Veraci Pizza: When Veraci started wheeling a wood-burning clay oven into farmers market parking lots, Seattle got in line. You could call it thin-crust pizza with a dog-and-pony showaE”and who wouldnaE™t like watching their dinner get twirled to toasty perfection by a fire god whose sole job is to coddle your pie? But with their newest oven, this one permanently installed well out of hand-warming reach in a former DominoaE™s, Veraci proves that their pizzas are more about flavor than fanfare. Layered with zingy sauces, topped with fresh, often local ingredients (think BeecheraE™s cheese and mole salami), and usually kissed with a few fat blisters, VeraciaE™s pies deserve the cult status theyaE™re developing in North Seattle. Course, thereaE™s still a line. Call your order in ahead to cut the weekend wait from excruciating to annoying. JESS THOMSON; Serves: Lunch, dinner. FarmeraE™s markets or 500 N.W. Market St., 525-1813. BALLARD, veracipizza.com

Union: At the intersection of one of downtown’s most hellish corners of traffic, across the street from the crumbling financial industry that is WaMu, is a restaurant that begs you to slow down. A plate of blackback sole may be your entree, but you’ll need all the accompaniments you can get to make it a meal. And that’s just the point. Ethan Stowell has designed Union’s portions and menu (you choose four items plus dessert for $50) around an evening of grazing. For the drifters, the nookish bar with a (partially) surviving sunset view kitty corner from the new Four Seasons isn’t as recession-friendly as some if its peers. But if you want to impress your significant other with an alternative to the $2 cheeseburger, or sit in solitude with a artfully-made French 75 or Old Fashioned, this is the finest place to do it on First. Note by CHRIS KORNELIS; Serves: dinner. 1400 First Avenue, 324-1108, DOWNTOWN. http://www.unionseattle.com/

Tilth: When Maria Hines first opened Tilth, the food was goodaE”the duck burgers with fingerling chips damn goodaE”but you could sense the strain the four-star chef felt cooking organic on a tight budget. Two years on, sheaE™s upped the prices on her dishes by a few bucks (all still available in small and large portions), and her creativity has taken flight. A truffled cauliflower flan with bits of Meyer lemon and fried capers is as unctuous as a French triple-crA¨me cheese, and a sablefish fillet cooked sous-vide has the texture of a poached marshmallow. (Hines also uses this high-tech cooking method to amplify the flavor the braised fennel with which she anoints the fish.) HinesaE™ servers can muster all the polish of a much pricier restaurant without dumping the friendliness befitting a restaurant housed in a tiny Craftsman. And her version of choucroute garnieaE”braised sauerkraut, velvety pork cheek, and a breaded patty made of the meat picked off a pork trotteraE”is the best pork dish IaE™ve tasted in the Year of Bacon Overkill. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN; Serves: dinner. 1411 N. 45th St., 633-0801, WALLINGFORD, tilthblog.wordpress.com

Flying Squirrel Pizza Co.: Flying Squirrel has rocketed to the top of the list of SeattleaE™s pizza places, and in the middle of a pizza glut the likes of which the city has never seen. Part of it is location: Friends who live in Columbia City already have the restaurantaE™s hours memorized, and control their obsession by taking alternate routes home. With its red walls, uneven furniture, and vintage-store paintings, Flying Squirrel looks like it belongs in the U District. Owner-pizzaiolo Bill Coury sources ingredients from local producers when possibleaE”ZoeaE™s Meats, Molly Moon ice creamaE”and can put together a froufrou pie with goat cheese, zucchini, and roasted red peppers to meet the demands of the most discerning PCC customer. But with every pie he keeps in mind that toppings, no matter how organic, play second fiddle to the crust. He’s got a good one: solid enough to support sauce and a few toppings without caving at the center, solid enough to crease and crack when you pick up a wedge, and still bubbly and airy around the lip. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN; Serves: dinner. 4920 S. Genesee St., 721-7620, COLUMBIA CITY, flyingsquirrelpizza.com

Spur: At their tiny cocktail bar-restaurant, decorated in a style you might call West Elm Western, Dana Tough and Brian McCracken have rightly picked up a reputation for being among SeattleaE™s most adventurous chefs. Given their work with molecular-gastronomy devices, I imagine their kitchen as a cross between the Flubber set and a high-priced hair salon. But most of the unsuspecting diners on whom the pair bestows their gels, foams, and creams will only notice how good everything tastes. ThataE™s because, in terms of flavors, McCracken and Tough are echt Seattle, calling on the best of the seasonal, local produce within their reach. The two both trained under Maria Hines, whose all-organic restaurant, Tilth (see below), is a model for sustainable, ingredient-driven cuisine. Their playfulness comes out in texture: a parmesan foam floating over a plate of fresh tagliatelle with hedgehog mushrooms and a duck egg yolk; the sashimi-like feel of a chunk of smoked salmon croustade with mascarpone and pickled shallots. This is food that your retired parents, as well as your Top Chef-addicted college student, will fall for. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN; Serves: dinner, late night. 113 Blanchard St., 728-6706. BELLTOWN, spurseattle.com

Spring Hill: Mark and Marjorie FulleraE™s West Seattle restaurant is a little like_Dries Van NotenaE™s clothes: fashion-forward yet so classically tailored that it appeals to more than the avant-garde. The FullersaE™ style comes through in both looksaE”spring green meets plywood meets poured concreteaE”and 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 aEœcookedaE portion of the raw and cooked beef duo may be the two best bites of wood-grilled steak in Seattle.) With Spring HillaE™s Monday night spaghetti-and-meatballs dinners, the Fullers have come up with a cute trick for turning the weekaE™s slowest night into a cult event. And with their toasted popcorn ice cream, theyaE™ve created the yearaE™s most shockingly satisfying savory-sweet dessert. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN; Serves: dinner, brunch. 4439 California Ave. S.W., 935-1075. WEST SEATTLE, springhillnorthwest.com

Salumi: Here’s how not to eat at Salumi: aEœHey, neighbor, it’s noon and Friday, you wanna walk over to Batali’s and grab a sammy?aE You’ll end up at the end of a snaking line toward King Street with an empty stomach and envy in your eyes. Last winter I witnessed a longer lime out the Salumi door than the nearby Union Gospel Mission. I was so hungry, frustrated, and down on my (relative) luck that I nearly hit up the latter. So, here’s what to do if you want a bite of Seattle’s best artisan sandwich: Show up at 10:30 a.m. (30 minutes before opening) on a Wednesday. Bring the new issue of Seattle Weekly, and wait. You’re gonna wait no matter what, so you may as well do it knowing that all the menu options will still be available when you reach the front of the line. (A highly dubious proposition later in the day.) Of course you could also wait until thereaE™s a freak snow storm and the streets are covered in ice, stroll down to find the restaurant all to yourself, and not bring any food back for the rest of the office. (IaE™m looking at you, boss.) Note by CHRIS KORNELIS; Serves: lunch. 309 Third Ave. S., 621-8772, DOWNTOWN, salumicuredmeats.com

Saba: IaE™ve long believed the best way to order off a menu from a country you donaE™t know well is to find the most unfamiliar items, point, and hope you donaE™t completely butcher the pronunciationaE”which of course, you will. Sitting in the bar at Saba, I go for it. aEœUm, gored gored?aE I request. The waitress raises an eyebrow. aEœItaE™s raw,aE she tells me over the sound of Ethiopian music videos playing on a television overhead. I pause for a moment before I decide the stick with the plan. aEœThataE™s okay,aE I assure her, adding an order of spicy lentils and kikle alicha, a spicy lamb stew, just in case. It turns out the beef is lovely and tender, featuring just enough spiced heat to keep it interesting without overwhelming the meat itself. Of course, the lamb and lentils are delicious as well and scooping it all up in the spongy injara is a unique joy for people whose grandmother insisted on exquisite table manners. Note by LAURA ONSTOT; Serves: lunch and dinner. 110 12th Ave., 328-2290. CENTRAL DISTRICT

Restaurant Zoe: When a talented young chef starts up a second restaurant, his or her original, overshadowed by the buzz and attention lavished on the newcomer, risks becoming as enjoyable as a three-year-old with a baby sister. Quality often slips. Scott StaplesaE™ Zoe went through a rough patch after he opened QuinnaE™s Pub last year, but itaE™s back to its former brilliance. ThataE™s because chef-owner Scott Staples has the touch with meataE”the man can roast an octopus tentacle as surely as he can braise a shortribaE”as well as a gift for ideas that look improbable on paper and come to life on the palate. Celery root risotto? Gently grassy, the root vegetable emerges as a creamy presence amid the grains of rice. Ricotta gnudi with orange marmalade and red-beet emulsion? Cotton-dense dumplings arranged on a magenta sauce, earthy sweetness and citrus in perfect balance. The wine list is stellar, the service composed to an un-Seattle-like degree, and the room is Belltown at its best, wide open and urbane, styley without being overdone. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN, Serves: dinner. 2137 Second Ave., 256-2060, BELLTOWN restaurantzoe.com

Poppy: Circles abound at Jerry TraunfeldaE™s six-month-old restaurant, from the orange rounds inscribed in the banquettes to the ones on the menu cards. And the chefaE™s daily aEœthali,aE a prix-fixe meal modeled after Indian meals, packs an 18-inch tray with eight to ten tiny bowls and cups. These circles within circles are a visual metaphor for TraunfeldaE™s cuisine, which layers flavors upon flavors, to almost dizzying degree. A parsnip soup is perfumed with bay leaf, cardamom, and vanilla, each emerging and fading on the palate in its own time. Albacore tuna comes with cilantro slaw and pickled shallots, a roast quail rubbed thickly with spices sits atop a pomegranate-walnut compote. If the thali (or its smaller, cheaper sister, the aEœsmaliaE) doesnaE™t leave your belly feeling like a taut, round balloon, Dana CreeaE™s dessert thali, itself filled with miniature scoops and slices, will complete the effect. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN; Serves: dinner. 622 Broadway E., 324-1108, CAPITOL HILL, poppyseattle.com

Pho Bac DonaE™t go to Pho Bac for frills. There are no cream puffs, no vegetarian options, and no real plants. Go because youaE™re happy to freeze in Pho BacaE™s little corner shack on a crappy chair for the roughly three minutes it takes the kitchen to prepare your order. YouaE™ll be rewarded with hot Vietnamese noodle soup thataE™s more deeply beefy than other phos in town. Your choices are all cow: thereaE™s tendon and tripe, meatballs and round steak. I choose brisket, knowing IaE™ll scoop in generous servings of the fattiest version right down to the bottom of the bowl. It always melts easily on my tongue, leaving my eyes free to admire the owneraE™s moles, which have the most impressively long hairs IaE™ve ever seen. Note by JESS THOMSON, Serves: Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Multiple locations; 415 7th Ave. S., 621-0532. INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT

Palace Kitchen: EverythingaE™s big at Palace Kitchen: the ceilings, Boeing-hangar high. The mural along the south wall, which seems to depict the entire history of the Western hemisphere. The U-shaped bar, where a hundred Pee Wee Hermans could do the aEœTequila!aE dance. The famous crouton on the Caesar salad. We all feel ourselves bigger, when dining at the Palace, as if weaE™re protagonists in our own urban epic. In the kitchen, Tom Douglas and his crew swagger with as much flair as they always haveaE”serving up brawny whole chicken wings that have been marinated in soy and spice, then grilled over a wood fire; crinkle-edged plin (a type of agnolotti pasta) fat with ground pork and cabbage; an endive-apple-hazelnut aEœwhiteaE salad with a multivalent crunch. ItaE™s the perfect food to either complement the bartendersaE™ potent cocktails or soak up the three youaE™ve downed before determining a midnight feast was in order. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN; Serves: dinner, late night. 2030 Fifth Ave., 448-2001, BELLTOWN., tomdouglas.com/restaurants/palace-kitchen

Brasa: If youaE™re the type whoaE™d put a pig in a blender and drink it, youaE™ll be building a shrine to Tamara Murphy, whose treatment of all things porcine borders on the transcendent. Start with a melting braised guanciale, served slumped over black lentils and crowned with a poached quail egg. Order a half portion of the paprika-spiked Portuguese pigaE”a brothy mix of chorizo, pulled pork, clams, and potatoaE”and you might be able to arrange a few spoonfuls of pillowy goat-cheese gnocchi in between. Brasa may not be new, but with an ever-changing menu, inventive takes on local grub (creamed nettles, anyone?), and a palate peppered with smoky Iberian flavors, the experience is always fresh. And who doesnaE™t like a restaurant where half the servers look like Sinead OaE™Conner? Note by JESS THOMSON; Serves: dinner. 2107 Third Ave., 728-4220. BELLTOWN, brasa.com

May Thai: Intimate and pricier than a majority of its peers, May ThaiaE™s two-story teak house is elaborately decorated in bronze and mahogany wood. Inside the dimly lit dining area, servers almost wordlessly go about their duties and patrons converse quietly with their heads close together. Even the most casual noodle fare is served in an artistic manner. The pad thai is tucked inside a banana leaf and mixed at your table, according to your spice and herb preferences. The curries are fiery and full of tender meat (try the duck), basil, and bamboo. The deep fried sweet corn with tamarind sauce is intended to be an appetizer, but could just as easily pass as a dessert. You donaE™t want to grab a quick lunch at May Thai. You want to luxuriate there for a few hours in the evening. ItaE™s ideal for a date. So much so, that my sources tell me that the man who accompanied me took another girl there just a week later. I commend his choice of location, even if he is a bastard. Note by ERIKA HOBART, Serves: lunch, dinner. 1612 N. 45th St., 675-0037, WALLINGFORD.

Maneki: For a hundred-year-old restaurant, ManekiaE™s looking pretty good: Relatively new carpet, decent lighting, walls covered in decadesaE™ worth of framed newspaper articles and prints. ItaE™s staffed almost entirely by women, who range from young beauties with spiral perms and glittery fake eyelashes to tiny seventysomethings with stooped shoulders and steely backbones. The best places to eat in the restaurant are the paper-walled tatami rooms, which require a reservation, or at the bar if youaE™re willing to drink with your meal and leave when instructed. You can find decent sushi on every corner of Seattle, so skip it hereaE”the most distinctive dishes at Maneki are the small plates and cooked dishes, which range from sunomono (pickled cucumbers with octopus) to nabemono (hot pots). If youaE™re used to some of ManekiaE™s younger competitors, be wary of the portions, too: A $6 dish of squid marinated in soy and ginger nets you two giant cephalopods, sliced into precise rings, and a $8.75 cured, grilled mackerel is bigger than the platter itaE™s served on. Clearly, the grande dame of Japanese cuisine in Seattle knows how to keep her customers happy. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN, Serves: 304 Sixth Ave. S., 622-2631, INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT., manekirestaurant.com

Le Pichet: Did you hate the film AmAclie? Ummm. . . OK, if so, you may want to go grab a beer or check your e-mail or something while the rest of us talk about how adorable Le Pichet is. ItaE™s just a long slender room, with brown wood, brown leather, pink tulips, and slate tabletops on which they scrawl aEœReservedaE in chalk if youaE™ve phoned ahead for a table. Complementing this bistroaE™s self-effacing charm is its similarly low-key pricing. NothingaE™s over $20 but the roasted chicken for two. Typically marvelous is the quail, served in a bowl on a bed of beans and sausage: hearty and superb, and artlessly plain but for a lifting infusion of lemon. The intensely cocoa-y hot chocolate, just on the cusp between liquid and pudding, is served with a generous pillow of whipped cream for blending in. ThereaE™s a fine selection of small plates, too, if you just want a cocktail and a nosh. Come to think of it, with its entrancing unpretentiousness, this might be the place to bring out-of-town guests, rather than a destination restaurant like RoveraE™s or Canlis, if you really want to impress themaE”as if to nonchalantly say why, yes, of course, in Seattle we eat this well all the time. Note byGAVIN BORCHERT,Serves: lunch, dinner. 1933 First Ave., 256-1499. DOWNTOWN, lepichetseattle.com

Lark: This spendy hot spot is not so crowded as it once was, lucky for you. No wait in the vestibule; no fuss when you arrive sans reservations. If your budget-minded superego is cringing already, consider treating Lark like a bar, with infinitely better food. Your id will be grateful. Chef Johnathan SundstromaE™s artful small plates offer riches tempered with earthy comfort. Especially after the recent hubbub, the foie gras terrine begs for a taste. A fat slice arrives, way too generous for one, its richness offset by tart, vanilla-seed-dotted kumquat marmalade. The wine list is stellar, and the pours generous. Golden beet soup provides a lesson in flavor balancing, with the tuberaE™s mineral flavor enhanced by a float of garlic butter. Heavy utensils and solid plates offer substantial tactile pleasure, as does the barn-like atmosphere and buttery lighting. The staff will be unobtrusive, gliding by as you feast. Note by ADRIANA GRANT Serves: dinner. 926 12th Ave., 323-5275, CAPITOL HILL. larkseattle.com

Joule: The inventive plates at Joule might take you from Koreatown to Sicily to an izakaya and back. Maybe you donaE™t want this, but for those who like their palates piqued, stretched and pulled into as many directions as possible, get ye to Wallingford. The best seats in the house number eight, right in front of the open kitchen where you can watch chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi grilling, sautAcing and plating around each other like a piece of ballet. Come early or you may miss the nightly fish preparation, lately a daurade with sweet and sour eggplant and almond piccata. When Joule gets condimental, the disparate becomes inspirational as the chefs disregard cultural boundaries to pair flavors like the above with impact. Oxtail ragout with soy cured egg yolk? Like they were lost at birth. Leave your preconceived notions at the door, forget what you think you know about kimchi, and open your mind and gullet. MAGGIE Note by SAVARINO DUTTON, Serves: dinner. 1913 N. 45th St., 206-632-1913. WALLINGFORD, joulerestaurant.com

Jade Garden: ThereaE™s always a bustling crowd of mostly Chinese families waiting for dim sum at this I.D. institution. But the line moves quickly, and once at a table, youaE™ll know why they keep coming. The egg custard tarts are small but unforgettable, a warm, creamy center surrounded by delicate pastry. Not to be missed, either, are the shrimp and chive cakes: plump, pan-fried shrimp mixed with herbs and enveloped in a crisp skin dusted with sesame seeds. All the other standards are there tooaE”the soft buns filled with barbecue pork known as hum bao, the pork dumplings called shu mei, the eggplants split and bursting with shrimpaE”along with plates of noodles that come in handy for children who donaE™t yet appreciate the pleasure of dim sum. It was at Jade Garden that my little girl finally declared: aEœI like Chinese food!aE Note by NINA SHAPIRO, 424 7th Ave. S., 206-622-8181. INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT

Harvest Vine: Sure, whipper snappers dealing in small plates dot the Seattle landscape like chicken pox now; but Senor Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez, a native of SpainaE™s Basque country, has been at it his entire culinary life. His restaurant offers more than the mere word aEœtapasaE can describe but stops short of intimidation. Dishes like the confit-stuffed squid, with apple and black rice, defy a point of reference while echoing the inventiveness of the chefaE™s home turf: The addition of a smoked sheep cheese would be the flourish of death for most chefs, but acts as a tangy foil for the differing sweet flavors of the dish. YouaE™ll never look at calamari the same way again. The artistic simplicity of the thin sliced beet arrangement in Harvest VineaE™s popular ensalada remolachas has been the topic of too many of my food conversations to count. Spanish staples act as touchstones in many dishes, as simple as braised chorizo and egg or unique as brandade stuffe piquillo peppers. The cellar bar boasts a sherry selection nonpareil in the city of Seattle, the better for drinking with such bold layered flavors. Note by MAGGIE SAVARINO DUTTON, Serves: dinner. 2701 E. Madison St., 320-9771, MADISON PARK., harvestvine.com

Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant: ThereaE™s a reason people are willing to pack in like sardines to eat at this modest family-run place: generous portions that are easy on the wallet. And the chipper servers are more than happy to direct you to their favorite dishes on the menu. (The general consensus: order the vermicelli.) I heeded their advice and ended up facing a massive bowl of Bun Dac Biet, a vermicelli dish loaded with grilled chicken, pork chop, skewered shrimp, and even a fried egg roll chopped up and thrown into the mix for good measure. Prior to that, IaE™d already munched on some fresh shrimp spring rolls and savory grilled lemon grass mushrooms. It was too much, and my server, sensing I was overwhelmed, wordlessly packed up my food. Note by ERIKA HOBART, Serves: lunch, dinner. 418 8th Ave. S., 340-1388, INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT, greenleaftaste.com

FareStart: FareStart is what The OfficeaE™s Michael Scott might term a win-win-win, with maybe a couple extra wins thrown in for good measure. Located on Westlake, just off the tracks of its karmic opposite, the less-for-more SLUT, this airy, light-filled restaurant provides tasty, healthy, affordable lunches with the proceeds funding a job training and placement program for its homeless and disadvantaged kitchen staff. Most items clock in under $8, prices rarely heard of at sit-down joints that arenaE™t Broadway or University Way lunch dives. The vegan aEœfield roastaE is a crunchy wonder, the seared salmon sandwich a moist delight. The tofu nuggetsaE”accompanied by a sweet and sour sauce introduced, said our waiter, by a Vietnamese kitchen stafferaE”are a credit to both tofu and nuggets. Also check out the guest-cheffed prix-fixe dinners every Thursday night. Note by DAMON AGNOS, Serves: lunch, dinner. 700 Virginia St., 443-1233, DOWNTOWN., farestart.org

Crush : I never fully understood CrushaE™s reputation as the place to challenge your credit card to a game of chickenaE”until a few weeks ago. It was shortly after my most recent meal at the renovated Victorian pad on Madison. Our feast had included ethereal hand-rolled potato gnocchi with gruyere cream, chanterelles, poached egg and truffle oil; grilled Portugese baby octopus served over medallions of Yukon potatoes and chorizo; and a Thanksgiving-inspired jidori chicken and truffle mushroom stuffing with cognac sauce. I returned solo the following week, sat at the bar and told myself I would only order a glass of wine and an app. The next thing I knew, the kitchen staff (surely taking pity on the lonely girl) sent out complimentary tastings of parsnip flan with smoked salmon caviar, and fresh fettuccine topped with lobster and bacon. After caving on another glass of vino, the menu delicately urged me to take another romp as well. The Crush experience swallowed me whole hog. I didnaE™t want to leave. So this is how its patrons end up dropping so much dough! It all makes sense now. Credit card: you lose. Note by JULIEN PERRY, Serves: dinner. 2319 E. Madison St., 206-302-7874. CAPITOL HILL, chefjasonwilson.com

Chang Ahn Jung: This Federal Way hole-in-the-wall, located in a Korean strip mall, is so unaccustomed to Western visitors that its name is transliterated differently on the sign out front (aEœJang An JungaE) than on its menu and business cards. The cinderblock-wall- and-dolphin-print dAccor would give even college students pause. But whataE™s on the table is spectacle enough. A dozen banchan ranging from pickled vermicelli to soy-braised potatoes. A grilled mackerel with crackly, papery skin and buttery flesh. Galbi (grilled shortribs) that dissolves on the tongue. Mandoo (dumpling) soup or cold buckwheat noodles in a limpid beef broth so good itaE™s hard to focus on the bowlaE™s more toothsome contents. And thick sablefish steaks simmered with sweet chile paste, tofu, and brown slabs of caramelized turnip. The cardinal maxim of dining in Korean restaurants holds especially true hereaE”no matter how many things you order, you will always eat too much. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN, Serves: lunch, dinner. 33100 Pacific Hwy. S., Suite 5, 253-838-8555. FEDERAL WAY.

Catfish Corner: Seeing as itaE™s about the only restaurant in Seattle that specializes in catfish, and seeing how catfish is an item of far more succulence than, say, tofu, Catfish Corner has developed quite a loyal following since it first opened in 1985. If the establishment wanted to skate by on rep, it assuredly could, given this favorable set of circumstances. But, thankfully, it doesnaE™t, as a buttery, moist baked Cajun catfish fillet with hush puppies and yams on the side reminded me one recent Wednesday. However predictable the fried stuff might be, any restaurant that makes its own tartar sauce, as Catfish Corner (and almost no one else in town) does, is clearly bent on innovation. Note by MIKE SEELY, Serves: lunch & dinner. 2726 E. Cherry St., 323-4330. CENTRAL DISTRICT , mo-catfish.com

Cafe Campagne: Cafe Campagne is devoted to French bistro cooking the way Amy Winehouse is devoted to eyeliner: visibly, avidly, with shades of the ridiculous. The entry door is labeled aEœtirezaE (pull), and there are Beaux Arts-style posters on the walls. Yet the cafe is more than a studious recreation of a Parisian resto. ItaE™s a warm, echt Seattle restaurant that holds its own, in the romance department, against nearby Il Bistro and Chez SheaaE”the Gary Cooper and Carey Grant of SeattleaE™s restaurant scene. The rustic food that Campagne chef Daisley Gordon serves the downstairs clientele sometimes shows off his mastery of classic technique better than the more artful plates upstairs: in the crackle and burnish of the skin on a duck leg confit, say, or the delicate balance of vinegar, shallot, and bitter chicories in his goat-cheese salad. And Cafe CampagneaE™s hanger steak, which comes with a garlicky Roquefort butter, silky sauteed escarole, and one of MonetaE™s haystacks recreated in fried potatoes, is still the cityaE™s best. Note by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN; Serves: lunch, dinner, weekend brunch. 1600 Post Alley, 728-2233, PIKE PLACE MARKET. campagnerestaurant.com/cafe_home.html