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Seattle Dining
Downtown Seattle has its share of restaurants that attract loyal regulars as well as visitors out for a good meal in stylish surroundings. A determinedly hip crowd frequents the Wild Ginger Asian Restaurant & Satay Bar, but the good news is that aside from the dress-to-be-seen element, Wild Ginger's food is excellent. An eclectic potpourri of ethnic cuisines--Malaysian, Burmese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Singaporean--infuse such dishes as sea bass with peanuts and herbs and wild ginger duck with steamed buns. There's live jazz on Monday nights.
Carnivores can't go wrong at the Metropolitan Grill. The dining room's high ceilings, mahogany tables and dark green, brass-accented booths exude Old World charm, making it a popular after-work destination for downtown suits as well as the theater crowd on big event nights. The hand-selected cuts of 28-day dry-aged beef (along with the odd lamb chop and lobster tail) are carefully prepared and served with flair. Accompany your choice with a robust pile of onion rings and one of the wine cellar's many fine reds. Local "best steakhouse" articles usually have this restaurant on their list.
As good as the Metropolitan for steaks is The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak & Oyster House, which--as its name implies--also specializes in the preparation of marine creatures. This is the place to go for raw oysters, with nine distinctive varieties to entice adventurous palates. The servers even give you background information about the harvesting of these cold-water mollusks, as well as tips on how to consume them. The king salmon, cooked on an alder plank, is a classic Northwest dish. A nice touch for single diners is the personalized service at the chef's counter.
It's a given that Seattle is a seafood kind of city, and a couple of restaurants on the downtown waterfront fill the maritime bill nicely. Another given? The oyster bar is the big draw at Elliott's Oyster House, a noisy, energetic place that sits right on Elliott Bay at Pier 56. Elliott's also features thoughtfully prepared seafood entrees like Dungeness crab cakes with chayote-jicama slaw and a zesty cioppino, loaded with salmon, crab, Manila clams and local Penn Grove mussels bobbing in a tomato-herb broth. The pastry chef whips up such delights as key lime cheesecake and a fried chocolate truffle sundae. Take advantage of the outside deck in summer.
Not far away is another landmark, Ivar's Acres of Clams, which has served the waterfront area since 1938. If you're having dinner, go for the "acres of clams"--two pounds of Manila clams simmered with red potatoes in a garlic and white wine butter sauce. It's truly finger lickin' good. But all of Ivar's seafood satisfies, from peppercorn-crusted king salmon or whole Dungeness crab to seared Alaskan halibut served with chanterelle mushroom potatoes. Their outdoor walk-up service counter does a brisk business in chowders (New England-style clam and Dungeness crab and sweet corn), and there are picnic tables where you can enjoy them with a view.
Nearby Pioneer Square Historic District is a fun gathering place, and Trattoria Mitchelli is one of the restaurants where people gather. Mitchelli's serves up good, basic Italian: Caesar salads, pasta dishes, wood-fired pizzas. A big piece of tiramisu will cap off your meal nicely. Night owls needing to refuel after a round of bar hopping will be happy to know that "the Trat" stays open until 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights. It also opens at 7 a.m., if you're inclined to grab coffee and a fresh-baked scone in the morning.
As terrific as Pike Place Market is to shop for your own food, it also has some good restaurants. Cafe Campagne (yes, it's spelled correctly), just above the market in Post Alley, is a little sister to the same-named but more formal dining room upstairs. What with the alley cobblestones outside and the draperied windows inside, this quaint little hideaway does a respectable job of replicating a Parisian cafe. Settle in for a bistro-style lunch--say a ham and Gruyère cheese sandwich and a mixed green salad with sherry vinaigrette--and any cares you have will melt away, at least for the afternoon.
Located literally under the market, Il Bistro is considered by Seattleites to be something of a local secret since it's rather hard to find, at least the first time. (Hint: It's near the market's information kiosk.) The chef takes good advantage of the surrounding array of produce and catches of the day, so the evening specials burst with freshness and flavor. The rack of lamb is said to be the city's best, and the sinful desserts are made in-house. It's an ideal choice for a romantic candlelit dinner.
South of downtown near Seattle's football and baseball stadiums is the Pyramid Alehouse-Brewery & Restaurant. If you're in town to see the Seahawks or the Mariners, this is a convenient stop either before or after a game. Families and groups frequent it for the reliable grill standards--pub pizzas, three-bean chicken chili, sizzling slabs of baby back ribs and yummy cherry-berry cobbler. Locals go for the Thomas Kemper sodas and the Pyramid beers, many of which are made on the premises. Check with the restaurant regarding tours of the brewery operations.
Plenty of restaurants pop up in the eclectic neighborhoods east of downtown, heading toward Lake Washington. Capitol Hill's Kingfish Cafe is an intimate little diner that rather incongruously--given Seattle's location--serves up ample portions of soul food. Macaroni and cheese, oozing two cheeses and studded with bits of onion and mushroom, is the down-home real thing. The po'boy comes with fried green tomatoes, and other Southern specialties include buttermilk fried chicken, barbecue ribs, collard greens and sweet potato pie. If there's still room, the dinner plate-sized serving of strawberry shortcake will surely finish you off. The restaurant is owned and operated by three sisters, and their way with time-honored comfort food shows.
At Cactus Madison Park the flavors are Mexican, Southwestern and Spanish. An excellent margarita is a good starter. Try the Navajo fry bread as an appetizer, along with house-made guacamole or the green chile soup. Chilaquiles--white corn tortillas with citrus-braised carnitas (pork chunks), cumin-scented black beans, jack cheese and guacamole--is a Mexican standard given a couple of twists, and the fajitas (chicken, steak, shrimp or vegetable) and chimichangas also are mighty tasty. Finish with flan. Cactus' Madison Park location, within a block of Lake Washington, is perfect for an after-dinner stroll.
Award-winning chef/owner Thierry Rautureau mans the helm at Rover's Restaurant, which occupies a charming little Madison Valley house. There's street parking only, which can be tricky, but the hunt for a space is worth the effort to be entertained by the ebullient "chef in the hat" (Rautureau favors a Panama-style chapeau) and sample his five- or eight-course standing menus (you also can order a la carte). This is classic French with Northwest touches, so expect lots of seafood and game, beautifully prepared vegetables, between-course sorbets to cleanse the palate and a "symphony of desserts" that leave you totally satisfied. The wait staff will be more than happy to suggest wines from the restaurant's extensive list.
Belltown, just northwest of the downtown core, vies for the title of Seattle's trendiest neighborhood. Style thus counts for a lot, and Belltown restaurants are nothing if not stylish. The Dahlia Lounge has the sort of warm, romantic atmosphere favored by both the business crowd and couples seeking that special experience. Owner/chef Tom Douglas has three other equally popular Seattle restaurants, and is credited with helping develop the concept of Pacific Rim cuisine associated with the Northwest. The menu changes daily to take advantage of the seasons, but the rotisserie-roasted Peking duck, served with scallion pancakes and kung pao bok choy, and the crab cakes--a house specialty--exemplify what Douglas does so well. Don't skimp on dessert; the pear tart with almond cream and the coconut cream pie with white chocolate are divine. The adjoining Dahlia Bakery sells all of the breads and sweet creations offered at Douglas' restaurants.
El Gaucho does the classic metropolitan steakhouse thing just right. Comfortable banquettes line a dining room designed like a theater in the round. The tuxedo-attired wait staff presents Caesar salad, vodka-flamed lamb tenderloin and chateaubriand for two tableside. The steaks range from a petite 8-ounce filet to an impressive 24-ounce porterhouse, and you also can order venison chops, an ostrich filet or Australian lobster tail. With all that meat, accompaniments are practically an afterthought, but big appetites have the likes of sautéed spinach, asparagus, grilled portobellos or a baked potato to choose from. One of El Gaucho's biggest draws is the live entertainment--piano during the week and a jazz quartet Friday and Saturday nights.
Remember (those of a certain age) the drive-up eateries of your youth? Burgermaster, with several Seattle locations, brings to mind the carhop era so memorably chronicled in the movie "American Graffiti." Leave a 3-inch opening in your rolled-up window so the food tray can be hung properly--and yes, it works as well on SUVs as it used to on hot rods. This is fast food, but it's pretty awesome fast food: grilled burgers topped with a thick slice of American cheese, properly crispy fries, batter-dipped onion rings, really thick shakes and squares (not slices) of apple pie as good as mom's. Long live the '50s.
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