Seattlest’s already given you the scoop on the Kelly’s View Collection of chocolates, which features artwork by six children to benefit Seattle Children’s Hospital. They’re still available at Chocolate Box. (Our favorite was Cranberry Cardamom!) If you’re craving more chocolate for a cause, you might want to pick up some Athena Chocolates. This is "chocolate to find a cure," launched October 1 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Working with Dilettante Chocolates, Athena Partners... [continue]

We were recently invited to spend an evening with Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. Who? We’ve known these authors since the mid-nineties, when they released books like Becoming a Chef and Culinary Artistry. Now Dornenburg and Page are promoting their new book, The Flavor Bible—an encyclopedic compilation of flavor affinities that will surely challenge amateur to professional chefs to become more creative in the kitchen. They were in town as part of the visiting... [continue]

How much do we love Joule? We don’t dare try to count the ways. At some point, we’ll talk about the regular menu, in which even butter comes in a choice of flavors—including bacon and seaweed. But for now we’d like to highlight one particular item from this summer’s Urban BBQ Series. As previously mentioned, chef/owners Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi planned a different theme that would offer a variety of grilled dishes each... [continue]

Despite early afternoon plans to consume diabetes-defying amounts of truffles and other treats at the Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon (resulting in a complete chocolate coma), Seattlest remained committed to the weekly "Dishin'" review and reported to Boat Street Café for brunch yesterday. We hadn’t been to Boat Street since back in the days when it was located on, well, Boat Street. Now in a unique location on lower Queen Anne, the café remains a... [continue]

We’re still digesting the ample fare from FareStart’s Guest Chef on the Waterfront event, but if you’re a chocoholic (and the new Chocolopolis isn’t quite enough for you), then you might just want to attend this Sunday’s Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon. Let’s break that down. Seattle—that’s us. Luxury is something we can live with. Salon is a gathering. And Chocolate is, well, chocolate. There will be lots of it, of the luxury variety, at... [continue]

Dishin' is always lookin' for soul food and a place to eat. Usually Asian food. Often Chinese. The problem: the best, most authentic dishes are usually on the Chinese menu, and unless someone reads Chinese characters, it’s either point-and-order, or be stuck with what’s on the English menu. We appreciate that Bamboo Garden in Bellevue struggled with this issue. First they put everything on the English menu, but when the descriptions of some good dishes... [continue]

Okay, so it’s not the first in the area, and there are nearly 700 others in the country, but Chipotle is opening at Southcenter Square—today! Culinary Institute of America grad Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle in Denver in 1993, not quite expecting it to grow into the chain it is today. Anyone ever been to one? We have a bunch of burrito places in Seattle, ranging from local and national chains to little... [continue]

We’ve been big fans of Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid since reading Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia (James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook of the Year for 2000). This coffee table-worthy book completely captured us with great recipes, gorgeous photos, and even its glossary. We immediately dug deep into their earlier work, including the aptly named Seductions of Rice, which is also as much travelogue as it is cookbook. There have... [continue]

We’ve been slurping down news of all the new Japanese noodle shops in Seattle. Samurai Noodle’s pretty good; people like it enough that they’ve got a second location. The noodles themselves are better at Kaname, but the broth is lacking. And we’ve heard some good things about Boom Noodle, though our Japanese friends tell us the ramen is disappointing. As we hear more and more about great noodles in New York, LA, and Vancouver,... [continue]

It’s a new month, and that means a new dining promotion around town. Returning is New Urban Eats, featuring some of the relative newbie restaurants in and around the Seattle area. For $30, you’ll enjoy three courses—a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert from a fixed-price menu. Participating restaurants: 94 Stewart, Beato Food & Wine, Betty, Coupage, Cremant, Crush, Cucina De-Ra, Divine, Enotria, Iris Grill, Kurrent, Lucia, Moxie, 0/8 Seafood Grill, Opal, Portage, Qube,... [continue]

Gelatiamo means “let’s have gelato together.” To celebrate May Day and its reopening, Gelatiamo invites you into its shop from 11am to 1pm on Thursday, May 1 for a free gelato. That’s the easy part. The hard part is choosing between the flavors. Mocha or mango? Cappuccino or caramel? Tiramisu or toasted almond? Pistachio or panna cotta? If you try to sample them all, you’ll waste too many sample spoons, and you’ll just get... [continue]

The fine folks at The Four Swallows invited us over (by over, we mean across Puget Sound) for some supper. Saturday was a superb day for a ferry ride, and after a short stroll through town, we reached the farmhouse that’s been home to the restaurant for 16 years. Inside, it’s quaint and charming, with the staff adding to the warmth of the home. The menu changes daily, tilting a bit toward Italian, but reflecting... [continue]

We’ve been watching the price of Cascadia’s happy hour hamburgers climb steadily. They were the best bargain at a buck each, but then doubled to two and are now, what, like ten bucks each? (Sadness obscures sanity.) Walk the other way from Pike Place Market, and if you can deal with a chain restaurant, you’ll find bigger burgers at McCormick and Schmick’s for just under two bucks each. And they come with cheese, lettuce,... [continue]

Comfort is a two-way street. Sometimes we need comfort. And sometimes we give it. Crave has been the giver by way of its menu of “contemporary comfort food,” which includes favorites like blintzes, overnight baked beans, and shiitake macaroni & cheese. Now is the time for us to give. Diagnosed with two forms of lymphoma, Crave’s chef-owner Robin Leventhal is giving away her collection of copper Jello molds to some of Seattle’s finest chefs.... [continue]