Serves: dinner. 926 12th Ave., 323-5275. CAPITOL HILLlarkseattle.com
Nell’s
David Newall
Brasa is a deluxe showroom for the pleasures of the pig.
Location Info
Details
Related Content
More About
Never to be confused with the cocaine-a-go-go Manhattan haunt of McInerney and Easton Ellis, the Green Lake institution named Nell's sits across from a retirement complex, and has a decor that would make it feel right at home were it to be located inside said retirement complex. Consider also that Nell's has liver and onions on the menu. If ever there's a dish that's bound to drift into extinction in concert with the Greatest Generation, it's liver and onions. Liver and onions: That's just fucking gross, right? Not at Nell's it isn't. Here it's transformed into a tender, exquisite, high-end entrée—a ballsy foray into the most elderly corner of American cuisine in an industry where nouveau rules. As I told our server, I ordered the liver and onions (served with fingerling potatoes and peppercorn jus) to see if Nell's was capable of shining shit. Turns out Nell's is more than capable, and boasts impeccable service—all servers prepare their own cocktails without missing a beat—to boot. MIKE SEELY
Serves: dinner. 6804 E. Green Lake Way N., 524-4044. GREENLAKEnellsrestaurant.com
Rover’s
You have to walk through a long velvet curtain to get to Rover's dining room, which is appropriate, because this Madison Park establishment transports you to another world, one where old-fashioned elegance still reigns. Situated in a leafy courtyard, Rover's invites you to take your time and unwind amid white tablecloths, tasteful paintings, and multicourse, classically French menus. Prices are set for the leisure class but are not out of reach. On Fridays, chef Thierry Rautureau opens the normally dinner-only establishment for lunch, offering a three-course menu for $35. Each course is artfully prepared but not over-fussy. Blackened cod is braised simply alongside small cubes of house-cured bacon, squash, and Brussels sprouts. Clams are simmered in white wine and herbs. Rich chocolate cakes are enlivened by tart fruit ganache. The service is impeccable, and in all likelihood Rautureau, wearing his signature fedora, will stop by your table to personally thank you for coming. NINA SHAPIRO
Serves: dinner, Friday lunch. 2808 E. Madison St., 325-7442. MADISON PARKrovers-seattle.com
Spinasse
Decorated with the attention to detail of a Merchant-Ivory romance—spindly chairs, mismatched prints, grimly mysterious pasta-making tools—Spinasse captures the glamour that Piemontese trattorias still hold for chef Justin Neidermeyer, who apprenticed in the Northern Italian region for a year. Every diner spends at least a few minutes staring into the half-opened kitchen, framed by wine bottles, to muse on the quiet intensity of Neidermeyer and his cooks as they work in front of a backdrop of books and conserves. That feeling of being caught up in someone else's romance only intensifies when the plates are set down. Whether it's a chicory salad splashed with aged balsamic, hair-thin tajarin pasta tossed in a long-simmered ragù, or a hunk of roasted goat on a bed of turnips, Neidermeyer's soulful food brings everyone who tastes it into his dreamworld—instead of reminding them just how far from Italy Seattle really is. JONATHAN KAUFFMAN
Serves: dinner. 1531 14th Ave., 251-7673. CAPITOL HILLspinasse.com
Spring Hill
Mark and Marjorie Fuller's West Seattle restaurant is a little like Dries Van Noten's clothes: fashion-forward yet so classically tailored that they appeal to more than the avant-garde. The Fullers' style comes through both in looks—spring green meets plywood meets poured concrete—and in flavors: the unabashed succulence of a raviolo encapsulating a solitary duck-egg yolk, the woodfire-tinged crunch of a smoked-clam panzanella ornamenting a fillet of albacore poached in olive oil. (The "hot" portion of the "beef steak hot and cold" duo may be the two best bites of wood-grilled ribeye in Seattle.) With Spring Hill's Monday-night spaghetti-and-meatballs dinners, the Fullers have come up with a cute trick for turning the week's slowest night into a cult event. And with their toasted-popcorn ice cream, they've created the year's most shockingly satisfying savory-sweet dessert. JONATHAN KAUFFMAN
Serves: dinner, brunch. 4439 California Ave. S.W., 935-1075. WEST SEATTLEspringhillnorthwest.com
SPLURGES WE ALSO LOVE: Cafe Juanita, Corson Building, Dahlia Lounge, Nishino.
