Years ago, during the five years I served as food editor at Seattle Homes & Lifestyles magazine, I wrote an article entitled, “Seattle’s Top-10 Restaurant Dishes.” Among my top picks was the yummy Mussels Pigalle served at Place Pigalle in the Pike Place Market.

Here’s what I had to say back then:

“The idea for steamed mussels dressed with bacon-rich balsamic vinaigrette was inspired almost 25 years ago, long before balsamic vinegar became a household staple and mussels became a commonly ordered item in Seattle. I figured this unusual dish was discovered by Place Pigalle owner Bill Frank while wandering the backroads of France. WRONG! Back in 1982, Frank and then-chef Connie Miller Cheifetz were trying to incorporate the philosophy of the restaurant (which Frank describes as “unusual preparations of good raw products without being off the wall”) into a new appetizer. Frank also appreciates dishes that combine meat or animal components with seafood, which is where the rather offbeat (albeit brilliant) idea of pairing bacon and mussels was born. In today’s version, plump mussels are placed lip to lip like upright soldiers in a pristine porcelain ramekin, then topped with a thick balsamic vinaigrette laden with chunks of celery, shallots, and chewy lardons (bacon bits). Don’t be embarrassed to sop up the vinaigrette; luckily, Frank supplies tangy sourdough rolls, strategically suited for dipping.”

And here’s what I say now:

“I’m glad to report that when Lluvia and Seth Walker bought Place Pigalle from Bill Frank several years ago, they kept the Mussels Pigalle, along with other signature dishes such as Calamari Dijonnaise and the Chocolate Pot de Crème on their menu, while adding new favorites. Here’s a recent photo of the mussels served in all their glory.

And still, I’m happy to report, among Seattle’s Top-10 dishes.

A post-holiday meal in early January at Cafe Juanita turned up many outstanding dishes. But I was most taken by one intriguing appetizer: Alaskan King Crab with Poco Carretto Green Apple Sorbetto and Crab Butter Powder. Cafe Juanita chef/owner and fellow Seattle Dame, Holly Smith, served the dish at the James Beard Foundation Gala Awards dinner last May, and it’s been a popular item on Cafe Juanita’s menu ever since.

(An aside. Poco Carretto Gelato is Smith’s latest brainchild. The authentic Italian dessert made its debut in June 2008 at the Fremont Farmers Market. Sorbets and gelatos that bear the Poco Carretto name, which translates as “little cart” in Italian, contain only the finest local, organic ingredients.)

Anyway, I’m afraid this romantic, venerable, dimly lit restaurant in Kirkland isn’t the best place to try to take plate shots. And since the picture above doesn’t begin to do justice to the ephemeral dish, I hope to make amends with my words.

Imagine, if you will, a cool scoop of sweet/tart apple sherbet draped with several salty/sweet fingers of king crab. Next comes a generous sprinkle of crab butter powder, the essence of crab. Dive–all-at-once, ice-cream-sundae-like–into the dish’s creamy/soft texture and buttery/briny taste to experience true Pacific Northwest cuisine!

These thoughts from chef Holly (as reprinted from jbfnotes, the James Beard Foundation member newsletter) , “This combination is tried and true. My twist is to make a green-apple sorbetto with as much acidity as I can leave in the apples, and then give it a drizzle of fruity Ligurian olive oil, Maldon salt, and top this with fresh chilled Alaskan king crab and crab butter powder.”

Every now and then, usually in the winter months, when the weather is typically Northwest (gray, gray, and more gray), I get a hankerin’ for Place Pigalle’s Oyster Stew.

This outstanding version of the genre has been on the menu at the venerable Pike Place Market hideaway for god knows how long–I’d bet ever since former bartender Bill Frank took over the famous biker bar in 1982. Whenever it was, I hope new owners (at least by Pike Place Market standards) Seth and Lluvia Walker  NEVER take it off!

Somehow, its creamy smoothness is totally imbued with über amounts of oyster nectar. A coupla perfectly poached oysters lurk within. I always add pieces of broken-up bread (soft inside part only, no crust) to sop up the sensual soup and make it last longer.

One cup, along with the Roasted Beet Salad, is all I can rationalize, although I’d drink vat loads if the calorie count and sat-fat levels were lower. Which more than qualifies Place Pigalle’s Oyster Stew as my Dish of the Day.

Every now and then, I just crave a real, perfectly crafted French omelet. And Cafe Campagne’s Omelet Choisy, a French-style rolled omelet flavored with herbs and filled with escarole and chèvre, always fills the bill. Here it is photographed in all its plumped-with-escarole-and-goat-cheese and studded-with-herb goodness.

It’s normally served with housemade chicken-and-pork sausage and roasted potatoes. But I prefer a simple green salad, dressing on the side myself. Along with a pairing of pink grapefruit juice, Omelet Choisy more than qualifies as my Dish of the Day.

Happy to report that Julie Andrés, chef/owner, and Julia Bandy, sommelier, are doing a wonderful job at La Medusa in Seattle’s booming Columbia City neighborhood. Julie A.’s menu offers heartfelt and delectable seasonal food; Julia B.’s wine list is well thought out and reasonably priced.

Earlier this fall, we enjoyed an appetizer of Grilled Sardines (big ones!) perfectly cooked and seasoned with nothing more than chopped garlic, good sea salt, lemon juice, and fresh parsley. They paired perfectly with Julia B.’s suggested wine: a bottle of 2005 Chiarandà Chardonnay from Sicily.

Here is the dynamic duo doing its dance on the plate. Which more than qualifies La Medusa’s Grilled Sardines as our Dish of the Day.

Purple Café and Wine Bar, with locations in downtown Seattle (my stomping ground), Kirkland, and Woodinville, does a great job with its cheese plate. I order several cheeses with all the accouterments and a flight of wine and am good to go.

Here’s the gorgeous platter which I enjoyed with the Local White Flight: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris. What a way to “fly!”

The platter includes Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese (the cheese with the thin line of ash in the middle); a blue cheese from Cashel Cheese, a farmstead cheese maker in Ireland; Mimolette, the hard, dark-orange cheese with the grainy brown rind that looks like a cantaloupe at first glance; and Tronchon, a semi-soft cheese that’s mild and pleasing. Mixed olives, Marcona almonds, quince paste, and apples, plus heavy iron baskets full of crispy crackers, rounded out our cheese-y happy hour.

Il Bistro is one of the Pike Place Market’s most reliable restaurants, with its romantic arched dining room and dark, intimate bar. Spencer and I like to go there on impulse, when the mood seems right, and quite often we enjoy the Seafood di Mare. . .Seafood Pasta along with a bottle of Peter Dow’s Cavatappi Nebbiolo.

A few weeks ago I enjoyed what I knew would have to become one of my picks for Dish of the Day when I enjoyed the Wild King Salmon with Beets and Chanterelles at Matt’s in the Market. Not only did executive chef Chester Gerl’s dish rise above the ordinary, but it reached new heights when paired with a bottle of Brick House Vineyards 2007 “Les Dijonnais” Pinot Noir. The buttery beets, with their earthy flavor, created a provocative counterpoint with the berry elements in the silky wine made from Dijon clones.

This dish is what tasting terroir is all about!

Here’s one of my favorite dishes about town: ART Restaurant and Lounge’s Indian-Spiced Salmon with Lobster Mashed Potatoes.

I love the gently-spicy, perfectly cooked slab of salmon perched atop a mound of buttery, lobster-y spuds (that contains succulent knobs of fresh lobster meat). A glistening green streak of basil oil completes the dish.

Some dishes are (almost) too pretty to eat. Which is the feeling I had when this gorgeous Baby Artichoke Salad with Vine-Ripened Tomatoes, Pine Nuts, and Parmesan was laid before me at Barolo Ristorante in downtown Seattle.

Properly called Carciofi alla Romana in Italian, I was immediately taken by the visual image of baby artichokes made to look like flowers–the artichoke heart’s leaves serving as the flower’s “petals” and sprigs of fresh basil as its “leaves.”

Once I broke down and tasted the dish, I was smitten with the tender flesh of the slow-roasted artichokes, the meltingly gentle tomato sauce, the punch from the basil pesto, and the crunch of the toasted pine nuts.

Willis Hall 2007 Roussanne, produced under the loving hand of winemaker and friend John Bell, formed a clean, crisp foil to the strong flavors of this dish.

All of which more than qualifies Barolo’s Carciofi alla Romana as today’s Dish of the Day.