Roasted chicken is one of those benchmark dishes that Spencer and I love to try at various restaurants because such a seemingly simple dish can really show a chef’s mettle.

The Whole Roasted Chicken pictured below (Note: This very generous serving is meant to serve one person, not two!!!) is one of the best renditions about town, available at Le Pichet in the Pike Place Market, but only with one hour’s notice. And you have to be in the restaurant in person to order it–no phoning ahead!

Butter-basted to order, this Washington-raised chicken from Don & Joe’s Meats in the Pike Place Market has a crispy skin, moist and steamy interior, and tantalizing texture. The evening we enjoyed it, its chicken broth was swimming with fresh English peas, dandelion greens, and bite-sized bits of ham hock.

Half a chicken is way too much for me (especially after the Salade Verte–Butter Lettuce and Hazelnut Salad with Mustard-Hazelnut Vinaigrette–plus an interesting appetizer, such as Friture de Calamars Sur Salade Aux Pois-Chiches et Frisée–Fried Calamari and White Bean-Frisée Salad, pictured below).

Luckily for us, roasted-chicken leftovers make for a glorious soup or stew the next day.