In Seattle, if you haven’t filled up on lattes at the first Starbucks, fresh-cut fruit from Pike Place Market vendors or a bag of tiny, still warm donuts from Daily Dozen Donut Co., dinner is served at Matt’s in the Market. Look up from the Dungeness crab-scallop ceviche long enough to watch ferries cross Elliott Bay.
If you’re after salmon, Tilth delivers fish so astonishingly fresh it puts the fisherman’s name on the menu. Or pine over a fillet rubbed with love at Tom Douglas’s Etta’s.
It’s hard to pass up the views at Seattle’s essential fish house, Ray’s Boathouse. While in the ’hood don’t miss oysters at The Walrus and the Carpenter.
Thirsty? Prestigious Seattle cocktail bars Zig Zag Cafe and Canon face stiff competition from Tacoma’s 1022 South, which makes liberal use of housemade bitters and botanical infusions. While in T-town, stop at Brown and Haley for Almond Roca, the confection created here in 1923.
Head for the hills, but not without a stop first at Adams Northwest Bistro and Brewery in Monroe, where all the butchery is done in-house. Then go straight for Sultan Bakery’s in Sultan for paw-size bearclaws or an oatmeal cookie so perfectly sweet it almost seems caramelized.
Find more restaurants in the Metro Seattle region.
—Julie H. Case