INS AND OUTS
Seattle dining-out hasn’t been the same since Barbara Figueroa closed the kitchen door behind her; here’s hoping she’s keeping happy and busy in her new post as food and beverage director for the Warwick Hotel and Chris Zarkades’s in-house restaurant Brasserie Margaux. . . . Michael Bruno, late of Il Terrazzo di Carmine, takes over this week as chef at upper Pike’s tapas-bar-and-more Tango. . . . The Elliott Grand Hyatt Seattle will boast quite a roster of food-and-beverage talent when it opens (if it does) in two weeks: Executive chef for hotel and catering is Hyatt Regency Maui ex-sous-chef Alex Kubler; Erik Liedholm, former sommelier for the Park Hyatt Highland in Carmel is selecting the wine list for the hotel’s four-floors-of-dining extravaganza, 727 Pine, to complement a menu devised by Monique Barbeau prot駩e Danielle Custer, returning to Seattle after prize-winning years at Dallas’ Laurels. . . .
OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS
Most restaurants fade away without much fuss, so it’s refreshing to see one fire off a few rockets to signal its closing: Granting the choice of a known restaurant-killing location at 140th and Greenwood, the owners of Neo Bistro sent out a high-spirited press release to the very folks they blame for their demise—those elitist lackeys of downtown, the restaurant critics. Better luck (and better location) next time, guys. And don’t forget to send us a press release before you go out of business. . . . Duke Moscrip has added a fourth outlet to his Chowder House chain, this one in the building across from the main entrance to Alki Beach formerly occupied by Boca. . . . Chateau Ste. Michelle executive chef John Sarich is not just for locals any more: His televised cooking show is currently airing on over 80 independent stations nationwide, as well as on WCBS in Los Angeles. . . .
ZIGS AND ZAGATS
The premiere U.S. guide to keeping up with the eating habits of the Joneses isn’t much use to discriminating diners in planning their next evening out, but the just-published Zagat Seattle/Portland Restaurant Survey 2001/2002 does contain some nuggets culled from the contributions of “over 1,900 avid local restaurantgoers”: We/they (1) eat out 2.9 times a week, “among the lowest [frequencies] in the nation”; (2) averaged a tab of $24.99 per head when doing so; but (3) prefer dining in New York (33 percent) and San Francisco (22 percent) to Paris (16 percent) and Seattle (7 percent). Who of us does not?
Let us know the latest! E-mail sidedish@seattleweekly.com.
