With just about every chef and restaurateur in Seattle opening second “small-bite/casual” restaurants and/or offering up killer deals for cheap eats during daily happy hours, sometimes I wonder if fine-dining is dead in our fair city.

So a couple of weeks ago, I made a Saturday-night-at-eight-p.m. reservation at The Georgian, the stunning main dining room in the venerable Fairmont Olympic Hotel to find out.

As we settled in with a glass of bubbly (me) and a gin martini (Spencer) and perused the menu, we were (frankly) amazed at the reasonable price points for such a glamorous setting, with soaring ceilings, a live-music duo of pan flute and upright bass, extensive wine list, etc.

We could have ordered à la carte or opted for the three-course prix-fixe dinner ($69 per person with wine pairings; $49 without), but decided to go all out.

We chose the five-course dinner (including a dessert soufflé!), plus wine pairings, for $99 per person ($69 sans vino).

Here’s the gorgeous bread-and-butter set-up–with four flavors of butter and spiky strips of crunchy lavash cracker–that set the tone for a tone-y meal to come.

After a bit of a wait, the lovely first course came out–Tempura Morel Mushrooms with Truffle Camembert and Morel Shooters (light and lovely mushroom juice in test-tube-like shooters!).

Toothsome and gooey-good, the tempura morels paired perfectly with Domaine Schönheitz 2008 Pinot Gris from Alsace.

Gotta love that sterling-silver skewer and swipe of mushroom dust that makes this plate presentation so pretty.

The second course was another visual knock-out and tasted just as good. Deadliest Catch included razor-thin shavings of the sweetest Alaskan King Crab along with Dungeness Crab Fritters, artistically topped with Arugula Salad. It also went well with the Alsatian Pinot Gris.

Inspired!

I adore beets in just about any form, so was super-pleased with the third course, Roasted Baby-Beet Salad with Candied Pecans (like the best fruit-and-nut bar I’ve ever tasted, probably due to lots of added butter), Goat Cheese, and Walnut Vinaigrette.

The goat cheese is the white blob on the right-hand side and was done molecular gastronomy-style–it was light and fluffy in texture and simply the essence of chèvre.

Unlike me, hubby hates beets, so our server graciously substituted the Olympic Caesar Salad from the three-course prix-fixe dinner and didn’t even charge anything extra.

Both salads were paired with Poet’s Leap Winery 2008 Riesling, one of our all-time fave off-dry Rieslings, and another thoughtful pairing from The Georgian’s long-time (seven years) sommelier–Joseph Linder.

After so much good food, we could hardly believe that entrées were yet to come!

Here’s my gorgeous Smoked Alaskan Wild King Salmon. It was served with Shaved Granny-Smith Apples, Locally Foraged Morel Mushrooms, Yukon-Gold Potato Balls (fun to eat!), and a rather sweetish-sauve containing Olympic Rooftop Honey.

Rex Hill 2008 Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley was a truly wonderful wine for this perfect pairing.

We both gasped in wonder when we saw the artistic shapes, dots, and lattice-work on Spencer’s gorgeously plated Roasted Rack of Lamb with Tomato Crust, Kalamata Olives, Sweet-Pea Quinoa, and Grilled Spring Onion.

The lamb was flavorful without being too gamey; the pea quinoa is something I’d like to make at home; and the lattice work grating is something I’ll gladly leave to Georgian Executive Chef Gavin Stephenson to prepare.

Spencer was more than happy with his entrée’s wine pairing: Château de Clairvoy 2005 Côtes de Bourg from Bordeaux.

Sad to say, but because they are labor-intensive and temperamental to cook, few restaurants bother with making soufflés any more. Lucky for us, The Georgian still turns out a stellar daily-changing version.

Ours was called the “Black and White,” served with Crème Anglaise and a chocolate-covered strawberry, but they also offered up Chocolate Mint. Hard to go wrong with either one!

Although there were occasional service gaffes (a long delay between aperitifs/cocktails and the first course, being seated at a table facing away from the musical duo, the hostess setting up our table after we had been seated), we left thinking that, at least when it comes to its food-and-wine offerings, The Georgian still offers up very fine dining in Seattle.