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The Frontier Room Belltown's temple to down-and-dirty drinking is back, sort of—it's now got a "casual, speakeasy environment" and a split-personality menu featuring Northwest seafood and Southern barbecue. Opens Wed., May 8. 2203 First, 956-7427.
ON THE PLATE
Afrikando Weekday lunch at Seattle's Franco-Africaine gourmet restaurant offers modest portions of many popular dinner entr饳 (root-vegetable maf頼/I>with spicy peanut sauce, $7.95; herb-stuffed halibut with tomato-vegetable sauce and rice, $14.95), along with half a dozen light and lively salad and sandwich meals: red-sauce shrimp on a baguette ($9.95), spicy halibut-salmon boulette ($9.95), and saut饤 beef and onion with habanero sauce ($8.95). 2904 First (at Broad), 374-9714.
Salumeria on Hudson No longer a mere grocery-deli, Columbia City's mecca for the Italian-oriented has reopened as a full-service restaurant. Breakfast and weekend brunch feature frittatas as well as all-American omelets, while lunch focuses on hearty panini (meatball or sausage on a hoagie roll, $8.25; grilled roast lamb, $8.75) and dinner offers lasagna ($11.50), chicken cannelloni ($11.95), and eggplant Parmesan ($10.95). Salumeria's classic pizzas ($10 to $20) remain a menu centerpiece at both meals. 4918 Rainier S., 760-7741.
IN THE GLASS
Leavenworth Friesian Pilsner For spring and summer, Fish Brewing offers a classic unfiltered golden lager modeled on the big-as-all-outdoors beers of the flat, windswept plains of the Danish-German border, home of the noblest lagers of them all. Currently on tap only at Coastal Kitchen, 429 15th E.
Half-price wine Mondays Several restaurants are promoting early-in-the-week dining by offering serious bargains on the wine list on Mondays, among them Tango at Pike and Boren (583-0382), the Rose Club on S. McClellan (725-3674), and Belltown's Z�B> (256-2060). Extending the deal to Tuesdays as well is Christine Keff's fabulous Fandango (441-1188), where the wine list features some of Spain's most extraordinary wines. Even at $75, Vega Sicilia "Unico" ain't cheap, but there's a deal to suit your pocket somewhere in there.
AT THE MARKET
The spear is here! Fat ones, thin ones, green ones, white ones: fresh local asparagus in daily from the Yakima Valley. On the seafood front, the wild Pacific salmon season opens next month. Smart shoppers won't wait for the fabulous but pricey Copper River kings due in late May; properly cooked, sockeye (also known as red salmon) can be almost as good, and it's a lot easier on the pocketbook.
THIS WEEK
May 5 & May 11 Dine on fine foods, meet Marchesa Emanuela di San Germano Alfieri, and sip wines from her family estate near Asti. On Sunday the three-course affair's at 3 p.m. at Osteria la Spiga, 1401 Broadway, 323-8881, $55. The following Saturday at 6:30 p.m., $85 covers five wines and four courses at Szmania's, 148 Lake Street, Kirkland, 425-803-3310.
Food and/or beverage news? Do tell. E-mail the Hot Sheet at food@seattleweekly.com.
