January 2013

Extra Starch: Previewing the January 2013 Issue

Extra Starch: Previewing the January 2013 Issue

Our editor-in-chief reflects on the bigger picture of the latest issue of Seattle magazine.

When we were brainstorming ideas for our January issue, thinking about what we crave this time of year and pontificating on what constitutes Seattle’s ultimate comfort food, it didn’t take long to come to the conclusion. When winter (OK, fall) comes to Seattle, we chase away the damp chill with giant, steaming bowls of noodles,…

Best Pasta Dishes at Local Italian Restaurants

Best Pasta Dishes at Local Italian Restaurants

Stunningly good pasta dishes run the gamut, from understated elegance to decadent and over the top.

Storied Italian women are said to sit on old stools set on cobblestone streets, rolling gnocchi off forks, pinching pasta into hankie shapes or cutting it into short tubes. Locally, pasta makers hand-cut fine, fresh pastas, too, and they are stunningly good. Our favorite local pasta dishes run the gamut, from understated elegance to decadent…

Handcrafted Noodles from Fremont's Soba Studio

Handcrafted Noodles from Fremont’s Soba Studio

The owner of Miyabi 45th in Wallingford makes Japanese teuchi soba the old-fashioned way.

There are no shortcuts at Mutsuko Soma’s Fremont soba studio. Here, in a tiny, sunny room, she makes the Japanese teuchi soba the way she learned at soba school in Japan, which she attended in 2008, after working at Seattle restaurants such as The Harvest Vine and Saito’s. First, she grinds her own Washington-grown buckwheat…

Cold Noodles Comfort

Cold Noodles Comfort

Discover the delights of cold noodles.

Legend has it that a female emperor in ancient China, suffering through a hot day, demanded her noodles be served cold instead of hot. It was her birthday that day, and thus began a tradition: Every birthday from that day forward she asked that her noodles be served cold. In modern-day Seattle, I think the…

Enthralling Cocktails at Golden Beetle

Enthralling Cocktails at Golden Beetle

Bar manager Andy McClellan's drinks have been grabbing attention lately.

Nestled in the old Market Street Grill space in Ballard, the almost 2-year-old Golden Beetle has garnered notice for the Eastern Mediterranean–inspired cuisine created by executive chef and owner Maria Hines (Tilth). But lately the cocktails from bar manager Andy McClellan (previously of Lola and Palace Kitchen) have been grabbing attention. Amiable Atmosphere, MenuTwinkling multicolored…

San Fernando's Roasted Chicken Deserves Praise

San Fernando’s Roasted Chicken Deserves Praise

Chicken here is so tender that the juicy leg meat falls away from the bone.

At the friendly, primarily takeout San Fernando in the Central District, the pollo a la brasa (Peruvian-style rotisserie-roasted chicken) is so tender that the juicy leg meat falls away from the bone. The glistening, crisp-skinned chicken ($10 for half, $18 for whole) comes with a vibrant, tart cilantro sauce into which you’ll want to dip…

Harbor City: Our Choice for Dim Sum

Harbor City: Our Choice for Dim Sum

The restaurant that changed our editor's dim sum loyalty.

One cold morning last winter on the way to our usual International District dim sum haunt, my family and I had to zigzag our way through the crowd waiting outside Harbor City, a stone’s throw from our destination. And so we decided to change course and wait alongside the shivering throng to see what all…

Grub: A Great Lunch Spot

Grub: A Great Lunch Spot

Perfect for drop-in lunches and dinner with the kids, this Queen Anne spot is friendly and inviting.

There’s a sunny feel to Sharon Woo Fillingim’s new Queen Anne eatery, Grub, in the former Ototo Sushi space on Queen Anne Hill. Perfect for drop-in lunches and dinner with the kids, it’s friendly and inviting, much like Le Rêve (the bakery Fillingim helped open a couple of years ago). At Grub, everyone sits on…

Cheese and Company

Cheese and Company

The cheese plate at Matt's in the Market will change your posture on dessert.

When it comes to people’s tastes in dessert, some lean sweet, others lean salty and a few, like me, lean cheesy. So when I’m hoping to stretch the night for one more drink and I’m in the mood for a little “dessert,” the cheese plate at Matt’s in the Market does the trick. Five artisanal…

The Joy of Jam

The Joy of Jam

Rebecca Staffel sweetens everything with Deluxe Foods’ preserves.

“Try us on toast,” reads Deluxe Foods’ preserve jars. But how about the spiced plum jam stirred into your tea, Russian style, or shaken in a gin cocktail? What about the pear butter with vanilla mixed in with steel-cut oats? Deluxe Foods’ Rebecca Staffel has a long list of uses for her award-winning preserves, and…

Best Asian Noodle Dishes in Seattle

Best Asian Noodle Dishes in Seattle

Our favorite warm, savory noodle dishes from Chinatown and beyond.

ChineseHouse Special Barley Green Hand-shaven Chow Mein (shown above, left)at Shanghai Garden in Chinatown-International DistrictThe wide, tender green noodles (made with barley green powder) in Chinatown-International District’s most famous noodle dish are fresh—and taste as spring green as they look. They’re dressed in a light sauce with softly scrambled eggs, carrots, tender chicken, squiggly hunks…

Truffle Hounds

Truffle Hounds

Renowned food forager Langdon Cook joins the dogs at the Oregon Truffle Festival.

I should have known this wouldn’t be a typical food festival. There were dogs everywhere: riding the Hilton Eugene elevators, pacing the lobby, even practicing in a park across the street. Luckily, they were trained only to find gourmet edibles, not eat them. These are truffle dogs, the working animals of choice for truffle hunters…