Second place: Laughing Buddha (219 Broadway E., 329-8274)
Best Video Store
SCARECROW VIDEO
Robin Laananen
Easy Street
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(5030 Roosevelt N.E., 524-8554)
Line up, movie masochists. The clerks behind the counter at Scarecrow are going to treat you with their usual smug condescension because you can't remember if Visconti or De Sica directed The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, and you love it. Why else would cinema-savvy Seattle overwhelmingly vote the Roosevelt institution its favorite place to rent a video? (You can also purchase movies there, too.) With an inventory of over 45,000 titles on VHS, DVD, and even Laser Disc, Scarecrow's staff has the knowledge to match the shelf space—plus attitude to spare. Still, they earn our respect and always have something interesting playing on the TV above the cash registers. In distant second place, though recently facing antitrust suits for smothering independents like Scarecrow with multiple studio-subsidized copies of each weekend's big video release, Blockbuster boasts sheer capacity—if not Visconti. B.R.M.
Second place: Blockbuster (various locations)
Best Vegetarian Restaurant
CAFE FLORA
They call it Flora for a reason: No mammals, fish, or fowl were harmed in the process of creating the fusiony, inspired vegetarian fare at this Madison Park institution; and if your culinary preferences exclude ovo- and lacto-derived foodstuffs, they can accommodate that as well. What does that leave? Plenty. Frequent diners know that Cafe Flora's food has about as much in common with traditional "vegetarian cooking" as a corn dog does with roasted pork loin. Forget brown rice and tofu, steamed veggies and wheat-germ shakes. Portobella Wellington and yam quesadillas are longtime favorites, while a strawberry-Brie pizza and a roasted vegetable salad round out Flora's summer menu. E.C.B.
Second place: Carmelita (7314 Greenwood N., 706-7703)
Best Sushi
I LOVE SUSHI
(1001 Fairview N., 625-9604 and 11818 N.E. Eighth, Bellevue, 425-454-5706)
People love I Love Sushi. I Love Sushi is bright and clean, with a bright and clean staff, and bright, clean-tasting sushi. I Love Sushi leans toward the upscale—this is no International District sushi dive with scuffed paint (of which we like Maneki and Tsukushinbo, which fit the Indieville category much better, for those indie-interested). Both I Love Sushi's atmosphere and food are reliably lovable for its lovers, who crowd into both the south Lake Union and Bellevue restaurants to love them. People love I Love Sushi. B.J.C.
Second place: Shiro's (2401 Second, 443-9844)
