nice tip! I’ll give it a shot next time.
I lived in Seattle for 11 years and I love the food and wine scene there!
Some of my favorites are Serious Pie - the best artisan pizza I’ve ever had and I go to Italy 2-3 times a year. Try some of their farm, locally sourced salads and appetizers as well.
Next door is Dahlia’s Lounge and Lolas - both favorites of mine. If you go to Dahlia’s lounge, grab the Tuscan Salad as a starter. If you go to Lolas, try the goat tangine! Both places have amazing donuts in different styles.
Dahlia’s bakery - try the coconut cream bites and eclairs.
How to Eat a Wolf - Italian food, small place with 7 tables, amazing wine list - get reservations early!
El Gaucho has an amazing wine list but their food is expensive and I feel like it’s gone downhill just a tad over the years. But I typically have a great steak/wine when I go and am typically pleased.
There is a restaurant with the name of Provisions in it - they call it a steak house but it’s really not. I believe it’s on 1st or 2nd street? Anyhoo, they do a drink pairing with everything on the menu. We had a blast sharing small bites and the pairings last time I went. (Stick with the starters and small plates as the large plates weren’t fantastic)
Have a great time - I only love Seattle in July and August as it’s one of the only times where you can pretty much guarantee great weather!
I could have the name wrong but I believe the place I am speaking of was called Vespolina. It was on he SE end of Pike’s Place Market. It was a very poor Italian joint. Jason Stratton opened it about 6 years ago.
The Harvest Vine is/was fantastic. Not full on Spanish though. I believe the chef owner is from the Basque country.
Stratton was forced to transform the prior Spanish restaurant into an Italian eatery or the investors would have walked. That spot was Jason’s favorite as years ago, under a different name is where he started working in kitchens…
Harvest Vine was owned by a basque chef, he left 6-7 years ago and its now in the hands of his ex wife.
I might add that pointing out one Spanish restaurant (now 2 Tarzan Jane) does not a town make. Seattle for the most part is an Italian town.
we have the opposite in Portland with a number of excellent Catalan places, a pretty good Basque place and a number of NW interpretations of Spain. Italian on the other hand, really only one or two and they are under the radar.
My wife and I decided to cancel at Lark and are actually sticking closer to home and are going to go to Nell’s. I’m pretty excited, as I really love neighborhood joints that can be overlooked. We’ll probably do a drink at Frank’s Oyster House (an awesome place that we really love, close to our home…add that to the list here), and Uber onto Nell’s. I’ll post our impressions after.
Quick update: we dined at Nell’s (Greenlake) on Saturday. I’d never been (this place has been around for quite a while as restaurants go), and it’s in a very pretty (albeit busy this time of year) neighborhood about 5 miles North of downtown Seattle called Greenlake. In short: this place was awesome. The food was excellent (starters of an apple and dungeness crab salad, a salad of melon and parma ham, mains of duck confit for me and halibut for my wife), and the wine list was outstanding. Not only did they have a nice selection of splits, the Burgundy selection was eye-popping. Several vintages of various DRC, etc. etc. It was quiet and very relaxed, too, and the staff was excellent.
Thanks to a couple of you for the mention of Nell’s above - very glad we went.
Thank you for the update. I haven’t been in decades but it sounds like they are still very solid.
I haven’t been to Nell’s in about five years, but I think it’s been under the same ownership and management for well over a decade (maybe two?). For understated excellence, it’s hard to beat. I should be back in Seattle next year and it will be a definite. I did a few wine business dinners there a long time ago and they were impeccable.
Dan Kravitz
I don’t think
Nostrana
Ava Gene’s
Mucca
Gino’s
3 Doors Down
Ciao Vito
Accanto
Carmina Lounge
Serrato
Cafe Mingo
Cafe Roma
A Cena
Renata (2015 ROTY)
Piazza Italia
are under the radar in Portland. There are certainly many other Italian spots as well. Those are just the good/notable ones I could think of off the top of my head. Portland is steeped in Italian places. Or did I mis-understand your post? Quite possible.
I wasn’t clear Jim. I meant there aren’t many excellent Italian places, IMHO. Lots of B- Italian. I’m not a good judge though as I believe it’s really hard to make Italian food without Italian ingredients.
We have different perceptions of the quality of the Italian places here then. Not exactly sure what “Italian ingredients” are and what we would be lacking on in the NW as far as that goes.
It’s a terrior thing, Jim – you wouldn’t understand 
Exactly. You can grow Pinot Noir in Oregon but you can’t make Burgundy. You can grow vegetables and make cheese in Oregon but they aren’t Italian. Different soil, water, weather, etc.
Is EVERY Burgundy better than every Oregon Pinot Noir then? That certainly is not the case. Is every Burgundy more “Burgundian” than any and every Oregon Pinot? Not in my experience.
So, there are no good Italian restaurants in the US? We get cheese made in Italy here in Oregon and I don’t think the difference between Italian onions, garlic, meat, poultry, fish, etc. is substantially different one way or the other from Italy to Oregon (other parts of the US). I think that the idea that Italian or French or German or (insert country) can only be great when it is grown and prepared in said country is an odd argument. I would say that in many places in the US (Oregon being one of them) the quality of food ingredients is demonstrably higher than in many places in Italy.
Of the restaurants I listed many are far superior to some places I have eaten at in Italy. Good places in Italy. There are restaurants in Italy that I have eaten at that are better than these but not as good as Italian places I have eaten at in Chicago, NY and SF.
I am not trying to run you down or start a bruhaha over this. I just think you can eat extremely high level Italian food without busting out one’s passport and Portland, in particular, has a pretty good density of high quality Italian restaurants IMO.
Is EVERY Burgundy better than every Oregon Pinot Noir then?
No. just different and usually in an obvious way though often subtly.
That certainly is not the case. Is every Burgundy more “Burgundian” than any and every Oregon Pinot? Not in my experience.
So, there are no good Italian restaurants in the US? We get cheese made in Italy here in Oregon and I don’t think the difference between Italian onions, garlic, meat, poultry, fish, etc. is substantially different one way or the other from Italy to Oregon (other parts of the US).
They taste different to me. Especially the vegetables, fish and poultry.
I think that the idea that Italian or French or German or (insert country) can only be great when it is grown and prepared in said country is an odd argument.
It’s particularly germane to Italy where the cuisine depends more highly on the ingredient than the preparation. You can make great French food in America because you can reproduce the techniques and often those techniques are the emphasis, not the ingredients.
I would say that in many places in the US (Oregon being one of them) the quality of food ingredients is demonstrably higher than in many places in Italy.
Agreed. and the farther down that path you go, the less like Italy it is. Our water is so drastically softer than Italian water, the vegetables are just going to taste drastically different.
Of the restaurants I listed many are far superior to some places I have eaten at in Italy. Good places in Italy. There are restaurants in Italy that I have eaten at that are better than these but not as good as Italian places I have eaten at in Chicago, NY and SF.
Of course there are instances of once place having something better than another. My point is just it’s really hard to make Italian food in America.
I am not trying to run you down or start a bruhaha over this. I just think you can eat extremely high level Italian food without busting out one’s passport and Portland, in particular, has a pretty good density of high quality Italian restaurants IMO.
this I perhaps most strongly disagree with. Of the places you’ve listed only Mucca is worth visiting. None of the rest of them taste like Italy in any substantial way. The experience isn’t Italian either but that’s a different discussion.
I would disagree with many of this points above. There are plWater is far from universal in the US. Out here in rural Newberg it’s rock hard, for instance. I don’t think the concept of using worse ingredients makes something more authentic. It might make it more familiar to a particular individual but not better. There are plenty of chefs who have come from Italy or worked in Italy that are making Italian food here that tastes like Italian food. While I don’t believe wholeheartedly in blind tastings (ornthat itnwould even be possible to do this one) I’m betting 10 plates of risotto, ceci e pepe and so on with some made domestically and some made in Italy would leave you with many incorrect answers.
The best meal I have had in Italy was at O Magazin in Portifino and I have never had a pasta dish like the one I had there. I’m sure being in Portofino influenced our perception of the entirety of the experience. Just human nature.
I’m eating at Nostrana tonight in fact and I think Kathy has had a long career of making pretty damn fine Italian food. We can agree to disagree. I do think Mucca is the best Italian restaurant in the city though.
OK, so now that our sidetrack into the Portland Italian restaurant scene is over…
Adam - how was your visit to Seattle? Give us the scoop - any highlights? Lowlights?
Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread! It really made for a great week. And special thanks to fellow berserker Terrance and his awesome wife Amelie (whom I met tasting at Charles Smith) for a fun night of badass wine at Bottle House and delicious food at Red Cow.
My first day (Saturday) I headed straight to Sodo and spent the day there tasting as much as my body allowed. Sunday I hit a Mariners game and watched them spank the Mets. The rest of the time I was working but was able to hit a number of great restaurants from your suggestions. I was also able to schedule a private tasting with Ben Smith from Cadence at his winery, which was stellar. All highlights for both food and wine are below and as for the Cadence tasting, it was the highlight of the trip and very much deserving of its own thread.
Food/Drink:
Sitka and Spruce - Halibut with vegetables and a glass of 2014 Baudry Les Granges. Loved it.
Le Pichet - Steak frites and chicken liver pate with a funky bottle of Loire Gamay I bought in a nerdy wineshop in Oakland the day before. Absolutely splendid. (sorry Jim, wasn’t able to make it there for breakfast)
Cascina Spinasse - The butter/sage pasta was a simple mind bender.
Casco Antiguo - their plantain enchiladas and carnitas tacos with their house made hibiscus water was one of the best things I had the whole trip.
Katsu Burger - massive, unique and the perfect hangover cure
Red Cow - steak frites with a bottle of 2014 WT Vintners Destiny Ridge Syrah. Stellar.
Bottle House - lots of great, unique nerdy wine.
Cafe Campagne - Olive pasta and escargot. Solid, but didn’t compete with the food from the rest of the week.
Sodo Wine Day:
Charles Smith Wines - tasted through a mixed bag of 10 wines. The highlights were definitely the 2014 Rock Garden which was super savory (think salty celery in a Bloody Mary with ripe red fruit) and, very surprisingly for my palate, the 2014 Sixto Frenchman which was smokey, herb driven, medium acid and very little buttery-chardness I mostly despise. But it was the 2014 B. Leighton Gratitude that stole the show. Brambly red fruit with dark savory undertones.
Full Pull - tasted through a mixed bag of Block Wine and FP&F. The 2014 Ankleroller Syrah was especially good as was their 2015 Rothrock V10 Chenin Blanc which apparently comes from the oldest Chenin vines in the state.
Latta - tasted there last year (2016) in the munitions bunker in Walla Walla, and this year they affirmed my admiration despite being relatively the exact same tasting lineup. The 2013 Mourvedre was a highlight last time and was this time as well.
Kerloo - the 2014 Boushey Mourvedre was the best wine of the day for me. Bright sweet herbs, smoked meat,red fruit, totally balanced yet packed with dynamic flavor. The 2014 Upland Syrah was up there too and these were the only two bottles I purchased that day. Absolutely delicious.
Sleight of Hand - the 2013 Archimage is a solid Right Bank blend and was the highlight of the tasting. They were sold out of the Funkadelic which was a favorite when I tasted there in Walla Walla last year.
Rotie Cellars - by the time I made it here I was fairly “spent” although I thoroughly enjoyed the entire lineup. Particularly the Syrah based blends (Northern and Swordfight). Red fruit driven, savory, balanced wines.
Great recap, Adam, and thank you for posting. I’m glad you had a good trip and, I must say, I’m impressed at how much you covered in a relatively short period of time. Well done!