Seattle Restaurant Week is over, thank goodness, and Belltown’s restaurants can go back to doing what they do well: serving dinner to regulars (and not to cheapskate looky-loos). I may be in the minority here, but I fail to see the point of promotions that overwhelm small neighborhood restaurants with money-losing “special” menus, replace regulars with penny-inching one-timers, and leave everyone exhausted—all the while taking business away from colleagues who didn’t pony up the $1,000 or so required by the event’s sponsors.
What’s an owner to do, then?
For example, you could do what Paco Pena is doing at Taberna del Alabardero: a series of themed dinners based on the famous pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. (In English, it’s known as St. James’s Way.) The routes wend through much of Europe, converging in southern France, crossing the Pyrenees, heading to the cathedral in Santiago, in the northwest corner of Spain.
The first dinner in April “followed” the northern route, with food and wine from Navarra, Rioja; subsequent dinners will tackle Asturias and Galicia, with a grand finale in July 21st, on the Feast Day of St. James.
But if the pilgrimage route is as old as medieval Christianity, Taberna’s kitchen is capable of turning out a series of modern Spanish dishes (some of the world’s most innovative cuisine): paper-thin carpaccio with a made-on-the-spot peach sorbet; trout with a Serrano-flavored foam and a crunchy ribbon of dried, ground mushrooms; oxtail stewed with honey and cinnamon. The wines were impressive: a barrel-fermented, oaky white Viura; a Tempranillo aged in American oak; a second Tempranillo blended, Bordeaux-style, with cabernet and merlot; a third tempranillo blended, Rhone-style, with Carignan and Grenache; and, finally, a Tempranillo reserva aged for five years in French oak.
Ever since it opened its doors in the old Cascadia space, Taberna has specialized in traditional Spanish fare, most notably paella. It’s heartening to see the kitchen’s move toward more adventurous fare.
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A couple of steps further north along First Avenue, Scott Carsberg has reopened the doors of his restaurant, formerly Lampreia, now called Bisato, serving Venetian small plates known as cicchetti (pronounced chick-KETT-ee). It’s a cheerful, airy spot, with a long bar, a few tables, and a small private room off to the side. The centerpiece is a lovely Berkel meat-slicing machine, bright red and hand-cranked, that transforms air-dried prosciutto into shavings so thin they melt in your mouth.
Carsberg has kept his full kitchen crew and wait staff, and still fusses over every plate that leaves the kitchen. It sometimes seems a bit overwrought for what is, in Italy at least, quick-serve bar food, but it’s all done so elegantly, you really can’t complain.
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So the McGuire is coming down. (Saw this spelled as “Maguire” the other day; show me the rubble!) Alas, that means The Local Vine will be moving away. They’d already announced plans for an expansion to Capitol Hill; we hear they’re also hoping to add a location on Queen Anne. (Brico della Regina Anna is for sale ...)
Also moving out: Flying Fish. Last day is May 3rd, with a grand reopening in South Lake Union by the end of the month.
Now closed: Txori, the Basque wine and tapas bar on Second. New owners intended to reopen immediately as Pintxo, but have run into bureaucratic snags. They’re hoping to open “any day now.”
Still no liquor license at the ambitious, late-night Night Kitchen on Stewart. A pity. Around the corner, Biscuit Bitch (a straight cafe by day) is also open late.
New on Second: Maddhu, an Indian place with a full bar and a broad selection of (relatively mild) curries. Happy Hour features samosas and pakoras. Owner Naresh Saini also operates the Maharajah restaurants in Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill.
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Ronald’s blog: cornichon.org
