Food We Love: King Crab

When Philip Mihalski took over the Saleh al Lago space eight years ago to open Nell’s (Green Lake, 6804 E Green Lake Way N; 206.524.4044; nellsrestaurant.com), he replaced a flashy Italian menu with his refined, careful Northwest-style cooking and turned the space into a softly lit beacon for quiet dinners. And it remains so today—the gentle clinking of piano keys and butter yellow furnishings playing second fiddle to vibrant flavors in pretty packages. The crab salad ($16), which Mihalski has served as a signature dish for years, boasts tender hunks of house-picked Dungeness, slivers of peppery radish and fingertip-sized cubes of apple loosely bound in an herby homemade aioli, a frizzle of lemony frisée topping things off with flare. It’s a masterpiece of freshness; the radish and apple simple background notes that keep the focus squarely where it belongs: on that fresh, superb crab.