Top 10 Very Best Restaurants 2008

We easily could name twice as many worthy eateries this year; Seattle’s restaurant scene is that thrilling. But we whittled away and cut to the core to give you the ultimate list of our favorite spots.

Mistral
Belltown, 113 Blanchard St.; 206.770.7799; mistralseattle.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: There is no finer food in the city.
Chef William Belickis has been behind some of Seattle’s most innovative food for the past eight years, and what he’s doing at Mistral is no exception. During the three-hour tasting menu, you might enjoy dishes such as crispy daurade with a tangle of shaved asparagus, kohlrabi and grapefruit, or briny kusshi oysters with yuzu granita. (There is no traditional menu or a la carte option at Mistral, you’re simply at the mercy of Belickis’ creative mastery.) A mosaic of cauliflower, smoked paprika, tiny blood orange jelly cubes, saffron syrup, black olive oil and parsley juice arranged around a San Daniele–wrapped sea scallop was the highlight of a recent meal. Belickis isn’t the only star here. Pastry chef Joyce Nakamoto delivers jewel-like creations such as coconut soup with mango, basil purée and raspberries, and German licorice ice cream with cocoa crispies.

Quinn’s  
Capitol Hill, 1001 E Pike St.; 206.325.7711; quinnspubseattle.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: We’re suckers for fantastic beer and stellar pub grub served in urban-chic digs.
It took Restaurant Zoë owner/chef Scott Staples seven years to open this always-packed gastropub—the English term for a pub serving ambitious food—and he absolutely nailed it. Fourteen well-chosen brews on tap, ranging from Pabst Blue Ribbon to Chimay, and more than a dozen Trappist ales (plus more by the bottle) give beer lovers more than enough reasons to belly up to the bar. But that’d be selling Quinn’s short, because Staples is creating some seriously delicious pub food. His brandade, made with house-smoked cod, heavy cream and roasted potatoes, is a lush, warm, fishy dip that’s incredible when scooped up with homemade duck-fat-fried potato chips, and the grown-up sloppy joe—braised-then-pulled wild boar piled onto a sesame bun, topped with fried sage and sided with a pickled, grilled jalapeno—is just about perfect. Share the homemade skin-on fries, which get a melty fontina cheese bath and a hit of veal demiglace, making them an easy choice for best poutine in the city. All this in a room that’s sexy and dimly lit with an industrial edge. Even better? Quinn’s is open ’til 1 a.m. every night (2 a.m. on weekends), and most items on the menu are less than $10. 

Café Juanita
Kirkland, 9702 NE 120th Place; 425.823.1505; cafejuanita.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: We love their sublime veal sweetbreads.
A mere 20-minute trek from downtown Seattle will find you in Kirkland, where chef Holly Smith has been wowing diners with precise northern Italian fare for eight years at Café Juanita. The professional and poised staff is a welcome change from the other local spots, where service can be mundane. An appetizer of veal sweetbreads with turnips and porcini was the best offal dish we’ve had all year, but it was the signature dish of rabbit with porcini and pancetta, bathed in a rich Arneis sauce and served with a crisp Ligurian chickpea crepe stuffed with greens that had us wondering how much longer before this charming restaurant will be attracting big crowds coming from across the bridge. 

May
Wallingford, 1612 N 45th St.; 206.675.0037; mayrestaurant.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: It’s cheaper than a flight to Thailand.
May’s gorgeous (though some say a tad gaudy) teak gastronomic temple looks as if it was dropped, Wizard of Oz style, out of the sky from Bangkok. First-timers might wonder whether to pick up utensils or prayer beads in the hushed dining room. Yet the appeal of this 3-year-old restaurant goes beyond looks. In a city almost overcrowded with Thai, May’s flavors have the incredible complexity that comes from painstakingly grinding spices and making curry pastes and sauces in house from treasured family recipes. The pad Thai is a revelation thanks to the exquisitely balanced tamarind sauce; the dish deftly finished tableside with Chinese chives and purple banana blossoms. The kaeng massaman curry has a thrilling depth—like a demiglace versus a pan gravy—sure to prompt a culinary epiphany: “Oh, so that’s what it’s supposed to taste like.” A stem of black peppercorns was an unexpectedly lovely garnish on the addictive kowneaw somtum gai tod (spicy papaya salad with chicken and sticky rice). Don’t miss chef/owner May Chaleoy’s desserts, especially the crème brulee, embellished with pineapple confit and toasted coconut, and beautifully presented on a slender wooden dish.

Lark
Capitol Hill, 926 12th Ave.; 206.323.5275; larkseattle.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: The ever seasonal cooking tastes better than ever.
It’s incredibly rare to find a restaurant at the top of its game four years into its life, especially one that was stellar to start with. But that’s the case with Lark, where James Beard Award–winning chef and owner John Sundstrom never ceases to amaze us with fastidiously sourced ingredients and finessed cooking. The small-plate menu celebrates the constantly shifting seasons; diners can devour the season’s first ramps, then firm garden-fresh peas, then local morels in a succession of spring dinners. Or create a virtual greatest-hits tasting menu by opting for the quietly sensational yellowtail carpaccio, drizzled with a subtle Meyer lemon oil and dotted with a smattering of green olives, followed by silken chicken liver parfait and perhaps ending with a seemingly humble but thoroughly lovely malt ice cream. Service moves with a practiced ease, reassuring diners with smart wine pairings and opinionated knowledge of the menu. All this is within a rustic, candlelit dining room that is pure pleasure to spend time in, surrounded by the ever-present hum of conversation and the relaxed clinking of wine glasses.

Sitka & Spruce
Eastlake, 2238 Eastlake Ave. E; 206.324.0662; sitkaandspruce.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: The menu changes daily with fresh, seasonal Northwest ingredients.
Chef Matt Dillon has created a tiny hideaway in an Eastlake strip mall with his 2-year-old petite eatery, Sitka & Spruce. The menu changes nightly, depending on what’s fresh and in season; on a recent visit, a savory winter lamb ragu (all dishes are sized to share) had us enjoying the best of the season and looking forward to the next—when fiddlehead ferns and freshly foraged chanterelle mushrooms will no doubt grace a fillet of the freshest troll-caught salmon. Yet Dillon and crew continue to bring diners back with their creativity and skill for combining these seasonal staples in unexpected and delicious ways. The European feel of the simple décor and large chalkboard listing the evening’s menu is comfortable and inviting, and the service is the perfect blend of attentive and invisible. One of the best communal tables in town requires reservations, but the tables for two are first come, first served. 
 
Tavolàta
Belltown, 2323 Second Ave.; 206.838.8008; tavolata.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: The pared-down sexiness of the dining room and sophisticated Italian menu prove Belltown is growing up.
Chef Ethan Stowell rose to the top of the Seattle food pyramid when he opened Union in 2004, where his composed, impressively seasonal dishes and pure, concentrated flavors distinguished him as a chef to watch. Then he switched gears and opened Tavolàta in early 2007, the Italian yin to Union’s fine-dining yang. Brick walls, wrought-iron artwork, spare lighting and a gorgeous 30-foot-long communal table made from a slab of Vashon Island fir draw Belltown’s stylish nightlife ’n’ noshing crowd. The menu is chock-full of deceptively simple-sounding dishes, but the kitchen’s careful hand creates ethereal flavors out of simple combinations. Take the handmade agnolotti, filled with melting cheese and oozing into heady Parmesan broth, and the steamed mussels, the tenderest you’ll taste all year, lying happily in a chile-spiced tomato broth. Add to that the smart, modestly priced Italian-focused wine list and you’ve got that rare find: a seductive, down-to-earth and always bustling hangout where you can eat—and drink—very well.

Monsoon
Capitol Hill, 615 19th Ave. E; 206.325.2111; monsoonseattle.com
ON OUR TOP 10 LIST BECAUSE: They offer the baddest brunch in town.
Now that the enterprising Eric Banh has returned from his short exile to Edmonton, Alberta (where he’s added another restaurant to his growing empire), Monsoon has re-captured our attention as one of the most superb Asian restaurants in Seattle. A word to the wise: If you’re meeting a friend for dinner and want to order the clay pot catfish with coconut juice, be sure you make that two orders for the table, because you won’t want to share. Other standouts include the beef la lot, the barbecued ginger five-spice ribs and the rotating plate of sautéed mushrooms (usually a mix of wild and cultivated) with soy and shallots. Monsoon also does one of our favorite brunches in the city with both Vietnamese- and Chinese-inspired dishes, such as pan-fried daikon cakes and oxtail congee, and “colonial” options, such as the braised Berkshire pork belly, eggs and brioche French toast.