April 2011

La Rêve: Bakery Review

La Rêve: Bakery Review

Sweet and savory pastries and tasty lunches at a quaint Queen Anne spot.

In a city with its fair share of sensational bakeries, 6-month old Le Rêve on Queen Anne Hill fits right in. Let’s start with the kouign amann, or Breton butter cake ($3.75)—a wonder of butter, pastry and sugar that bakes into a caramelized, utterly divine experience (watch your back, Honoré!). Owners Sharon Fillingim, who grew…

Zero Pretense, Warm Meals at Art of the Table

Zero Pretense, Warm Meals at Art of the Table

A taste of chef Dustin Ronspies' down-to-earth cooking in a teensy space in Wallingford.

Recently, I had my first meal at this four year old hidden dinner club, and my goodness, it was earthy, interesting and delicious. The restaurant, open since 2007, serves a set menu—four courses for $55; wine pairings tack on an extra $35—each night except Mondays (when it does a small-plates dinner; see website for info…

Best Seattle Restaurants 2011

Best Seattle Restaurants 2011

Each year, for the annual Best Restaurants issue, our critics go from luxe to low brow (and everywhe

There’s a special kind of magic that happens at the best restaurants, when everything comes together—charming service, scintillating company, great ambiance, flattering lighting (outstanding food is a must, of course)—and we walk out feeling as if dinner was worth every penny spent, even when we cringe a little the next day thinking about exactly how…

Best Seattle Restaurants 2011: Splurge-worthy Meals

Best Seattle Restaurants 2011: Splurge-worthy Meals

From Kirkland's Cafe Juanita to Ballard's Le Gourmand, our list of local meals worth every penny.

$133Cafe JuanitaKirklandTRUE VALUE: A sure thing, from impeccable service to subtly sensational pastas.When you need a special occasion to occur without a hitch, Juanita is the place.The room is comfortable, the conversation friendly, and the servicealways knowing but with a lovely West Coast ease. And Holly Smith’s modern Italian-Northwest cuisine provides one wave of delicious…

The Best Washington State Wines of 2011

The Best Washington State Wines of 2011

This year’s winners provide a snapshot of the shining stars in the industry’s firmament—the current

Washington grape growers and winemakers have always been experimenters, seeing what will work in our relatively young industry, but in the past few years, so much has changed that we are in the midst of what might be called the Age of Experimentation. With the past decade’s growth in the number of wineries (now at…

Is Dow Constantine more powerful than Mike McGinn?

Is Dow Constantine more powerful than Mike McGinn?

Dow Constantine put himself through college tending bar, and counts among his good friends some of S

Two weeks before the November 2009 election, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder addressed a sold-out concert crowd at KeyArena. “I got this phone call the other night from Krist Novoselic from Nirvana,” Vedder said as his bandmates played softly in the background and fans screamed for their favorite songs. “He asked me to tell everybody here…

A Silent Season for Seattle Mariners Fans without Dave Niehaus

A Silent Season for Seattle Mariners Fans without Dave Niehaus

A former P-I reporter reflects on a Mariners season without Dave Niehaus in the broadcast box.

For the first time in 35 seasons, Dave Niehaus’ whiskey baritone will be silent. Folks, this is going to be a long, strange adjustment. Few people, places or things have ever occupied such a special spot in Seattle’s psyche. Emerson once said, “Every hero becomes a bore at last.” Safe to say Mr. Emerson never…

Road Trip: Portland

Road Trip: Portland

Spokin’ like a true bike nut: The Filmed by Bike Film Festival celebrates bicycle culture cinematica

WHERE: The Clinton Street Theater in Portland for the ninth annual FILMED BY BIKE FILM FESTIVAL (4/15–4/17; $8–$10; 2522 SE Clinton St.; filmedbybike.org). WHY: The festival celebrates both wheels and reels with 30 independent short films (eight minutes max) about bikes and bike culture, selected by a jury of local bike geeks and film buffs….

Food: Chef Tom Douglas Takes Taste Buds on a tour of Seattle

Food: Chef Tom Douglas Takes Taste Buds on a tour of Seattle

New e-book, available at Amazon’s Kindle store, is readable on many devices

 As if he’s not busy enough opening new joints all over town, local chef Tom Douglas (Serious Pie, Palace Kitchen, Dahlia Lounge, Seatown Seabar & Rotisserie, Etta’s) recently published an e-book, available only at Amazon’s Kindle store (but readable on iPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys and other devices). Chef Walks: Seattle ($3.99, amazon.com/kindlestore) is a guided walking…

Seattle Architect George Suyama Profiled in a New Book

Seattle Architect George Suyama Profiled in a New Book

The renowned local architect blends Japanese simplicity with Northwest naturalism.

Blame it on the soaring evergreens, the majestic mountains, or the water, water everywhere, but something about the Northwest’s natural environment spawns truly phenomenal architects. Among our many local “starchitects” are Arne Bystrom, Paul Thiry, Ellsworth Storey, Jim Olson, Rick Sundberg, Tom Kundig and George Suyama, a University of Washington architecture grad who opened his…

Editor's Note: April 2011

Editor’s Note: April 2011

Making the list

Can you imagine your next trip to Italy without a nice bottle of Chianti Classico or Barolo? Not long after we wrapped up the blind tasting for our Washington Wine Awards last November, Seattle Weekly ran an article shining a light on a gap in the locavore food movement: For all the emphasis Seattle restaurants…

April Showers Bring Art from Seattle Moviemakers, Poets and Musicians

April Showers Bring Art from Seattle Moviemakers, Poets and Musicians

Filmmaker Zach Weintraub, alt-country band The Head and the Heart and a poetry party at Richard Hugo

Meet Your Maker ARTIST: Zach Weintraub, 23, filmmaker FILM: Bummer Summer, an inventive take on a road trip/love triangle that won last year’s Local Sightings Film Festival at Northwest Film Forum SCREENING: 4/22–4/28. Times and prices vary. Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave.; 206.329.2629; nwfilmforum.org. BD: Filmmaking is really hard and expensive. Why do it?…