Europe

BANDOLEONE

Bandoleone's broccoli, served with red peppers, garlic, and chile-lime sauce, is strangely addictive. One could make a simple tapas-style meal out of it, the pulled pork carnitas, and the adobo-marinated quail skewers. The entrée menu—from which you can order small or large portions—is chockablock with seafood and meats that have been encrusted or rubbed with spices or nuts, yielding delicious results. Two examples: pepita-encrusted petite lamb rack and habeñero-garlic rubbed baby back ribs. If you're not in the mood for smooth, aged tequila (shame on you), peruse the list of wines from Spain, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, and North America and finish the meal with a few nibbles from the great selection of Spanish and Portuguese cheeses. MOLLY LORI

Serves: dinner. 703 N. 34th St., 206-329-7559. FREMONT $$ www.bandoleone.net

BOAT STREET KITCHEN AND BOAT STREET CAFE

If this issue were called One Favorite Restaurant, I'd use this space to write all about the French-themed Boat Street Kitchen (open for dinner) and the adjoining cafe (for lunch). I'd visit every day for a month, and I'd always find room for dessert because both the panna cotta with blackberry wine sauce and the Boat Street amaretto bread pudding are worth overeating for. I'd go on for three pages about crab cakes, which are starting to feel overused around here, but at Boat Street, they get paired with a banana and hot pepper confit that makes them anything but ho-hum. I'd also talk about what a nice surprise it is when the Oregon Country range-fed beef tenderloin, which the menu warns will be served at room temperature, arrives with warm tapenade. And finally, I would end by describing the service—casual and friendly but perfectly professional—and the space, exactly the kind I want to eat in: fresh, clean, stark, and quietly chic. LAURA CASSIDY

Serves: lunch and dinner. 3131 Western Ave., 206-632-4602. UPTOWN $$ www.boatstreetkitchen.com

BRASA

There's just something so . . . Big about Brasa. Sure, it's the space and the ceilings—and, especially if you arrive during happy hour (5–7 p.m. during the week) and pass through the lounge, the sheer volume—but the thinking is Big, too. Co-owners Tamara Murphy and Brian Hill seem to plan, cook, pour, and create with a certain largeness in mind. Interesting, since their menu includes so many wonderful small, tapas-style plates to choose from. The menu changes daily, but there are some constants: The beef carpaccio has a fan club (it's the white truffle oil and fennel, making it both woodsy and minty), and the paella (not one of those aforementioned small plates, mind you) is rich, smoky, and, well, Big. Check out Murphy's Life of a Pig blog, accessible via the restaurant's Web site, for further evidence of substantive thoughts. LAURA CASSIDY

Serves: dinner. 2107 Third Ave., 206-728-4220. BELLTOWN $$-$$$ www.brasa.com

BRICCO DELLA REGINA ANNA

The name is a mouthful and the location is a bit off-putting (it's in a new, sterile-looking housing complex atop Queen Anne Hill), but the guys behind the place, chef-owner Kevin Erickson and wine director Jason Crume, know their food and wine. The towering wine cellar, able to house three tons of the stuff, is a testament to that. The wine list touts over 90 different types of bottles; those offered by the glass change daily. At the time of this writing, Bricco had 25 such options. Of course, you'll need food to soak up all the vino, so opt for the sopressada panini, made with Salumi's pork-and-garlic salami, Macrina olive bread, and herb Brie. Entrée specials such as spicy meatballs or roasted halibut are available nightly. MOLLY LORI

Serves: dinner. 1525 Queen Anne Ave. N., 206-285-4900. QUEEN ANNE $ www.briccoseattle.com

BYBLOS DELI

Situated between a Fatburger and a taqueria not far south of Bellevue Square, Byblos Deli is a clean, bright, compact oasis of Mediterranean and European foodstuffs in an area urbanizing more rapidly than the Denny Triangle. The shelves are stocked with products ranging from Syrian olive oil to Lebanese olives to Bulgarian sheep cheese. But the deli also has a couple of tables and counter space for those who want some semi-exotic fast-food sandwiches. Yes, there are falafels and gyros of various kinds, but the house specialty is a delicious garlic and chicken-stuffed pita. And there are offbeat paninis. The basturma features Armenian cured beef, and the soujouk features pickles and hot Turkish sausage. Wash either down with a cooling can of Turkish cola. Byblos is a stone's throw from the city's old Main Street shopping area and its 20-acre downtown central park, making it an ideal fueling stop for edge city explorers. KNUTE BERGER

Serves: lunch and dinner. 102 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-455-4355. BELLEVUE $ www.byblosdeli.com

CAFE BESALU

Is there a better quiche in Seattle than the ones at this cozy hole-in-the-wall on a leafy street at the edge of Ballard? I've not found it, nor a more savory concoction to wash it down than a fluffy Besalu latte. The spinach quiche and the Lorraine quite avoid the gloppiness to which their ilk inclines in these parts; Besalu's resist your fork with precisely the right specific gravity, right down to the flaky crunch of the marvelous crust. The croissants make most coffee shops' look silly, and all the baked goods make your diet resolutions go right out the pretty window. There's a square checkerboard cookie that haunts my memory. I don't care where you live, your neighborhood bakery is Cafe Besalu. TIM APPELO