When Christina Keff launched Flying Fish at the corner of 1st and Bell almost 15 years ago, Belltown was still called the Denny Regrade, a culinary wasteland considered far too sketchy for a classy restaurant. more ›

Food: it's not just what's for dinner, it's serious tourism. more ›

In the kitchen, Staples and chef-de-cuisine Daniel Newell stick to elegantly presented classics: halibut, scallops, duck breast, lamb loin, braised short ribs, pork chops. But if the devil is in the details, it's also in the small plates. Delicate white asparagus from Walla Walla, asking for nothing more than a simple steaming, is instead poached (barely! barely!) in a broth of salted white wine, and served with an egg foam (classic sabayon), lemon, and fried (why?) capers. Five stalks for $13 (twice the going price for big, fat spears of white asparagus in Europe), you wonder what they're thinking. more ›