Some Favorite Seattle Restaurants and Bars A-Z With One Sentence Reviews (And The Week in Reviews)

[I review the movies "Heaven is For Real (in theatres now)," and the DVDs "Out of the Furnace" and "The Last Waltz" - it's been a slow week - and give you the lowdown on Rosie Perez's memoir].

But first

One of my favorite TV food shows started back up this week. 

"Check Please Northwest," on our local PBS station, puts three people around a table to talk about their favorite restaurant, which everyone at the table has already visited. (You can also find this show on the Chicago PBS station and in the Bay Area and possibly other places.  Check your local listings)

I was actually on the first season of this show here in Seattle (see below) and it was great fun.

I was in good company as Senator Barack Obama appeared on the show in Chicago in 2009.

Reliving the memory got me to thinking about the experience of dining out and my favorite restaurant adventures since moving to Seattle.

When I moved to Seattle 10 years ago, I realized it was a huge foodie town, right up there with San Francisco.

Also when we arrived, we subscribed to a couple of live theatres, so we got in the habit of going into town, having a nice meal and attending the theatre.

I read restaurant reviews, made lists and tried to get to as many of the great restaurants as I could

However, the librarian that I am wanted to organize our restaurant experiences, so I decided to take my lists and arrange them alphabetically, and then we could work our way through Seattle's restaurants more methodically.

We actually made it through "F" until I realized that too many new restaurants with names falling in the "A" to "E" range were opening up, forcing me to either backtrack or visit those new ones once I had made it through "Z". 

Too much. 

I abandoned that project and arranged the restaurants by neighborhoods instead, (Seattle is a city of neighborhoods, each unique), so I would have some good choices depending on where we were stair walking or exploring (for our stair walking adventures see my blog "The Joys of Stair Walks").

But as it turns out, I have been to enough restaurants to give you an A-Z list, which I will do now with one sentence reviews, because I know you are busy and wouldn't read my long reviews anyway (and for you English majors out there, I know some of my descriptions are phrases, not complete sentences.  Thank you in advance for pointing that out).

I know this is Seattle specific, so if you don't live in the Seattle area, you might think this isn't for you.  Save this list.  Who knows when you might visit?  And if you don't have a Seattle visit in your future, use this list to inspire you to do something similar in your own town.

By the way, I have a theory about dining out. 

It's not just to eat and drink, though that is fun.  Dining out at a nice restaurant gets you out of the house and into an environment where you don't have the distractions of dirty dishes, folding laundry, TV and other annoyances.  It's just you and your dinner companions, face to face, enjoying each other's company, getting caught up with your family and friends and having meaningful conversations. 

So you could say that dining out is a necessity for a good quality of life and to enjoy the essence of our humanity.  And I just did!

So here is my list of some of my favorite

Seattle restaurants:

(Note:   For some letters, I have more than one, so I might throw in an honorable mention here and there.  But just know, there are many more than one under each letter that are notable.  You can discover those on your own)



Andaluca
Old school Mediterranean in the Mayflower Park Hotel, where you can enjoy a drink in Oliver's Lounge, the wonderful bar with huge windows overlooking the excitement of downtown (order the "Silver Bell" cocktail), before enjoying your paella in the beautiful wood-paneled dining room.



Ba Bar
This restaurant features Vietnamese street food and Kung Foo Karaoke (what more could you want?) and open late, and I mean late, like 4am, on weekends.

Honorable mention:  Bastille - best French 75's in the City.




Cicchetti
Venetian style tapas in a charming setting with friendly staff

Dick's
Venerable drive-in (been here since the 1950's and must have given McDonald's a run for their money) using only fresh ingredients: order the Deluxe Burger, fries (real potatoes) and the hand-dipped shake.

Honorable mention:  Daphne's, the teeny, tiny bar in Edmonds, overseen by the irrepressible, raconteur bartender, Desmond, who charms his customers with his banter and cheese plates.



Eva
Tucked away in Tangletown, this is a cozy, romantic dining experience that features seasonal, local ingredients.
(2016 update:  Sadly, Eva is now closed).



The Fireside Room in the Sorrento Hotel
A must for a drink during the holidays (try to sit in the big leather chairs by the fire) because the room is decorated so beautifully, but it's a destination anytime for afternoon high tea.

2015 Update:  The room has since been remodeled and I don't think it's as cozy.


The Gerald
Hipster retro bar and restaurant offering comfort food such as several kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese and poutine.



How to Cook a Wolf
Named for a book written by food writer M.F.K. Fisher, this is one of celebrity chef Ethan Stowell's restaurants - Italian inspired small plates using simple ingredients, beautifully prepared.

See me talk about it when I appeared on "Check Please Northwest."

Japonessa Sushi Cucina
Fancy innovative sushi rolls in a lively downtown location.

Kushibar
Belltown restaurant featuring Japanese street food: skewers, hot pots, sushi and lots of different kinds of sake



Lola
Part of the celebrity chef Tom Douglas empire, this one honors his grandmother and gives us food with a Greek influence (and it's open for breakfast too).

Celebrity Chef Tom Douglas

Honorable Mention:  New restaurant Loulay, named for Chef Thierry Rautureau's ("The Chef in the Hat" hometown of Saint Hilaire de Loulay in France,) presents delicious non-stuffy French food in a beautiful downtown location.

Chef in the Hat Thierry Rautureau

Matt's in the Market

Overlooking Elliott Bay and the Olympics, in this intimate setting you are in the heart of Pike Place Market eating wonderful fresh food.

Nishino
Upscale sushi and Japanese food in an upscale neighborhood.



Ocho
Spanish tapas in a teeny, tiny intimate, but lively space in Ballard.

Poco Wine Bar
Our favorite wine bar, because it's relaxed and friendly and has Pino Grigio on tap!  And the cheese plate is huge and delicious!



Quinn's Pub
Where else can you get a wild boar sloppy joe?




Revel
Korean inspired street food.

Skillet
Two words:  bacon jam.

Honorable mention:  Staple and Fancy, the best value for a Chef's tasting menu in the City - it's $50 (another Ethan Stowell restaurant).




Tillicum Place Café
Perfect place to eat a Dutch Baby, especially if you are attending Bumbershoot or any other event at Seattle Center.

Urbane
Grab a munch or a drink before heading over to the Paramount for a show, which is only a hop, skip and jump away


Volterra
Contemporary Italian - more wild boar - this time a tenderloin - and yummy wide noodles, a favorite.


The Whale Wins
Celebrity Chef Renee Erickson's latest restaurant, it's all fresh with a vegetable focus - think something yummy spread on perfectly crisped toasts.

X
Nothing starts with "X"



Yummy, Tummy Teriyaki
or any teriyaki joint.
Teriyaki is Seattle fast food.




Zig Zag Café
One of the best craft cocktail bars in the City.

Well, there you have it. 

Now go out and eat something with your loved ones!

What would you add to this list?

Now on to

The Week in Reviews

***In Theatres Now***

Heaven is for Real

Four-year-old Colton Burpo is hospitalized for a ruptured appendix and almost dies.  When he gets well, he tells his father that while he was being operated on, he went to heaven.

Based on the 2010 best-seller, "Heaven is for Real:  The Astounding Story of a Little Boy's Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo, the little boy's father, it begs the question:  if you really believe in God and heaven, why would you doubt a story like this?  But that is what happens.  Todd Burpo is himself a minister, but when presented with this story by his son, he has his doubts.  And so do half of his parishioners.  You see, little Colton didn't have one of those events where his heart stopped and he was brought back to life.  He never "died" while on the operating table, though his situation was very serious.  No, little Colton merely visited Heaven, where he met his grandfather and his little baby sister who died in utero. It's seems people can understand someone's heart stopping and then coming back but not a little boy who just has a visit to heaven.  What Reverend Todd comes up with in the end is that Heaven is here on earth, Heaven is everywhere, Heaven is how we treat our fellow man, etc.

You may wonder how I came to attend this theatre showing.  I asked myself that same question as I sat in the theatre.  But despite what you think, the life of a retired person is a busy one and I am often forced to base my theatre going on my schedule and this one fit my schedule, unfortunately.  And, hey, I live in the 'burbs.  Cinema in the 'burbs is like malls in the 'burbs - nothing but Forever 21, Wet Seal and Express.  I have to travel 20 miles for the foreign films and indies.

It's talky, schmaltzy and sometimes cringe-worthy, but I must have been in a theatre with true believers, because I heard sniffling before the opening credits even rolled, and people were talking back to the screen like they knew these people.

I will say that much as I am against precocious little kids in movies, little Conor Corum who played Colton is one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen,(except for my son and grandsons, of course).

Rosy the Reviewer says...Believers will find comfort here.  Non-believers will think this is hokey as hell (pardon my irony).

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

And Some You Should Be Glad You Did

(I see the bad ones so you don't have to)

Out of the Furnace (2013)

Rodney (Christian Bale) has a crazy brother who keeps getting himself into trouble (Casey Affleck - does Casey Affleck have a lock on playing crazy brothers?  I'm just saying), mostly in underground fight clubs.  When his brother goes missing, Rodney heads into the Appalachians of New Jersey to find him (I never knew New Jersey had hillbillies) .

Christian Bale never ceases to amaze me.  He inhabits every character he plays.  And Woody Harrelson is as mean a bad guy as Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men."

Rosy the Reviewer says...Engrossing drama with Bale's performance as the centerpiece.





The Last Waltz (1978)

The final concert of "The Band" directed by Martin Scorsese.

I have to be honest, I was disappointed in this movie. 

 I have been working on a blog about the best concert and rock films, and this film is at the top of many lists.  I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it, so I decided it was time.  And c'mon - better than "Woodstock" or "Gimme Shelter?"

I think the gravitas here is the Scorsese element but Hubby made the comment that when he was interviewing Robby Robertson it reminded him of Rob Reiner in "This is Spinal Tap."  I would like to have seen some more depth.  Why was this their last concert?  There were some comments about being on the road for years, but they were still really young (BTW, I saw Bob Dylan in Chicago in 1966 right after he went "electric" and "The Band" was his back-up band.)

Rosy the Reviewer says...It was cool seeing Joni and Neil, etc. but "the greatest concert film of all time?"  I don't think so.

***Book of the Week***

Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother, and Still Came Out Smiling (with Great Hair) by Rosie Perez (2014)

Perez shares her difficult childhood and the ups and downs of her career.

Perez was able to drag herself out of poverty when she was discovered dancing on Soul Train.  That led to her choreographing Bobby Brown's early work and then to "In Living Color," where she choreographed the Fly Girls, who provided hip hop dancing between sketches.  A chance meeting with Spike Lee led to her appearing in his "Do the Right Thing" and other acting roles followed, though her distinctive quasi Puerto Rican and New York accent mostly limits her to roles where that can be exploited.

Yes, she had a rough childhood, but I wish she would have spent more time talking about her career.  However, I did enjoy the dishing on Jennifer Lopez (Lopez was a Fly Girl at the start of her career).

Rosy the Reviewer says...For Rosie Perez fans only.

That's it for this week.

See you Tuesday for

"Retirement Fashion Chic: 

Or,

I Know You Are Old But Do You Really Have To Look Like Crap?"

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it and/or email it to your friends.

Check your local library for DVDs and book mentioned.

Note:  Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database).

If I reviewed a movie, you can now find my reviews there too.

When you get there, click on "Explore More" on the right side panel and then scroll down to "External Reviews."  Click on that and you will find me alphabetically under Rosy the Reviewer.

The Week in Reviews: Movie Reviews, DVDs You Might Have Missed, Food and Fashion Tips and More

[I review the movies "Gravity," "Captain Phillips," "Unfinished Story," "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," "Step Up to the Plate," "Cosmopolis," "Henry's Crime" and a bio on Princess Kate as well as doling out tips on food and fashion.]


But First

As you have probably already gathered, I am a huge movie fan. 
It's always been a passion of mine ever since I saw "Gone with the Wind" when I was five.

When I was younger, it was nothing for me to go see several movies per week.  I would make lists of the soon-to-be-released films and plot in my mind how I would get to see them all.  Even when my children were infants, I would find a way to get to the movies.

In those days, if you didn't see the film in the theatre, it was gone forever.

But now, I tend to do most of my movie watching via DVDs.  With movies coming out on DVD within months of their theatrical release, why brave the crowds, the kid kicking your seat, the candy wrapper rustling, teens running up and down the aisles and talkative seat mates when you can watch a movie on the relatively big screen in the relative tranquility of your own home? 

But hey, jolt from the past.

Just went to a matinee with a friend and realized I missed the big-screen experience and being the first to see the latest flick, not to mention my recent foray into IMAX 3-D.

So I now plan to add a "going out to a movie solo" day to my weekly retirement repertoire (which is rapidly filling up - blog day, project day, going out to the movies day, do nothing day...).  And why not?  I am now "one of those people," people you see wandering about on weekdays and you wonder why they aren't at work.

So I am now adding to my blog my new feature...

***In Theatres Now***

Gravity (2013)

Wow. 

When Sandra Bullock says "I hate space" you really, really get it.  Director Cuaron has created a very, very intense space thriller and it is enhanced by IMAX-3-D.  In fact, 3-D is my new favorite thing.  And George Clooney?  Well, he's George Clooney.

Rosy the Reviewer says...

Ring, Ring, Ms. Bullock, Oscar calling.

Ring, Ring, Mr. Cuaron, Oscar calling.

See it in IMAX if you can.

Captain Phillips (2013)

True life enactment of Somali pirates taking a ship's captain hostage. 
Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks, this is an edge of your seat thriller reminiscent  of "Argo" in that you know how it ends, but it's still excruciatingly intense.  Greengrass directed "United 93," the depiction of the heroes of 9/11 who perished on United flight 93.  I remember seeing the preview for that movie and people booing because it was "too soon."  Boo to them because that movie was an homage to heroes and he told it in a thrilling, yet respectful way. If you haven't seen that one, it's a must.  Greengrass does the same thing here.  Phillips is a man caught by circumstance who manages to not give up.  Greengrass is unflinching and clear in his storytelling which lends itself well to these true life dramas.  Hanks is a good actor but he goes to greatness at the end of this film.  Watch for it.


Rosy the Reviewer says...
Ring, Ring.  Mr. Hanks, Oscar calling. 
Ring, Ring, Mr. Greengrass, Oscar calling. 

It's going to be a horse race for the Oscar between these two films.

You heard it here first, folks.

***DVDS***
Some Movies You Might Have Missed
(And some you will be glad you did)

Unfinished Song (2012)

This is the story of British pensioners singing rock music in a chorus - it's a bit "Glee," a bit "Amour" and a bit "Young at Heart," the latter being a documentary about just such a group. 

I am a sucker for British films and this one has many of my favorite British actors, both famous and faces - Vanessa Redgrave, Terence Stamp (who is aging well, I might add), Christopher Eccleston (an ex-Dr. Who), etc.   Redgrave is dying, her husband (Stamp) is a crusty old fart who doesn't approve of the chorus.  You can probably guess how it all goes, but it's still fun, touching, shows the redemptive power of music and is well done as the Brits always do.

Rosy the Reviewer says...you will cry.







The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)

Young Pakistani man attends Princeton, gets high-powered, high paying American job only to be radicalized because of profiling and discrimination after 9/11.

It begs the question: what do you expect when an educated Pakistani on the fast track in the financial world is suddenly a person of interest, strip searched, profiled and constantly humiliated because of how he looks? 

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like a thriller with a message, you will like this.   The main character says, "What was soft inside me fell away and was harder."








Step up to the Plate  (Entre les Bras) (2012)

Documentary about French 3-star Michelin chef Michel Bras passing the baton to his son, Sebastien. 

If you are not a foodie, you might not be interested in all of the foraging and plating.  But if you wonder what it takes to be a 3-star Michelin chef, here it is.  Personally, I can relate as Mr. Bras leaves his profession and passes his restaurant to his son.  I retired from my profession as a librarian at the same time my daughter is entering it.  It is an interesting feeling to turn the reins over to the younger generation and come to grips with your own mortality.

Rosy the Reviewer says...If you liked Jiro Dreams of Sushi, you will like this, though it's not quite as riveting...or if you are a foodie, tres interessant!







Cosmopolis (2012)

Director Cronenberg had me with "The Fly," scarred me for life with "Dead Ringers," and lost me forever with this piece based on the Don DeLilo novel. 

Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), a financial magnate, is in his stretch limo on the way across town to get a haircut.  Most of the action, if you can call it that, takes place in the limo as it slowly makes its difficult way across town.  It's Kafka in a stretch limo.  

Some critics thought the ride was worth it.

Rosy the Reviewer says...it wasn't.

 

 

 

Henry's Crime (2010)

There is an expression:  Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. 

I

n this film it's the other way around. Hapless Henry goes to jail for a crime he didn't commit but when he gets out he decides if he did the time, he might as well do the crime!  Fun to see James Caan again and Vera Farmiga is great but Keanu Reeves is the king of underplaying.  Never seen anything like it.  Love the Chekov references.

Rosy the Reviewer says...worth it just to see James Caan show his fellow inmates how he gets to stay in prison by acting like a madman to the parole board.  Prison is home.  A fun little gem.

 

***BOOKS***

 

 

 

Kate, A biography by Marcia Moody (2013)

Some insight into the person who will be the future Queen of England. 

Also a fun look at the early lives and courtship of William and Kate. 

Am I a Royal watcher?  Duh.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a must for Royal watchers.

***FOOD***

Recipes: I love to collect recipes out of magazines. 

I read "Cooking Light," "Taste of Home," "Everyday with Rachael Ray" and the Food Network Magazine.  But now I have this huge folder of recipes I want to try.  It's getting the better of me, so I have decided that I will just blindly choose one out of the folder and no matter what it is, I will make it that day.  So far I have made a wonderful Thai Steak Salad and Maple-Glazed Chicken Wings.

Rosy the Reviewer says... Create your own cookbook. My mother kept a little recipe box with index cards of recipes.  I use a photo album and cut out the recipes and stick them under the plastic page. Voila.  A cookbook by Rosy.




Restaurants:  I hate big menus. 

Gordon Ramsay is right.  A restaurant with a 4-page menu cannot possibly cook everything well.  Besides, I can never decide what to order and when I do finally order, it's always the wrong thing!  I like a small menu with about 10-15 things on it, all seasonal and local. 

And when they ask you how you want your meat or fish prepared, say whatever the chef feels is best.  Then you know you are a foodie.

Rosy the Reviewer says...for the best restaurant experience look for small menus and defer to the chef.

***FASHION***

Black and white is always in fashion, especially this fall. 

You will look instantly put together and it's easy to pull off.  See?

Rosy the Reviewer says...If you are scared of print and pattern mixing, which is all the rage this fall, try your pattern and print mixing with black and white and it's almost a gimme (not shown here but a black and white striped shirt would look just as good).

That's it for this week. 

Catch me on Tuesday

when I will be lamenting the

"Lost Art of Correspondence."

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