Genial service completes the picture a perfect place to bring your out-of-town guests when they say they want fish. Here, his wild Carolina prawns over grits is a sure-handed and bright Napa Valley–style plate his mad variety of finfish preparations, often topped with handfuls of leafy herbs, are exact and supremely satisfying. And if the deep menu of small and large seafood plates seems overambitious, Donnelly has navigated his share of long menus in corporate restaurants, with startling success. A couple of salads and a dessert round out the offerings. Arrive early lines can be epic.Ĭhef Eric Donnelly built his casual raw-beamed fish house as a Montana fishing lodge smack in the heart of upper Fremont. Easton’s repertoire is bottomless, his seasonality admirable, his passion winning. On weekday mornings pasta geek Mike Easton posts photos of that day’s handful of seasonal choices-maybe creste di gallo pasta with braised treviso, garlic, chiles, and olives maybe gnocchetti with sweet corn and sage-which pulls Pioneer Square office workers in droves. Il Corvoĭon’t underestimate this order-at-the-counter, lunch-only joint its pasta is straight-up transcendent, and quantum leaps ahead of the field in creativity.

The room is swank and modern weekend brunch, with its serve-yourself lineup of salads and pastries, is endlessly fascinating. Here, the humblest cuts of beef (chuck steak, short ribs) get draped in chile sauces and fermented tofu and served with sides like rice cakes with greens and chorizo or Chinese broccoli with walnut pesto, all with admirable consistency. One of Seattle’s genuinely electrifying culinary adventures is Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi’s Korean-fusion steak house-close quarters buzzing with loud music and a lively vibe.

Did they eat napkins in the movie spy?