Seattle, USA
The best way to eat and drink your way around the Emerald City, according to chef EVAN LEICHTLING.
Evan Leichtling grew up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and spent more than a decade cooking in some of Seattle’s most revered kitchens. He moved to Europe in 2014 and worked in San Sebastián and Paris before returning to Seattle in 2019. Less than a year later, he opened Off Alley with his wife Meghna Prakash. Featuring nose-to-tail eating and minimal intervention wines, the restaurant was listed as The New York Times’ most exciting places in America in 2022.
QUIET CULINARY EVOLUTION
I love Seattle. It’s my city and I care about it deeply. Companies like Amazon and Starbucks are based here and about 10 years ago, the tech industry moved in from Silicon Valley, which gave it another boost. Large restaurant groups were born out of this tech takeover but a lot of fantastic places have been here for a long time. New places are starting to pop up as well, bringing fresh ideas.
TWO LOCAL INSTITUTIONS
Le Pichet is a Seattle stalwart. The dishes are typical of a French bistro: like French onion soup and sausage with lentils, all executed with classic technique and restraint. The wines are everything you would hope from a bistro. Bar del Corso is another institution: an Italian restaurant in South Seattle with a focus on pizza. Chef Jerry Corso has his own garden and the antipasti will have vegetables from there. Affordable and top-notch.
A WINE BAR WITH GOOD FOOD
La Dive is a natural wine bar opened by dear friends. The wine program is impressive, and David Gurewitz is one of the most talented chefs in the city. He’s kind of a mad scientist in the kitchen. The menu can go to all sorts of places from noodles and dumplings to a split pea falafel on toast, but everything is on point.
OLD-SCHOOL JAPANESE
Maneki has been here for more than a hundred years. It serves old-school Japanese classics: no frills, no gimmicks, just simple and tasty Japanese food.
Although people go for the sushi, they’re known for the hot plates. Things like grilled black cod or hamachi collars, or oysters with rice. There’s fresh squid in the Puget Sound, by the city. Maneki makes a dish called shiokara, where they take the intestines out of the squid and ferment them with salt at room temperature. It’s my go-to dish here.
SAKE SOMMELIER VENUES
Kamonegi is a tiny Japanese restaurant run by Mutsuko Soma, who’s a sake sommelier and amazing chef. She’s wellcelebrated here. She makes the soba in-house and beautiful tempura. She also opened izakya bar Hannyatou. It’s meant to be playful food that goes well with sake, which is their main focus.
OVERLOOKED VIETNAMESE
There’s a large Vietnamese population in Seattle, so there are great pho spots but not a lot of Vietnamese restaurants. Rainier Restaurant and BBQ is a place that people overlook. The name is misleading because it has nothing to do with barbecue. You can get fried baby clams with rice crackers or Vietnamese crepes (bánh xèo), and fried catfish.
PARKING-LOT TACOS
Taqueria Los Potrillos is another hidden gem: a food truck in the parking lot of a gas station. It is probably my favourite Mexican food spot in Seattle. It’s better than most of the restaurants and for a sliver of the price. Everything this truck makes is incredible, from the tacos and burritos to the spicy devilled shrimp.
CLASSIC BEER TAVERN
There aren’t a lot of places like Slow Boat Tavern, where you can enjoy a drink without having to listen to someone talk endlessly about beer. I’ve known owner Ken Provost for years. He worked for one of the large grocery stores here while a lot of breweries were just starting out. He helped get them known, and because of that, he serves beers that most bars in the city can’t get.
ITALIAN CLASSICS & CAMPARI
Ristorante Machiavelli is what we in the US call a “red sauce joint”. It’s a little hole in the wall in Capitol Hill. You can get a chicken liver lasagne, a Caesar salad or drop in for an Aperol Spritz or Campari. When my wife and I are having a rough week at the restaurant, we come here for Italian comfort food, sit at the tiny bar and drink Campari while chatting with the bartender.
OUR PLACE IN THE ALLEY
Our restaurant Off Alley is located in an old alleyway. There are 12 seats indoors, with a small space to stand and grab a drink. The kitchen is pretty small too, but we focus on using underappreciated cuts of meat, bycatch fish and weird offshoot vegetables that people are unfamiliar with. My wife runs the wine program and it’s all natural wines. We work with small producers and carry some weird, esoteric wines and spirits. ●