and the meaning it holds for our personal lives. In her off hours she is a partner and a parent—which means she has no off hours.