NEW IN TOWN
Location Info
Related Content
More About
If your choice of restaurants is based more on your glycogen levels than your taste buds, here's a spot for you. The brainchild of restaurateur (and fitness freak) Hossein Faramarzi, Functional Fuel doesn't break its menu down by appetizers, main dishes, and desserts but by energy-consumption categories. If Stamina's your thing today, consider the Hi-Velocity Chicken & Veggie Roll-up ($6.25), whereas for Strength the Champion's Tuna Pesto Sandwich on whole grain bread ($6.50) is recommended. Work on the Super Charged Turkey Succotash ($7.50); for Thought, there's the Hi-RAM Shrimpwich ($5.75). As for Leisure, the Divine Dips & Veggie Bits ($6.25) are, according to the menu, "perfect for hi-libido sharing." You might want to get that one to go. Open daily 7 a.m.-9 p.m. 1303 First (at Harbor Steps), 322-2111.
The plaid carpet is gone! That alone warrants a trip to Pike Place Market mainstay Cutters Bayhouse. But the menu's been renovated too: Try Parmesan and garlic fries ($4.50), a spinach and papaya salad with mandarin orange and onion topped with toasted almonds ($11.50), or a spicy Thai chicken ($9.50) or fish ($10.50) sandwich with basil and a chili mayonnaise. 2001 Western, 448-4884.
IN THE GLASS
Chinook winemaker Kay Simon has a special fondness for the cabernet franc grape, the lesser-known third component in many great French Bordeaux. Just released are Chinook's '99 cabernet franc (around $20) and a fruity, fragrant new edition of her cabernet franc ros鼯B> ($15), ideal for those summer evening meals outdoors.
Washington wine-grape acreage has increased 17 percent in just the last three years, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. The proportion of those 28,000 acres mature enough to actually produce fruit has grown too, from 70 percent to over 88 percent.
AT THE MARKET
It must be summer at last: Local cherries have arrived from East of the mountains, while the first Puget Sound strawberries are making an appearance. Can raspberries, gooseberries, and marionberries be far behind?
THIS WEEK
June 20 Talk about your dollar days! Head to Westlake today for classic Hebrew National Kosher hot dogs at just a buck a pop. You don't like dogs, fine: Spend your dollar on a bowl of spicy Mediterranean white-bean stew whipped up by chef Wayne Johnson of Andaluca. Westlake Center Plaza (unless it's raining), 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
June 22 Best Cellars ups the wine-tasting stakes in a partnership with Morton's Steakhouse. Taste what manager Jens Strecker calls "snappy reds for summer" (including a California syrah and one of France's lusty Cahors) along with grilled mushrooms, bacon-wrapped scallops, and filet mignon sandwiches prepared by chef Gary Borneman—free! 2-5 p.m., 2625 N.E. University Village.
COMING UP
July 4 Here's a concept: gourmet fireworks. For $169 per person (plus tax and tip) you can dine on a multicourse array of dainties prepared by superchef Jerry Traunfeld, then move out into the Sammamish Slough twilight to enjoy the city of Woodinville's fireworks display, finally returning to your table for postprandial coffee and a trio of desserts. The Herbfarm at Willows Lodge, Woodinville, 425-485-5300.
Food and/or beverage news? E-mail the Hot Sheet at food@seattleweekly.com.
