Pike Place
Dine in trendy — or old school — style
The new Dressing Room Bistro and Bar in the CanCan, a culinary cabaret theater, features French-inspired Pacific Northwest fare made with ingredients sourced fresh from Pike Place Market, and cocktails such as a Boudoir Noir, made with aquavit and cassis. The romantic indoor space features plush booth seating draped in velvety reds and satin pinks and classic cancan memorabilia. And the rooftop patio offers gorgeous views of Post Alley and Puget Sound. Check out the menu at www.thecancan.com.
Open since March, the elegant, modern Moroccan Shama is one of the newest eateries at the market. Start with labneh topped with tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers and mint oil, kofta or a shrimp and calamari-centric m'killa, then savor entrees such as d'jaj bi zetoun (chicken with housemade preserved lemons and saffron broth) or carre d'agneau (spiced Moroccan lamb cutlets with freekeh). Find details at www.shamaseattle. com.
But if you want to go old school on the waterfront, Lowell's Restaurant & Bar — its slogan is “Almost classy since 1957” — has been a market fixture for more than a century. It offers three floors of scenic views of the Olympic Mountains, the Port of Seattle and the ferries plying Puget Sound. Seafood is its specialty, with Dungeness and smoked salmon eggs Benedict for breakfast and New England-style clam chowder, Alaskan cod fish and chips, Dungeness crab melt sandwiches and Manila steamer clams for lunch. You'll find menus, lore and more at www.eatatlowells.com.
The Athenian Seafood Restaurant and Bar has served delicious food and beverages in one of Seattle's
most iconic restaurant settings since 1909. Every table has a commanding view of Puget Sound and the snowcapped Olympic Mountains. Enjoy a frosty mug of one of Washington's microbrew beers while you watch the ferries slip in and out of their waterfront dock. Movie buffs take note: This restaurant was featured in the 1993 film “Sleepless in Seattle.” The Athenian Seafood Restaurant and Bar is in the main arcade next to Pure Food Fish, one of several seafood markets in the complex. Find details at www. athenianseattle.com.
And Jack's Fish Spot is an open-air, old-timey fish market and seafood bar with rows of well-used bar stools circling the fish displays. This is a great spot to embed yourself in the heart of the market, people-watch and enjoy a lunch of steamers, fish and chips, chowder or grilled Alaskan salmon. Details: www.jacksfishspot. com.
Sip Seattle suds
It's almost criminal to visit Seattle without sampling the region's craft beer. Fortunately there are two excellent breweries in the Pike Place milieu where you can sample this beer bounty — and enjoy an excellent meal too.
Located in the market's stylish new Marketfront
addition, Old Stove Brewing crafts a wide variety of beers, which you can enjoy on its wide deck overlooking the waterfront. Try a “Light Flight” of Pilsner, Belgian Blonde, Helles Lager, Streaker Citra, Seasonal Sour and Pike Place Seltzer perhaps, or a “Hop Head Flight” of six hoppy brews that include Hazely's Comet Juicy IPA and West Coast IPA. The taproom clam chowder is made with Amber Waves ale and bacon, and the mains include Belgian Blonde beer-battered fish and chips, served with urfa biber (Turkish chile) tartar sauce. See the menu and beer lineup at www.oldstove.com.
Pike Brewing, which is just outside the market, has a warm and wondrous beer factory ambiance. In addition to a solid selection of IPAs, a stout and a Pilsner, the brewery also offers seasonal barrel-aged brews, such as The Long Dark, named after the long, dark Pacific Northwest winters and aged for 36 months in Woodinville whiskey barrels. The brewery has two restaurants, but my favorite is the Pike Fish Bar, which focuses on beer, oysters and fish and chips — and offers an excellent happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays.
That may be a workday for everyone else, but you? You're on vacation.