Ancient Grounds

There are coffee shops and espresso bars on every corner in Seattle, but for a real Seattle espresso experience, stop in at Ancient Grounds not far from Pike Place Market. It’s both an intimate art gallery, loaded with intriguing treasures including Native American and Asian masks and netsuke. The espresso is strong, the ambience pure Seattle.

Food at Canlis, Seattle, Pacific Northwest

Canlis

A Seattle fine-dining destination for over six decades, Canlis has kept up with the times without losing any of the ingredients that have contributed to its remarkable longevity. This culinary keepsake in the Queen Anne neighborhood was the first restaurant in Seattle to serve what is now referred to as “contemporary Northwest cuisine”. It likes to call its cooking “Comfort Geek”, meaning that it combines modern technique with a comfortable, approachable style. The quietly stylish dining room, in a two-story bluff-top building, combines contemporary décor with Asian antiques. Though you’ll find an array of fabulous menu choices, steaks from the copper grill, the Canlis salad and Peter Canlis’ prawns are perennial favorites that have been on the menu since 1950. There’s a comprehensive wine list, including delicious Northwest vintages. Reserve as far in advance as you can.

Editors' Picks
Food at Poppy, Seattle, Pacific Northwest

Poppy

In 2012, Seattle Magazine named Poppy Seattle’s best Northwest cuisine restaurant, a well-deserved accolade for this inventive dining mecca in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Created by chef Jerry Traunfeld (formerly of the equally acclaimed Herbfarm restaurant in Woodinville), Poppy presents a fresh take on the Indian thali, a compartmentalized platter holding various dishes with many different tastes. Traunfeld uses local seasonal products to create his daily thalis. You might order one that features crisp-skin king salmon with pinot noir-fennel sauce as a main dish, complemented by carrot-lemon soup with dukkah; cucumber, black lentil and sumac salad; peppermint snap peas; and fennel and shiso kimchi. The medley of textures, herbs and spices is surprising and satisfying.

Ambience : Purple Café and Wine Bar, Seattle, Pacific Northwest

Purple Café and Wine Bar

Diners at Purple are somewhat dwarfed by the enormous room with its huge glass windows and floor-to-ceiling wine storage tower, but no one seems to mind. Nor should they, since the food is always good and the atmosphere is relaxed in a “smart-casual” sort of way. Wine is a big feature at Purple, and wine pairings with your various plates are surprisingly inexpensive compared to other Seattle restaurants. The menu at Purple gives a nod to international influences but makes abundant use of the bounty of the Pacific Northwest in dishes like Dungeness crab and chanterelle mushroom pasta. You can share small plates or order larger ones. You can’t be shy or retiring here; you’ll have to speak up if you want to be heard over the lively hub-bub.

Shiro’s Sushi Restaurant

Sushi lovers, whether they’re locals or businessmen from Tokyo, flock to Shiros in Belltown because, quite simply, it serves the best sushi in Seattle. Sushi master and local legend Shiro Kashiba serves only the finest, freshest fish to his customers; you will never taste anything but the best here. For a sumptuous repast, order the chef’s selection of omakase sushi or sashimi. Tempura and other traditional Japanese favorites are also available. One of Shiro’s signature dishes is broiled black cod kasuzuke.

Restaurant at Six-Seven Restaurant & Lounge, Seattle, Pacific Northwest

Six-Seven Restaurant & Lounge

The fine-dining restaurant at The Edgewater, on Pier 67, always had a great view, and now, under the guidance of Chef John Roberts, it has fine-dining as well. The glass-walled room opens out to a narrow patio overlooking Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains. This is definitely the place to dine in warm summer months.

The food is locally sourced and usually organic. Menus change with the seasons, but you can never go wrong with the chef’s signature crab and shrimp cake, a delicious appetizer made with an egg binder instead of breadcrumbs. Order whatever fish is fresh that day. The cedar plank salmon, plank-baked in a traditional Native American way but served with rich additions of truffle cream, blackberry honey, and bacon, is another melt-in-the-mouth specialty. All the entrees can be ordered in half-portions, or you can choose from a selection of small plates featuring unadorned fish and meat selections. Six-Seven is a destination restaurant and great for a romantic dining experience.

Dinning Area at Wild Ginger Asian Restaurant & Satay Bar, Seattle, Pacific Northwest

Wild Ginger Asian Restaurant & Satay Bar

This Pan-Asian restaurant across from Benaroya Hall and above the Triple Door jazz club in downtown Seattle has been a favorite with Seattleites for some time, and for good reason. The location is great, the ambience is bright and lively without being a noisy scene, and the cooking is always good. Skewers of chicken, prawns, lamb and salmon arrive hot from the satay bar accompanied by sticky rice and pickled cucumber. You can also order deliciously pungent dishes like panang beef, a curry made with prime rib eye beef in a sauce of cardamom, coconut milk, basil and peanuts.

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