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.

Critic's Notebook

Seattle’s 5 Indispensable Restaurants

We’ve got dozens of exquisite eateries. But which restaurants are so distinctive and so essential—we would not be the same without them?

12/14/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Desserts at Cafe Juanita and Canlis

Say what you will about our special occasion warhorses: They do know how to finish a meal.

12/10/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Restaurants

Festive Lunches for the Holidays

Midday meals for celebrating and catching up.

12/08/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Dining by Firelight

Candlelight is so November. This month, go for some serious flames.

12/07/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Back Fence

Into the Cold

My uncle left us too soon, but Christmas brings him back.

12/04/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Trends

Seattle Fine Dining Evolves

What big changes at Canlis and Cafe Juanita tell us about how we celebrate.

12/03/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

I Got Coffee Delivery from Starbucks…

…and here’s what happened.

12/03/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

How Is Jason Stratton Changing Mamnoon?

Hint: He’s been thinking a lot about Bruce Naftaly.

11/30/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Miss Marjorie’s Steel Drum Plantain Chips

You love them at Marjorie…now go buy them at the store.

11/23/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Sunset of the Burger Era in Seattle Restaurants?

They're getting simultaneously more rare and more well done, folks. Four newish places you can find them.

11/19/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Sexist Pub Signs in…Madrona?

Neighbors protest décor of new Madrona Arms pub.

11/16/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Seattle Bars with Killer Food

The three best of a very good year.

11/12/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Go to a Seattle Restaurant, Feed the Hungry

Just in time for Giving Season: a most charitable restaurant app.

11/09/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

A Whole New Type of Restaurant Emerges in Seattle

And why it’s happening now.

11/05/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

The Restaurant Issue

2015: The Year That Wouldn't Quit

No list of remarkable new restaurants would be complete without…

11/04/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

What It's Really Like to Work in a Seattle Restaurant

New survey gives it to us straight.

11/02/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Back Fence

Happy Friendsgiving

Why we’re increasingly choosing to feast with friends over family.

11/02/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

The Restaurant Issue

Memorable Meals in Bars

It’s been years since Seattle’s bars have been just for drinking. But not until 2015 have so many made the critical crossover to genuinely memorable eating, with small plates evoking real places and real cultures.

10/30/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

Critic's Notebook

Who’s the Best Seattle Chef This Year?

(And why’d he switch things up so dramatically?)

10/29/2015 By Kathryn Robinson

The Restaurant Issue

Salare and Vendemmia: Destination Neighborhood Restaurants

As the city leaps and bounds, villagelike neighborhoods like Ravenna and Madrona give the city small-town character, potential for additional density—and now, destination restaurants.

10/28/2015 By Kathryn Robinson