So I am headed to Seattle the last weekend in July/first week of August for work and need some recommendations! I did a search and the most recent thread had posts back from 2010 so I figured it might be time to start a fresh one.
I am definitely going to head to Woodinville for a day (I’ll have a whole weekend of solo adventuring before hitting the work grind) and hit some of the wineries with tasting rooms in Seattle. I am especially hopeful to snag an appointment at Cadence.
But since everyone here has objectively impeccable taste, I figured I should reach out and see your opinions. What do you think I should do/eat/drink? Any help is much appreciated.
I am staying Downtown and all my work will be Downtown as well. So during the week I will be mostly walking. While I wont have a rental, I have no problem snagging an uber and exploring on my downtime. Which I would be doing anyway if drinking.
It might be a bit “old guard,” but we really enjoyed our dinner at Canlis.
Cascina Spinasse had very good food and excellent Italian wine selections.
There are some good bars in the Fremont neighborhood, but I’ll be darned if I can remember any of their names!
Unless there are specific wineries you really want to visit, I’d skip Woodinville. IMO not worth the time to get out there when there are so many good wineries in city limits. In addition to Cadence, you could easily spend half or a full day at the complex on 1st Avenue S (just south of the stadiums) that houses Kerloo, Waters, Rotie, Tero, Sleight of Hand, and others. There’s also a brewery there, Schooner, which is ok. From there you could hit Georgetown Brewing for free samples (they let you taste pretty much everything, but no pint sales and they only sell kegs and growlers to go).
If you do Woodinville and are looking for something different than the Mark Ryan/Sparkman-style wines, try Savage Grace and WT Vintners.
I’m practically vegan at this point so you won’t want my food recommendations, but for beer definitely visit Holy Mountain (and order in Windy City Pie deep dish) if you like Saisons and barrel-aged beers. If you are more of a hophead, Cloudburst (which is downtown) does solid West coast hoppy beers. No Anchor beer bar (also downtown) is an interesting beer bar/restaurant. If you prefer lagers, try Chuckanut if you see it on tap around town (they are from Bellingham).
I presume you’re talking about Brouwer’s, which is fun if you like beer, although they have some spirits. Plenty of other bars if you want a cocktail or wine (for example, Barrel Thief).
Plenty of good restaurants in Fremont, just depends what you like - Art of the Table, Pomerol, Eve, Whale Wins, Joule, Revel, Chiso, Rock Creek, Turko Cafe, Manolin, Cantinetta (technically Wallingford, but walking distance), Thackeray and Agrodolce. Not to mention Paseo sandwich shop.
Nate - Thanks! Canlis and Cascina Spinasse both look stellar.
Scott - Doesn’t the complex on 1st ave also house Full Pull? If yes, I was already planning on making my way over there as I have been a long time cross-country Full Pull buyer. That whole complex sounds awesome and I will definitely budget more time than I would have. Those breweries sound right up my alley too. Holy Mountain in particular. As for Woodinville, I am still on the fence. If I able to make it out there easily I may still make the treck. I am a big fan of many of the wineries out there. And am particularly interested in trying both of the Savage Grace and WT vintners, which I have hear a lot about but haven’t tried. But it really just depends on how much time I end up having over the weekend.
Yes, same complex as Full Pull, who is also now open on weekends to pick up wine or taste/buy the Full Pull house wines. Definitely an easy place to kill the day. Definitely visit Kerloo, Rotie and Sleight of Hand.
Scott - I definitely will. I made it out to Walla Walla for spring release in 2016 and Sleight of Hand, Rotie and Kerloo were three of my highlights. Although Kerloo’s 13’s were less impressive IMHO.
If you are hanging out downtown, you have to go to Le Pichet. The wine list is unique french and the bistro style food is exceptional. The chicken liver mousse is the best chacuterie item I have ever had.
You can bring your own wine of course. Bringing your own glasses isn’t a bad idea.
Also Sitka and Spruce is very good. They also have a pretty good wine list. The food is farm to table and always well prepared. Great room too.
'13s -16s were all very warm vintages. Hence why I have bought or tasted very little WA wine in the past few years. For Kerloo, try his stuff from Columbia Gorge fruit - Pinot and Chard. You won’t mistake it for Willamette Valley, but nice wines. The vineyards - Celilo and Underwood Mountain - are cooler than his other vineyards.
With a couple young kids, I don’t get out much, so I don’t have a huge list for you. But I highly recommend Poppy for dinner. On Capitol Hill, which is an interesting part of town to visit as well. The food is awesome - you essentially get a 6 or 7 course small plate / tasting menu, which is impeccably put together to with seamless/complimentary flavors. And it’s only about $30 for a plate. If it were another restaurant and coursed out, they would easily charge double.
Also a short (but still something for everyone), well chosen wine list that goes well with the food.
Seems like you have the wine part figured out. And all Scott’s recommendations are good.
So, i can’t believe how much of my recommendations are gonna be repeat of what Scott already said.
Wine-wise, SoDo area now seems to be more interesting than Woodinville.
For restaurants,
Low-med price points: Pomerol, Tavolata, Adana, Ba Bar
Med-high: RN74, Joule, Spinasse, Bateau, A Whale Wins
Higher: Art of The Table, Canlis, Altura, Cafe Juanita
Beer:
Sounds like you’re already going to Holy Mountain. Maybe look for a dinner in Ballard.
Fremont Brewing is in… guess it? FREMONT! Which you can then go to Brouwer’s for more beer. Fremont restaurants have been recommended above.
I recommend Purple Cafe, particularly the downtown location. Good food, great wine list, and no corkage. I think the no corkage might apply only to the first bottle, but it is a great deal either way.
Phil Jones
WT and Savage are my two current favorites. But if you make it out there you should stop by Robert Ramsay which is just a couple doors down from WT Vintners’ new space. And Savage Grace is an easy walk from either.
