The Best New Restaurants of 2022

And don't sleep on those new bars. Plus, how to win the gifting game this winter, the otherworldly side of Thurston County, and finding a way out of the fentanyl crisis.

In this issue:

Arts & Culture

A Day in the Life

How a Pacific Northwest Ballet Dancer Keeps Turning

Principal Lesley Rausch prepares for the PNB’s 50th anniversary season with pilates and pointe shoes.

12/02/2022 By Sophie Grossman

Seattle After Dark

Things to Do at Night in Seattle

Aside from restaurants or straight-up bars, though many of these spots serve booze. Just saying.

11/07/2022 By Sophie Grossman Illustrations by Bridgette Huhtala

Quote Unquote

Jo Koy Impersonates His Mom All the Way to the Tacoma Dome

With a new movie and a series of Netflix comedy specials under his belt, our homegrown stand-up has learned a little about being specifically American.

10/25/2022 By Allison Williams

On View

Molly Vaughan’s After Boucher Brings Rococo to the Frye

The artist and trans activist’s work queers the drawings of French painter François Boucher.

10/21/2022 By Sophie Grossman

Cryptic Promises

Crypto Winter: Could the Web3 Revolution Be a Lifeline for Seattle Artists?

Or will it leave them out in the cold?

10/10/2022 By Sophie Grossman

Eat & Drink

Year in Review

Seattle Restaurants: The Themes of 2022

Do the past 12 months feel like a blur? Here are some kinda-sorta trends that emerged along the way.

12/19/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Best New Restaurants 2022

Seattle Snacks We Loved This Year

The portable, hyper-palatable heroes of our newest bakeries and cafes.

12/13/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Best New Restaurants 2022

MariPili Tapas Bar Is Our Restaurant of the Year

In a storied space on Capitol Hill, Grayson Corrales does her abuela proud.

11/30/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Best New Restaurants

A Northwest Seafood Restaurant That Goes Hard

Surely Seattle has fish-centric restaurants on every corner, right? Hardly, but Brendan McGill’s new Seabird adds an ambitious one to the mix.

11/28/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Another Round

This Year Brought Us a Lot of Great Bars

From revamped classics to "Spanish in spirit," even the occasional imaginary intergalactic universe—suddenly cool new hangouts are everywhere.

11/21/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Best New Restaurants

This Long-Awaited Bar in Greenwood Lives Up to Expectations

Bar Sur Mer is Eric Donnelly’s version of keeping it simple.

11/16/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Chef's Day Off

Recipe: Holly Smith's Deceptively Simple Salad

The chef and owner of Cafe Juanita keeps this recipe on standby for vegan diners—or parties full of omnivores.

11/14/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Best New Restaurants

Most Definitely High on Chicken Supply

Greenwood’s Filipino fried chicken tastes magic and goes fast. It even comes on a stick.

11/09/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Field Notes

Boca Bakes Up Argentina's Deep-Dish Pizza—and Beautiful Pastries

All-day cafe Boca Argentine Bakery and Pizzeria brings Buenos Aires to Broadway.

11/07/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Essay

Can We Ever Go Back to Junebaby and the Willows Inn?

Last year, a pair of newspaper investigations 86'd the reputations of two of the state’s most decorated chefs. But both of these restaurants are still open.

10/25/2022 By Allecia Vermillion Illustrations by Doug Chayka

Our Year in Beer

Rodney Hines Is Tapped into Seattle's Beer Scene

The Métier Brewing Company owner wants our breweries to look more like our city.

10/24/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Seattle Dining Guide

The Best New Restaurants of 2022

New faces change the game, while veteran chefs embrace new directions.

10/12/2022 By Allecia Vermillion

Health & Wellness

Feature

True Stories: What We Lost and Found After Fentanyl

Six locals share the impact opioids and other drugs have had on their lives.

11/03/2022 By Angela Cabotaje Photography by Antoine Fougere

Just the Facts

Fentanyl and Narcan 101

From the illicit drug's various forms to an overdose-stopping medication.

11/03/2022 By Angela Cabotaje With Taylor McKenzie Gerlach

Feature

How Can We Solve King County's Fentanyl Problem?

Researchers and public health experts already know the answer. Implementing it is the hard part.

11/03/2022 By Angela Cabotaje

Home & Real Estate

Habitat

Cuniform Interiors Offers Vision and Revision for the Home

When local wardrobe curator Colton Dixon Winger expanded into home design services, a midcentury West Seattle bungalow offered a chance to make old pieces new again.

10/13/2022 By Allecia Vermillion Photography by Ben Lindbloom

News & City Life

Obsession

The Myth of the True Seattleite

In a city of transplants, Seattle identity has become an exclusive club.

12/26/2022 By Zoe Sayler

Feature

The Day City Hall Became a Same-Sex Marriage Cathedral

Ten years ago, scores of couples descended on the municipal building after the legalization of same-sex marriage in Washington state. Pictures of the newlyweds went around the world. But their nuptial journeys didn’t end there.

12/05/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy

Feature

The Ancient Spirit That Settled in Small-Town Washington

An hour south of Seattle, JZ Knight channels a god-like warrior named Ramtha. To outsiders it can look like a cult, a religion, a 40-year-long fake. Clearly, something otherworldly has come to a sleepy corner of Thurston County.

11/15/2022 By Allison Williams Illustrations by Jonathan Bartlett

Good Ancestors

Black Future Co-op Fund Is Changing Washington Philanthropy

The brainchild of four nonprofit leaders shuns applications for direct investments in Black-run organizations.

10/11/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy

Style & Shopping

FOREFRONT

Meet the PNW Women Making Golf Look Better

Kinona founders Dianne Celuch and Tami Fujii are sick of oversized polos.

11/29/2022 By Zoe Sayler

Enclaves

Old Seattle Lives at the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall

Vintage Airstreams in a dusty parking lot bottle the city's creative eccentricities.

11/21/2022 By Zoe Sayler

Present Times

What Local Nonprofits Have on Their Wish List This Year

Make room for all your neighbors on your holiday shopping list.

11/10/2022 By Zoe Sayler

GIFT GUIDE 2022

The Seattle Gifting Game

Finding the perfect present for everyone takes strategy, luck, and a big list of local favorites.

11/07/2022 By Zoe Sayler

Travel & Outdoors

Map Quest

A Road Trip Through the Columbia River Gorge

When winter descends, the north side of the Oregon border sets a not-so-snowy route to Eastern Washington.

11/22/2022 By Allison Williams

Snow Business

Volunteers Patrol the Slopes at Washington Ski Mountains

The crucial duties of ski patrol, from emergency care to chairlift rescues, are mostly done by unpaid workers at local mountains—even at for-profit resorts.

11/18/2022 By Allison Williams