Best New Restaurants 2009

The Best New Restaurant of the Year: Spinasse
(Capitol Hill) Justin Neidermeyer’s Capitol Hill trattoria—with its beamed ceiling, creamy candlelight and sensational pastas—charmed our socks off this year. We can’t get his supple vitello tonnato (fork-tender veal with tuna aioli) out of our heads, not to mention the hearty roasted meats and brisk salads, all presented on pristine almond-shaped white platters. And, oh my, that pasta! So toothsome, so confoundingly delicious. Neidermeyer makes his tender pastas every day right on the butcher-block countertop, which, come dinner time, doubles as an ideal perch for peeking into the kitchen, sipping a dusty Nebbiolo and wooing a promising date.

Best Dinner for All the Senses: The Corson Building
(Georgetown) One of the most important restaurants of the year, Corson, opened by chef/owner Matt Dillon, isn’t really a restaurant at all—at least not in the traditional order-what-you-want-the-way-you-want-it sense. At The Corson Building—located in a historic stone structure in Georgetown, surrounded by bucolic grounds overflowing with flora (he grows herbs, lettuces and other vegetables)—Dillon pushes boundaries (and buttons) with a reservations-only, no-menu feast ($50–$90 person plus $30 for wine pairings) that forces diners to abdicate complete control to the chef. (And did we mention everyone sits at communal tables?) For adventurous diners there’s no better splurge, especially in the coming months, when Dillon’s of-the-moment dishes will sing with fresh spring flavors.

Best Neighborhood Restaurant: Spring Hill
(West Seattle) Spring Hill’s crisp, elegantly spare design—with its pops of grass green and sleek modern furniture—makes it clear: This isn’t your grandpa’s West Seattle. Opened by chef Mark Fuller (late of Dahlia Lounge) and his wife, Marjorie (who helped design the room), Spring Hill is a bright, fresh take on bistro dining, with a menu that flirts with chili peppers, woos with wood-fired meats and seals the deal with playful (but sinfully good) ice creams and cakes. It’s clever without trying too hard, and it’s just the thing to put West Seattle on the dining map.

Most Buzzed-About Restaurant: Poppy
(Capitol Hill) Two things were certain this past year: Former Herbfarm chef Jerry Traunfeld’s new mod, colorful Capitol Hill restaurant Poppy was the most anticipated opening in years—and the most hotly debated. By combining thali service (in which 10 small plates are served together on a big platter) with his legendary seasonal Northwest fare, he set the bar high for himself. To some, it’s a schizophrenic experience: Where to start? What goes with what? Others cheer the refreshingly unprecedented Willy Wonka–like dining experience; dishes you expect to be hot are cold, and vice versa. Dining here is an experience, though not every single dish delivers those trademark Traunfeld epiphanic flavors. But if you’re open to playing with your food, Poppy is just plain fun.

Best Restaurant for Romance on a Budget: Olivar
(Capitol Hill) There’s something quietly captivating about chef/owner Philippe Thomelin’s humble Spanish eatery, tucked into the courtly Loveless Building on Capitol Hill. Maybe it’s the air, scented with saffron, sweet peppers and the best wine-and-tarragon-flavored mussels we tasted all year. Or perhaps it’s the easy, intimate setting, which draws groups of best girlfriends who catch up over languorous dinners and inspires longtime lovers to engage in public hand-holding. And with entrée prices that never top $20, Thomelin’s sensual cooking—onion-blood sausage that pops with hot, meaty juices, hearty cazuelas that leave a trail of spicy fragrance as they make their way to tables—is prime for regular date nights.