A few weeks ago, needing a quick dinner before a 7 p.m. movie near the University of Washington campus, we struck out for Kabul Afghan Cuisine in the Wallingford neighborhood along 45th Street.

Here are the glorious Bolani, a samosa-like appetizer (vegetarian) filled with potatoes and peas. Rich yogurt sauce was perfect for dipping.

And here is the Ash, a hearty lentil-and-chickpea soup redolent with dill and mint, and much more flavorful than many of its Greek counterparts.

Spencer and I both had the same main course. . .chicken skewer with one of my all-time favorite dishes–Badenjan Borani–baked eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt. The rice was buttery, with a sweet edge thanks to a topping of grated carrots and dark raisins.

Wine was a treat since we got adventurous and tried a red from Lebanon which was both rich and flavorful with hints of pepper and wisps of smoke!

Dessert is always a must here. Spencer got Firini, the traditional rosewater-and-pistachio custard pudding flavored with cardamom.

While I opted for Rosewater and Pistachio Ice Cream. Hard to say which was better. . .MMMMMM.

Every so often we get in the car and drive to Renton, where the huge blue box with the yellow lettering that spells IKEA signifies we’ve arrived at the Swedish-based store. It’s a great place for inexpensive but well-made frames for Spencer’s photographs, unusual vases for my flower arrangements, and common houseplants when mine have died.

But until recently, we had never tried it for lunch, and were VERY pleasantly surprised when we finally did.

Here’s my heart-healthy choice, split-pea soup, gravadlax salad, and some crispy, crunchy, super-tasty whole-grain crackers. I liked them so much, I bought a pack for at-home munching.

Meanwhile, Spencer got the dish of the day, Swedish Meatball and Mashers (which I imagine is DotD on most days). 🙂

The Scandinavian specialty-food section right next door to the cafeteria is a gold mine for foodies; in addition to the rye crackers mentioned above, I stocked up on Lingonberry Jam and whole-wheat pasta shaped like elk.

To me, this simple scene of stained-glass window, bottle of Albariño, fresh flowers in a simple vase, and streetscape outside sets the tone at Olivar, a Spanish restaurant located in the historic, and atmospheric, Loveless Building just off Broadway in Capitol Hill.

Here’s the Spicy Mixed Greens with Oven-Roasted Tomato, Croutons, and Aged Sherry Vinaigrette, a beautiful symphony of colors, textures, and flavors.

And here’s the fresh arugula salad with tender baby beets (in jewel tones of red and yellow), Caña de Oveja (semi-aged goat cheese), and balsamic drizzle.

A daily special of octopus with giant white beans, slender green beans, and a tomato filled with ratatouille didn’t disappoint, either.

But the star dish, among many, was listed as a “small plate” on the menu, although it was plenty enough as an entrée for me: Sea Scallops with Grilled Corn & Artichoke Relish, sauced with spicy, piquant Romesco.

Spencer’s choice–a large plate of Grilled Leg of Lamb with Nectarines, Roasted Garbanzo beans, and Spinach was chewy (in a good way) and flavorful.

That afore-mentioned bottle of Albariño was fruity, yet elegant, with crisp acidity that worked well with the peppery green olive oil and brilliant flavors of all our dishes.

You know we are big fans of Ethan Stowell and all the good work he’s done at Union, Tavolàta, and How to Cook a Wolf. So we were very curious to try his latest, Anchovies & Olives, which is located in the Pearl Building in Capitol Hill.

Things didn’t get off to a very auspicious start because the restaurant was suffering from a menu malfunction when we arrived on a weekday around 5:30 (something about a printer being down or out of paper–whatever). Only one menu was available, so our server kindly transported it from the table of people nearby whenever we needed another glass of wine or small plate for sustenance. 

About 10 minutes later, when menus were finally delivered, I nabbed one and shot it for posterity, below. 

We began our meal with an order of the Columbia City Bakery foccacia served (of course!) with a small dish of arbequina olives doused in peppery olive oil, above. 

Black Cod with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms

Like the menus, malfunctions continued with our entrées as well. My black cod was supposed to arrive with fingerling potatoes, spring onion, and salsa verde. Spencer’s escolar (an oily rich whitefish) was supposed to come with hen of the woods mushrooms, speck, endive, and brown-butter balsamic. Unfortunately, the kitchen mixed the sauces, so my light, seasonal preparation suddenly became a dense and heavy dish. 

Escolar with Fingerling Potatoes 

We informed our server, who offered to have the chef re-make the dishes we ordered, but we were en route to a movie, so didn’t have time. 

Instead, we shared our entrées part-way through, and ordered sides of Cauliflower Salad with Anchovy Dressing and Conchiglie (little ear) Pasta with Smoked Tuna, both of which were very satisfying choices. 

Again, because of time limitations, we passed on dessert, even though our server offered it to us for free to make up for the entrée snafu.

Instead, he comped a glass of wine or two, a nice gesture that helped make up for the two malfunctions.

Would we rush back? Probably not, and not because of the malfunctions cited above. It’s just that we are lucky enough to be able to enjoy Ethan and company’s culinary wonders in our own backyard without worrying about parking in the busy 15th Avenue neighborhood. 

On Memorial Day, we eschewed the traditional family barbecue and met with Betty Ann and Louie Richmond, of Richmond Public Relations fame, for a movie at the Seattle International Film Festival, followed by dinner at The Signature. The Signature has taken the space of Moxie, a popular pre-theater/concert/movie resto in lower Queen Anne that closed due to changes in the chefs’ family situations.

Family is a big part of The Signature’s zeitgeist as well: Tony Ly and his brothers and sisters created the restaurant to honor his mother’s “signature” dishes (get it?). Although we ordered what seemed a reasonable amount of food off the menu, the ever-hospitable Tony kept supplementing our choices with some of his own favorites such as the yummy Vietnamese Chicken Baquette shown below in all its toothsome glory. 

The Vietnamese Crepe, one of my all-time favorite dishes, was redolent of coconut milk (a brilliant taste accent!) and perfectly cooked–crispy on the outside and with a creamy interior. I love this way of playing with my food when I eat by wrapping the crepe inside lettuce leaves with fresh thai basil and cilantro. Refreshing and healthy!

Although I don’t eat beef, the Rare Beef Noodle Soup, the ever-popular Vietnamese Pho, was hearty and could have been a meal in itself. All the Pho dishes come with a side of fresh bean sprouts, basil, lime, cilantro, and green onion for seasoning to taste. 

The Signature offers comfortable inside seating with a fireplace, plush pillows for the wooden banquettes, and a friendly bartender who’s a holdover from Moxie. On warm summer evenings like we’ve been having lately (karmic payback for our snowy winter?), there’s a narrow outdoor seating area with just one row of tables. These are sure to get snapped up as summer continues, as will the many memorable signature dishes at The Signature. 

We often eat at food palaces, places with multi-course tasting menus and pages-long wine lists. And that can be loads of fun.

But sometimes we just want to roll up our sleeves, stroll outside our condominium building without a reservation or a definite restaurant in mind, and end up wherever our hearts (and stomachs) lead us.

Which is just what happened one evening as we headed up First Avenue and took a quick detour up to Second. It was early for us (5:30), especially early for a Saturday night and we were delighted to see that Txori, the sister restaurant to Harvest Vine, had a table or two available. 

We quickly ordered a handful of appetizers, including the three shown above: Stuffed Squid in Its Ink; Clams with White Beans, Garlic, and Parsley; and Braised Chicken with a Piquillo Pepper and Button Mushroom. 

Not quite sated, we added two specials of the day–a bowl of Lentil Soup and an order of Eggplant with a Tomato Sauce and Anchovy.

Several glasses of wine, ranging from a Brut Rosé Cava (dry and good!) to Fuente del Conde 2006 Rosé to Protos Roble 2006 Ribera del Duero, paired perfectly with the savory food. And our sweet tooths were sated with a mini slice of cheescake–just two bites apiece–and perfect!

From his days at Palisade to his gutsy opening of the seafood-centric Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar on Seattle’s Eastside when the restaurants on that side of the lake were a crap shoot, we’ve loved chef John Howie’s cooking. 

Now, glad to report he’s opened a Seattle location of Seastar in Paul Allen’s swanky new multi-use development that includes a stylish Pan Pacific Hotel and Whole Foods Market. We are are glad to say that Howie’s new venture is clicking along on all four cylinders after being open just shy of one month, as you would expect from a chef and restaurateur of Howie’s caliber.

Here’s a photo of the lovely Putaportiwon’s Calamari Poppers. Our server warned us these ahi tuna-stuffed calamari tubes were hot and they were (a bit too much for my taste, but my hot-mouthed hubby loved ’em). Red and green grape slices and a bed of zesty slaw moderated the heat and made for a pretty plate presentation on this very generously sized appetizer.  

I enjoyed the Sushi Sampler for my entrée, along with an extra roll called the Super Dave, glistening slices of salmon and bright green avocado on the outside of the roll with Dungeness crab in the middle.

Here’s the lovely Caesar Salad. Note the miniature starfish whose tentacles are fashioned out of anchovy slices astride the Parmesan crisp!

Spencer’s entree, Hazelnut Grilled Rainbow Trout, was an architectural wonder as well as a good value. Pieces of Clear Springs Idaho boneless rainbow trout hovered above a mound of wild rice-barley-wheat-berry pilaf. I also love the asparagus “spokes” that were both tasty and beautiful.

Our dessert choice–Coconut Cream Pie–could easily have fed four people. We ate as much as we could, then brought the leftovers home for the next evening. It easily surpassed Tom Douglas’s signature Triple Coconut Pie, but don’t tell Tom. That being said, nobody has ever topped my mother-in-law in the Coconut Cream Pie category. Bobbie Sue made hers with Jell-O pudding and pie filling (that she prepared like pie filling so it would be thicker), then enhanced it with coconut flavoring and at least a stick of melted butter and several egg yolks. The egg whites were whipped to stiff peaks, fluffed over the filling, and baked until golden brown and chewy like the perfect toasted marshmallow. 

Seastar Seattle’s stellar wine list has all the hallmarks of Seastar Bellevue sommelier Eric Liedholm. It boasts intriguing wines by the glass from our region and around the world, a theme that carries over into the wines by the bottle.

In these tough economic times, it’s both brave and perhaps a bit daft for a seasoned restaurateur to open a 150-seat restaurant. Hats off to John Howie for offering up a bit of glamourous chic to the youngish crowd enjoying the vibe on the Saturday night we dined at Seastar Seattle. 

We’ve loved Joule, the atmospheric neighborhood resto in Wallingford on 45th Street since our very first visit, and glad to report that things are still running like clockwork. 

Here are two of the appetizers we enjoyed immensely on our latest visit–Shrimp and Edamame Potstickers (left) and Kimchi and Rice Fritters in Spicy Tomato Sauce. The Whole Dourade was also outstanding, served with Sweet-and-Sour Eggplant and Almond Piccata, as was the Octopus with Fingerlings and Smoked Chili Broth. 

We’re thrilled that chef/co-owner Rachel Yang has been nominated as a semifinalist in the Rising Young Chef category in the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards! Finalists will be announced on March 23. 

Although it’s been open (to rave reviews, we might add) since last October, between our travels and all the snow that hit Seattle over the holidays, we didn’t make it up Queen Anne hill to try How to Cook a Wolf until early January. We’ve long been a champion of Seattle über-chef Ethan Stowell, who with business partner Patrick Gabre-Kidan and wife Angela, is building a restaurant empire in Seattle à la the-chef-with-the-Midas-touch himself, Tom Douglas. 

First off, the 40-seat-space is as warm, inviting, and contemporary as has been widely reported. With beautiful blonde paneling wrapping from floor to ceiling, my first reaction was that I was dining in a hollowed-out pine tree! An elegant hammered copper band runs just above eye level, while the bar bustles with activity. 

The place attracts all ages and somehow makes everyone seem hip. We ate our way through a majority of the menu, beginning with the Hamachi Crudo, gently sauced with creamy lime, and sprinkled with chili flake that packed a real punch. Seared Escolar, a meaty, oily fish similar to marlin or swordfish, was Spencer’s fave. It was lightly seared and served with celery slices and tops, chopped Taggiasca olives, and blood-orange segments that perfectly offset the richness of the fish. Seared Albacore was another star of the evening, the ruby-red center of the fish glistening and tender, accompanied by sautéed cauliflower florets, golden raisins, and pine nuts and white-bean purée. 

Two salads shone–Roasted Beets in a creamy orange vinaigrette with parsley and red endive and Frisée Salad with green apple slices and crunchy pistachios. 

From the Pasta section of the menu, we opted for the Tagliatelli with Clams, Garlic, and Chiles, a simple dish we’ve tried and enjoyed several times at one of chef Ethan’s sister restaurants, Tavolàta and Union. It held up to our fond memories, but we were so stuffed from sampling all the “small” plates that we took more than half of the generous portion home for later enjoyment (mixed into a seafood stew the next evening).

We look forward to welcoming this dynamic trio’s fourth venture, Anchovies & Olives, which just opened upon Capitol Hill. And this time around, we promise to try it sooner rather than later.  

In early December we made our first foray to Springhill in West Seattle, the creation of owners Mark Fuller, a Tom Douglas alum who serves as chef, and his wife, Marjorie, who handles the front of the house. Yes, they charge for bread here, as many people (and restaurant critics) have complained, but three bucks for three such feather-light, hot-from-the-oven rolls is a bargain. My husband (who is trying to follow a relatively low-carb diet) fretted all evening because I let him eat only one!

I’m working on an article entitled, “Chef and Their Eggs,” for the Easter issue of The Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine, so have been quite interested to see what’s “eggy” on the menus about town. I wasn’t disappointed at Springhill, where chef Mark and crew offered Duck Egg Yolk Raviolo, a single large raviolo made with duck-egg yolks, filled with mascarpone, sauced with yellow (beurre blanc-style) sauce and green oil (basil?), and garnished with duck ham (keeping with the duck-y theme) and garlic chips. Here’s a photo:

Roasted Mussels was another outstanding discovery. . .roasted in their own juice, they were the essence of mussels, and therefore, perhaps the best mussel dish served in the Northwest, certainly the best I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy. Here they are:

Just to gild the lily, as if Wood-Grilled Prawns with Creamy Grits (give me anything with grits!) wasn’t decadent enough, chef Mark added a poached egg, shrimp gravy, and chanterelles. There is the shrimp dish on the left, below. 

By the time I’d eaten large portions of all of the above, my Butter Lettuce Salad (right, above) seemed an afterthought, but even it was thoughtfully prepared with pale-green lettuce leaves, tender herbs, disks of baby radish, Parmesan and a citrus dressing. 

The restaurant is contemporary, long and narrow, slightly New York-y in feel. You’ll find a mix of ages (skewing young–20s, 30s) and lifestyles (a lesbian couple at the bar, four tops with young straight couples out for the evening, two tops of older folks like us) represented here. The open kitchen buzzes with activity and the maple panels make for a pleasant din in the dining room so that the space is loud in a good way. Simple place settings and stainless-steel cutlery keep things casual, although the food is anything but, since it is so creatively and carefully prepared. 

The wine list is a winner, with an Oregon State sparkler I’d never even heard of, but thoroughly recommend: Capitello Wines Non-Vintage Brut ($12). The Wallace Brook 2007 Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley ($9) was another winner, not overly oaked and so plenty food-friendly. With the roasted mussels and his Rainbow Trout with Brown Butter, Pan-Fried Pumpkin Cakes, Toasted Hazelnuts with Parsley (another winning dish), my hubby sipped O’Reilly’s 2007 Pinot Noir, also from Oregon ($12). Here’s the trout:

We’ll be back for more. . .chef Mark’s Shellfish Sampler (half a Dungeness crab, a dozen oysters, six prawns, and a king clam with lemon-peel relish) or his Alder-Smoked Oysters or his Handmade Tagliatelle with Wild Mushrooms, Delicata Squash, Chard, and Parmesan. And, of course, we’ll do our best to save room for dessert.

Now, if Mark and Marjorie would just open a downtown branch of Springhill so we didn’t have to drive across the West Seattle bridge to get there, this place would be just about perfect.