Sitka & Spruce

I'm currently on a trip back home to Los Angeles eating a ton every day, but for whatever reason, I woke up craving Matt Dillon's Sitka & Spruce.

Sitka & Spruce is still one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle. The only reason I've waited so long to write a post about this place is because I've been waiting to see if I'd ever have anything bad to say about this place. After numerous visits to this mecca of seasonal, delicious, creative, and locally-sourced food, I've concluded that I really don't have anything negative to say about this place. This is Northwest cuisine in its purest form.

Sitka & Spruce used to be tucked away in an unassuming strip mall, but the restaurant was recently relocated to the Melrose Market in Capitol Hill. In the back corner of the market, you'll find a smartly decorated, open-window restaurant with a well-sized communal table, an open kitchen, and a handful of private dining tables.

The overall effect is a space that is welcoming, casual, friendly, and relaxed. Service is always smooth and stressless, which always contributes to a feeling of going over to a friend's place to eat. If you can, grab a seat at the communal table. The kitchen is mesmerizing and amazingly calm, and a Matt Dillon sighting is far from a rarity.

Sitka & Spruce can be as expensive or as cheap as you want your meal to be. The menu changes with each and every meal. Really. Brunch tends to have a handful of repeat items, while dinner tends to have more dishes with a lifespan of one night. Every menu is loaded with plenty of tasty small plates and three to five full-fledged entrées. The menu is usually very vegetable-driven, but there are plenty of meaty offerings as well.

One look at the menu will probably leave you confused more often than not. Sitka & Spruce will use plenty of unfamiliar ingredients balanced out by entirely familiar ingredients. Don't feel sheepish about asking the waiters and waitresses about the items on the menu. I learn at least three new food terms every time I go.

That said, this post is going to be less writing and more drooling, mainly because there are a lot of pictures and you probably won't have the opportunity to order the same exact things you'll see here. Feel free to assume, however, that everything I've had at Sitka & Spruce has been absolutely delicious.

Don't expect things to completely blow your mind with every single dish, but do expect to partake in a consistent showing of creativity, seasonal flavor, and pure awesomeness. Yes, you'll see some dishes that you will think you could probably recreate at home, but take a bite, and skadoosh. You'll think differently.

Enough with the jibba jabba. Let's eat.

If you're here for brunch, make sure to start your day with a fresh batch of Stumptown. Their French press is usually loaded with Stumptown's Indonesian or Ethiopian varieties.

Similarly, make sure you get an order of their bread, sourced from Columbia City Bakery.

The Columbia City bread and soft butter do well on their own, but save most of the bread to dip into the other brunch items.

There is always scone at brunch, but only get one if you're really in the mood for a scone, because it's huge. This here's a currant scone with squash jam and crème fraîche. Sweet, savory, herby, and completely satisfying.

The restaurant also tends to serve a chickpea purée of sorts. This is a Yakima chickpea purée with carrot salad & harissa. Super rich, yet refreshing, and spicy. This is one of those goodies you'd probably want to save your bread for.

The beets & winter squash with sweet spices & tahini is another dish you should mop up with your bread. The sweet beets, squash, and spices balanced extremely well with the nutty and intense tahini.

The marinated sheep's milk feta, heriloom navels, olives & dukkah makes an appearance on the brunch menu every once in a while. If it's there, get it. The feta is more creamy and milky than intense and pungent. The orange adds a beautiful, sweet, brightness to the dish. Meanwhile, the dukkah brings the two other components together with a mixture of herbs, nuts, and rye-like flavors. The olives are a nice way to separate each bite. Make sure to utilize your bread with this dish as well.

Like any other brunch in Seattle, Sitka & Spruce almost always offers a dish with locally-sourced salmon lox. This here is blackmouth salmon lox & beets with tarragon. The rich and fatty lox and the fragrant olive oil coat your mouth with a familiar goodness. The paper-thin beets and distinct licorice-like tarragon complements the familiarity with interesting notes.

For something more traditional, consider ordering the double smoked ham, pimenton fried egg, & parsley salad. It's not on the menu every time, but if it's there and if you're in the mood for an addictively smokey piece of ham accompanied by a deliciously runny fried egg, get it.

Seriously. This egg be runny. Don't forget to pick up any remains with the last bits of your bread.

Dinner could easily be a much more formal experience, but Sitka & Spruce doesn't stray by even a hair in creating that same, comforting, casual feel. That's Chef Matt Dillon there with the tattooed arms.

At dinner, the restaurant dims the lights and adorns the tables with single flowers and flickering candles. The nice thing about this setting is that you can still opt to make the night as romantic and special as you want.

There is almost always an option for some type of grain-focused bowl. This is a cracked emmer taboulleh with preserved orange & sumac. Refreshingly light and wholesome with just the right touch of sweetness.

The restaurant also tends to have a very leafy lettuce inspired by seasonal greens and local cheeses. This one is warm greens, walnuts, & Yarmuth Farms tomme. This salad was from a menu in January, and accordingly, was packed with winter greens such as kale and chard. The cheese had form, yet was supremely creamy.

Like brunch, dinner will usually have a salmon option as a nod to the Northwest. This was a simple blackmouth salmon lox, crème fraîche, and herbs drizzled with olive oil. Simple, clean, and light.

A plate of grilled asparagus with hazelnuts and piment d'espelette. Nutty and surprisingly sweet with great notes of dill.

Steamed young artichokes with labneh, nettles & flatbread. Rich, sweet, savory, and creamy. The flatbread is to die for.

Sformatino of Kurt's cheese with rye crackers & carrot salad. Absolutely delicious. The sweet carrots, pickled radishes, and crunchy rye cracker add great texture and balance to the addictive ramekin of melted cheese.

The emmer flour crepe, spiced pumpkin, labneh, & many herbs is probably one of the most memorable dishes I've had at this restaurant. The sweetly spiced pumpkin, tart labneh, and mountain of herbs all balanced extremely well with the surprisingly fluffy emmer flour crepe. The crepe also had these amazing crispy corners that added a perfect crunch and charred flavor to every other bite. So, so good. I hope this finds its way back to the menu when I'm at Sitka & Spruce again.

The two beets with toasted seeds, sultanas, salt cod, & tahini I had in January was also amazing. Absurdly salty cod, a smooth tahini, sweet sultanas, and thinly sliced beets made for a real flavor marathon.

This roast of winter vegetables, a hen's egg, & bagna caoda delivered the earthiness of winter root vegetables, the awesome gooeyness of a well-poached egg, and the salty spice of a well-balanced bagna caoda. The generously oiled pita bread was also a nice touch.

Labneh, raw beets, heirloom navels, & Syrian mountain bread. If you ever see Syrian mountain bread on the menu, get it. The bread is crispy and addictively charred on the outside, and nice and fluffy on the inside. The raw beets brought a nice, pickled flavor to the dish, the navel oranges added that bright sweetness, and the labneh brought that awesome tartness to the dish. So fresh and so clean, clean.

Salted eye of round with almonds & yellowfoot chanterelle. Oh snap, the magic word. Chanterelle. You have to know this about me by now, but just a reminder: any dish with chanterelle probably will not disappoint me, and accordingly, this did not. The beef was pleasantly toothsome and thinly sliced, while the nuttiness of the almonds and the earthiness of the chanterelles worked together to bring in some sweet qualities.

Another memorable dish was this set of artichokes, chilis, & salted pork belly. I love roasted artichoke hearts, I love chilis, and I love pork belly, especially when salted. The sweetness of the roasted vegetables really came through and contrasted the saltiness of the thin strips of pork belly. The spice flawlessly married the two flavor extremes. I'm going to have to try to unsuccessfully make this at home at some point.

I distinctly remember this bowl of Alaskan spot prawns steamed in a cataplana with fino sherry as well. The stewy base of briny beans made for a hearty dish, accented by perfectly steamed spot prawns. I wish I could eat an entire tub of this stuff.

La Push halibut, natural morels, caraway, tahini & wood sorrel. Oh snap. The other magic word. Morels. Automatically delicious in my book, more often than not. You can't go wrong with deliciously soft halibut, earthy morels, silky tahini, and perfect amounts of caraway and sorrel. Boy, do they know how to cook a fish.

The spiced duck breast with honey, walnuts, & turnips proved that Sitka & Spruce knows its way around poultry as well. The duck was insanely flavorful and moist, and the sweetened base of walnuts and turnips really played well with the spiced duck skin.

The charcoal grilled pork with mustards, chickpeas & cumin finalized any doubts I didn't have about Sitka & Spruce's ability to perfectly cook any type of meat. The medium-rare pork was juicy, rich, and amazingly flavorful. The chickpeas and cumin, which happens to be one of my favorite spices, really balanced out and brought out the intense flavor of the charcoal-grilled pork.

No surprise here. Sitka & Spruce can whip up a mean dessert. The two chocolate cookies with hazelnut caramel and sea salt was like a bite of heaven. Really, the menu description should have said "two chocolate cookie sandwiches," because that's what they were. No complaints, though. The cookies could have been a little less hard, but the centers were rich, moist, and sweet. The nutty caramel was perfectly burnt and salty. I think everyone can agree at this point that sweet and salty desserts are the ish. Goodness, this was awesome.

If I seriously had to vote one thing I've eaten at Sitka & Spruce off of the island, this might be it. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't say goodbye to this guy without tears streaming down my face. The gateau Basque with spiced sugar pie pumpkin featured a lightly sweet and spicy heap of seasonal pumpkin jewels on top of an addictively nutty and light cake. Okay, wait. I wouldn't vote this off the island. Eff the island.

As service ends, you'll probably catch an eerily quiet and spotless kitchen counter, as if nothing ever happened. The embers in the charcoal and wood-fired grill will extinguish, the excited conversations will die down, and you'll probably thank the chef for the meal and leave.

Sure, Sitka & Spruce isn't at the head of modern cuisine, and you probably won't find anything like foams, bubbles, or nitro crumbles. What you will find, however, is a refreshingly accessible take on locally sourced Northwestern cuisine.

Sitka & Spruce, I can't imagine breaking up with you. Ever. You'll probably be my favorite restaurant in Seattle for a long, long time. In sickness and in health. Thanks for always being and continuing to be consistently fresh, delicious, inspiring, and exciting. See you soon.

Sitka & Spruce

1351 Melrose Ave E

Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 324-0662

http://www.sitkaandspruce.com/

GET: Anything. Really.

Sushi Kappo Tamura

Sushi Kappo Tamura is part of a growing Seattle-based Kitamura empire. With Chiso, Showa Izakaya, and a tip of the hat from the James Beard Foundation under his belt, Taichi Kitamura has had no trouble finding forums to share his food. After eating at all of his establishments, his love for local, seasonal, and sustainable food becomes very clear.

The moment you walk in, you're greeted by a beautiful sushi bar. You won't find a single person without a smile at the bar. Sushi Kappo Tamura is not only about the food, but also about a personable and casual experience. Every sushi chef was having conversations with people seated at the bar. Every fifteen minutes or so, the chefs would say goodbye to their departing customers and would thank at least one person by name. You can tell that Sushi Kappo Tamura is very much about lasting, meaningful relationships with their customers.

Unlike Chiso or Showa, Sushi Kappo Tamura is the place to go for food straight from the hands of Chef Kitamura. That's him at the right end of the bar.

The space has high ceilings, comforting seating, calming music, and huge windows letting in the sunset. The plate ware is a refreshing departure from blindingly white plates and is just as beautiful as the food. From service to setting, Sushi Kappo Tamura feels like you've been invited to Taichi Kitamura's home. No pretention or high-brow service. Just good food and good company.

Sushi Kappo Tamura has a very focused and interesting menu, which makes the tasting menu not absolutely necessary. But if you have the chance, go for it. Like any good tasting menu, this one speaks to you.

This particular tasting menu started with organic mizuna, shimeji and grilled king oyster mushrooms, dressed with yuzu sauce and umadashi. The mizuna, or water greens, were light, crisp, and slightly peppery. Think of a less intense, but more full-bodied type of arugula. The sauce was bright from the intense yuzu, but tempered by the light and aromatic dashi broth. The mushrooms completed the dish with a beautiful richness and earthiness.

The second course was an Alaskan red snapper nitsuke with hari ginger and gobo. The fish was firm, yet moist. Every bite of the fish literally melted in my mouth. Nitsuke means that the fish was simmered in a broth that is usually soy sauce based. The gobo, or burdock, was slightly sweet and added some earthiness to the dish. The tightly packed handful of seasoned spinach was refreshing and light. The hari ginger was finely julienned, which allowed itself to season and unify the rest of the dish. Overall, the dish was a delicious balance of textures and sweet, salty, light, and earthy flavors.

Third was a duck breast shio-ni, yuzu gosyo scallion sauce with sauteed mustard greens. Each bite of this dish was insane. The duck breast was cooked with some soy sauce to a beautiful medium-rare and the yuzu and scallions brightened and intensified the duck's flavor. The mustard greens were simply sautéed, which added a nice kick to each bite. Duck typically depends on its own fat to let its flavor shine. These lean slices of duck did just the opposite with even better results.

The fourth course was the chef's sushi selection. At the top-left was a six-pack of cucumber, geoduck, and cuttlefish. The diagonal spread featured albacore, yellowtail, tuna, cuttlefish, and salmon. At the bottom-right was some salmon roe and geoduck. The sushi here is no joke. This is some of the best-quality sushi I've had in Seattle. Everything melted like oceanic honey in my mouth. I mean really, look at how beautiful each careful slice of fish looks. Usually, I take a stab at highlighting the best in a spread of sushi, but all of these were so good that nothing stood above the rest.

The meal ended with an Okinawan cane sugar crème brûlée. I love crème brûlée, and this one reinforced that obsession. Though a standard version of crème brûlée is always delicious, my favorite ones have always been at Japanese restaurants that take a departure from the norm (i.e., black sesame crème brûlée and green tea crème brûlée).

The rich sugar cane brûlée came out crisp, sweet, and reminiscent of the flavor of molasses. The layer of sugar cane was just thick enough to complement the nutty and surprisingly light custard. The custard tasted almond-based and was smooth, but still had a pleasantly heavy texture. Like many of the other dishes on the tasting menu, I can't help but describe this dish as earthy. I can't remember a single dessert that I've described as earthy, but this one was. So good.

Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of everything I ate here. Sushi Kappo Tamura doesn't flaunt any bells or whistles. It just features delicious, fresh, healthy, and focused food. By the end of the tasting menu, I was perfectly satisfied. Chef Kitamura's food defines himself as a down-to-earth guy with an appreciation for where food comes from and serving healthy, yet satiating food.

Sushi Kappo Tamura

2968 Eastlake Ave E

Seattle, WA 98102

(206) 547-0937

http://www.sushikappotamura.com/

GET: Anything.

Plum Bistro

Within my first month of living in Seattle, it was pretty apparent that I'd have to deal with a food movement that completely clashes with my eating habits: veganism. I had always approached veganism with my eyes rolling to the back of my head. Since then, I've tried a good handful of vegan food, but none stand out quite as much as Makini Howell's Plum Bistro.

Plum Bistro is set up in space that feels invitingly industrial through its smart use of exposed cement and beautiful wood paneling. This cafe passes on the stereotypical indicators of vegan cafes and succeeds in putting together an interior that is welcoming, comforting, and distinctly Seattle. The local Native American art, the restrained use of light fixtures, the vaulted ceilings, and the glass-paneled garage door do nothing but help to establish that environment.

One glance at the menu makes clear that Plum Bistro is full of creativity. Every time I go, I want to try everything all over again, which, needless to say, makes decision-making particularly difficult. It's a good thing that every meal starts off with a bottle of water and a glass of ice with a grabbag mix of freshly sliced cucumber, lemon, orange, or lime. Infused waters always come off as a trend to some, but I've always found them to be a simple way to generally lighten up the meal.

Let's start with three starters that everyone should get when you go to Plum Bistro.

First up, the Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Fries. These things are no joke. The fries are sweet and crispy, and the garlic-packed salsa verde-like topping with jalapeño aioli is the perfect way to balance the sweet potatoes with some heat. The center of this mound of fries is usually a bit soggy, but the salsa has a way of making even the soggiest of fries delicious. I like the sweet potato fries better, but just as delicious are the Crunchy Garlicky Yam Fries topped with a dill aioli.

Second, the Spicy Mac 'N' Yease. I might like this more than I like regular mac and cheese. Whatever they use for their macaroni is light and the way they bake it gives a nice crunchy edge to a good number of them. The cheese substitute is addictive, creamy, and packed with rustic and intense spices. My bet is on either, or both, turmeric or cumin. This dish always has just enough heat to keep you coming for more.

The third starter you have to get are the Creamed Tofu Filled Cilantro Crepes. These crepes are unreal. Sitting on top of a healthy drizzle of that same jalapeño aioli used in the sweet potato fries, these light and fluffy crepes come topped with cilantro, scallions, and asparagus. The creamed tofu, and the whole dish, really is texturally bland, but when you get the right bite with a bit of each component on your fork, it's absurdly delicious. I could get these and the Spicy Mac 'N' Yease and call it a day, every day, and inadvertently become a vegan.

I've been to Plum Bistro several times for brunch, lunch, and dinner, and each experience has typically been defined by those three dishes. There are some other standouts, though.

At lunch, Plum Bistro serves two delicious wraps. I prefer the Spicy Jamaican Tempeh Wrap. Packed with pickled sweet peppers and onions, tangerine slices, spinach, tempeh, and that same jalapeño aioli, without careful handling, this wrap can get really messy really quickly. The tortilla they use is blistered, toasty, and freshly aromatic. Each bite is packed with flavor: the sweet and juicy tangerine slices add a bright note to the firm tempeh and the peppers, onions, and aioli deliver on the promised spiciness of the dish.

The Chili-Crusted Seitan is one of the heartiest dishes I've had at Plum Bistro. With its clear focus on Mexican flavors, this dish is also one of the more classic-tasting dishes I've had at Plum Bistro. The chili-crusted seitan is packed with spices and is served enchilada-style, wrapped in a tortilla and topped with a delicious Mexican mole sauce. The combination of the salsa verde and avocado salsa on top did a great job at brightening up the heavier mole sauce and seitan. Though the mole isn't the best mole I've ever had, it's definitely very solid. The rice was surprisingly delicious and went really well with the trio of sauces as well. The menu says that this comes with a coconut and green mango cucumber salad and black beans, which I would have loved to try, but the restaurant, and I, didn't realize their absence.

The Tempeh Vermouth is awesome. The vermouth doesn't come out too strong in the tempeh, and the olive oil-based sauce adds a nice, unifying base to the tempeh, pan-seared smashed potatoes, and roasted brussel sprouts. I love anything seared, singed, charred, crusted, or roasted, and this dish was a great showcase of those textures and flavors. Let's not forget those delicious pieces of roasted garlic, too. This dish makes clear that vegan dinner entrées are very possible, can be very delicious, and can be very filling.

The Double-Dipped Seitan is another example of an amazingly filling and delicious dinner entrée. The double-dipped seitan comes off as a country-friend steak of sorts, and the gravy tastes a whole lot meatier than it is, or isn't, really. The asparagus and chives add some necessary greens to the plate and the roasted garlic mashed potatoes make you feel like this dish has always been an American family standard. This dish leaves you feeling fully satisfied without feeling like you just ate an oily chicken fried steak with buttery mashed potatoes.

The last, but certainly not least, outstanding dish I've had at Plum Bistro is the Mama Africa Burger. Though the millet and quinoa burger patty doesn't hold together very well, it's just as satisfying as your typical beef patty. There are much more interesting flavors going on in this patty than a typical burger, showcasing Plum Bistro's signature use of rich and flavorful spices. The bun is beautiful and fluffy, and the sweet grilled onions, fresh tomatoes, bright salsa, and housemade vegan mayo make you feel like you're eating what every American dreams of: a guiltless, filling, and delicious burger. I might have to try to make this at some point over the summer whenever I get tired of grilling beef, which might be never...but still. It's on my list. The side of yam fries and garlic-dill aioli is a nice bonus.

The dishes I've had that aren't really standouts still had certain components that made them memorable and worth getting as a backup.

The Lite Fluffy Banana Pancakes aren't very light or fluffy at all, and you can't really taste bananas in the pancakes, but they come topped with an insanely addictive sweet chocolate mole sauce that goes perfectly with the banana slices. Who am I kidding, though? Nothing beats Tasty Crust's banana pancakes anyways.

The Panamanian-Style Polenta and Chili Gravy comes with a bland bowl of chili with chunks of polenta on the right and an equally boring set of tortillas on the left. The jalapeño scramble and avocado salsa in the middle, however, are delicious. I wish the plate were just a huge mound of that scramble topped with that avocado salsa. No distractions necessary.

The Mama Africa Salad is fresh and bright with slices of orange and strawberry, but overall, the dish came off as typical. The Mama Africa (the millet and quinoa sticks), however, are firm, delicious, and could stand on their own as an appetizer with a set of aiolis.

The biscuits in the Mini Biscuits in Chili Chorizo Gravy I had were dense and stale and the gravy tasted like it needed some more seasoning, but whatever they use for their chorizo is like crack. It's good to know that there's an above-average, vegan substitute to chorizo out there.

With such a large and interesting menu, there's always something new to get at Plum Bistro. I used to think that veganism was a voluntary resignation from eating delicious food. Though I don't think I'll ever go vegan, it comforts me to know that places like Plum Bistro would make being vegan entirely bearable. Makini Howell's food is local, organic, sustainable, vegan, fresh, flavorful, and innovative, all characteristics that undoubtedly put her at the forefront of vegan cooking.

Plum Bistro

1429 12th Ave E

Suite B

Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 838-5333

http://www.plumbistroseattle.com/

GET: Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Fries; Crunchy Garlicky Yam Fries; Spicy Mac 'N' Yease; Creamed Tofu Filled Cilantro Crepes; Spicy Jamaican Tempeh Wrap; Tempeh Vermouth; Double-Dipped Seitan; Mama Africa Burger.