Gastrolust

As the year comes to a close, seems like everyone is compiling their Top 10 restaurant lists for 2012. Meanwhile, throughout the year, people take to Twitter and Facebook to scream that “this” or “that” is the best—making your pick more like the worst. I feel fortunate for any opportunity to eat out, and prefer [...]

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Lately I’ve been wondering: What is the best bite from the ocean? What seafood do I find most seductive? There are plenty of great choices. I love sea urchin and oysters, and when Ethan Stowell puts them together, you get the best combination of seafood I’ve ever eaten. I’m crazy about clams (especially razor clams), [...]

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You might not know about Measure. While it’s not a secret supper club, Measure is open only to Seattle Symphony attendees, with the Wolfgang Puck-branded restaurant opening two hours before showtime at Benaroya Hall. Given the demographics of that particular dining crowd, I doubt you’ll see too many Yelp reviews posted about this place. The [...]

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This fall, a business trip took me to the Magic Kingdom in Florida for a conference. As I arrived at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, it was disturbing enough to see the feral kids (prodded by their fruitful parents) running and screaming all over the place. But, worse, the hotel was hosting the Republican Party of Florida’s 2012 [...]

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It’s truly the most icon Grill time of the year. Always a feast for the eyes with its quirky colors and loads of lamps and knickknacks (Seattle Weekly‘s Gavin Borchert gave icon Grill a “Best Clutter” nod last year, calling it “the burlesque-queen love child of a 1890 New Orleans bordello and a Venetian glassworks”), [...]

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Yesterday, Serious Eats posted my roundup of “10 Terrific Tofu Dishes in Seattle.” An excerpt: I probably wouldn’t have connected the words “tofu” and “terrific” twenty or thirty years ago. Before I’d been exposed to the wide array of Asian cuisine, tofu was merely a meat substitute that I considered bland and boring. Now I [...]

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Yesterday, Serious Eats posted my first-ever article about coffee, specifically my recent coffee makeover. An excerpt: With a house full of candy-grabbing kids, my parents knew they could safely leave one dish of candy out on the appropriately named coffee table: Coffee Nips. Oh, I loved the smell of coffee brewing, but somewhere along the [...]

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The nightmare that was the Prohibition Grille is over. The Everett eatery just invited Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares in to do their makeover magic, and with tough-love guidance from Gordon Ramsay, it has emerged as Prohibition Gastropub. You’ll have to watch later in the season to see all the trials and tribulations that went into the [...]

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At first glance, that platter of sushi that Hajime Sato serves you at Mashiko in West Seattle looks like any other. But take a closer look. And listen to the man as he explains what you’re eating. While you won’t find bluefin tuna or unagi (eel) here, you will find fish that’s a little different, [...]

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Yesterday, Serious Eats posted my “First Look” at The Whale Wins. An excerpt: The Whale Wins can be found in the Fremont Collective along with the relocated Joule restaurant and Evo’s flagship store—selling skis, skates, and snowboards. (Word is that there’s a skate park in the basement.) While there will soon be patio space out [...]

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