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I headed to Muy Macho in South Park yesterday for lunch and my heart stopped briefly when I saw the windows papered over. Fortunately they're just closed for a couple weeks to renovate the place. Should be interesting to see what they come up with....

Made my first visit this morning as well. Got one of the buns with chocolate and nuts. Damn tasty! This place is way too close to my office....

There are myriad goat cheese salads in town that I "like just fine." Isn't Veil shooting for something higher than that? If not, then I definitely don't need to spend the time and money....

WOW! Wonder how they ever came up with this concept!

I read in the Weekly yesterday about the delay in taking TT off the 'Closed' list. Frankly, they have grounds for a lawsuit, but then again, probably don't want to piss off the DPH. Very irresponsible.

Another very good sandwich place is the Polish deli on Madison, across from the Sorrento. I'm spacing the name (George's?). No seating though....

The best sandwich that Seattle has ever seen is the doner kebap at Bistro Antalya before the INS screwed it up for all of us.... Agree with the Salumi and Baguette box selections. My other current fav's are the Carribean pork sandwich at the Nordstrom Grill and the turkey club at Hungry and Harried Cafe, it rises well above whatever you may be imagining.

I guess the truth is that there really aren't any sushi places in Seattle that you go to for the ambiance/interior. Nikko in the Westin was pretty cool, but the sushi was sub-par.

La Cocina del Puerco, yeah, I've always liked that place. It was one of the first places around that served anything remotely like authentic Mexican food.

Given these criteria, I'd say Nishino is the place to go, though Mashiko is still my favorite overall. ← Shiro's would also fit the bill, and the neighborhood is a lot more fun when you get done with dinner. ← I guess that chipped linoleum tables and grubby carpet doesn't say "classy" to me. Have they remodeled?

Given these criteria, I'd say Nishino is the place to go, though Mashiko is still my favorite overall.

When I was about 7, my dad gave me a tour of the lamb slaughterhouse that he was part owner of. Traumatized? Maybe, but in a way that made me understand clearly how the lamb I ate every week got on the table. Seeing lambs gutted and skinned in person has to be 10X as dramatic as watching JO slit a lamb's throat on TV. Knowing where meat comes from is every bit as important as knowing where other food comes from. Understanding that your food is the product of the hard work of farmers, ranchers, etc. makes it a lot more difficult to take for granted. It is also the starting point for understanding how the choices you make about food have wider impacts.

Scrat and I, along with the munchkin, had breakfast at Geraldine's a few weeks ago. I, in fact, also had the breakfast casserole which I enjoyed. Nice place, though the volume is pretty high.

I finally made it to Porta's new location today, for lunch. They're not simply rehashing what they did at the Eastlake location but have refined their dishes, particularly in presentation. The space is also much nicer than the original location and I like the look of the white tables and chairs against the otherwise dark brown interior. We started with kopanisti, a dip made with blue cheese, mint and pistachios. It has been one of my favorites at Porta from the beginning. It was particularly good this time but the portion has been severely pared down. For lunch I had spitofesai (sp?), fennel sausage with sauteed peppers and tomatoes, sprinkled with feta and thyme. Really tasty if you like strong fennel flavor (fennel seeds were also sprinkled over the dish). Scrat had the pork souvlaki that was presented on 3-tiered plate stand with tzaziki and various veggies on top, two skewers of grilled pork in the middle and a plate of pita on the bottom. Dramatic presentation, but a little challenging to manage on a small table. With the entrees at $8, this is one of the better downtown lunch values I've seen. One sad note: they no longer have the octopus on the menu. Something about not having the kind of grill they need in the kitchen. I may have to buy one for them...

If you're not averse to buffets.... Brasserie Margaux Thanksgiving buffet

I actually give the nod to Maximilien over Cafe Campagne for brunch and the lamb burger. Still can be a noisy place. Another recommendation I'm going to throw out in the Market area is 94 Stewart. I think they're serving some interesting and tasty dishes that don't show up other places.

I've written and re-written my reaction to these recommendations and you know, like my Mom always tried to tell me, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all..... Let's just leave it at that I would strongly encourage Union, Le Pichet, Matt's, Cafe Campagne, etc., etc. over the aforementioned....

Also in Georgetown, should you choose to include it, Two Tartes Bakery and Stellar Pizza. Both open for lunch and both very good.

My sub $10 all-stars include Snoqualmie Syrah ($8) and the Bodegas Norton Malbec ($10).

Found this via Google: http://www.ics.trieste.it/Documents/Downloads/df3056.pdf

Wow, if only I could live in a predominantly Turkish neighborhood... Dill is one of the main ingredients in cacik, along with cucumber, garlic and yoghurt. This condiment is served with nearly every meal, so a family could go through a lot of dill. Parsely shows up a lot as a garnish and is used in some kofte (ground lamb meatballs) recipes that I know of. I'm sure there are many other uses of both, but that's what comes to mind.

With my dad in the sheepskin business, I ate a lot of lamb growing up. I never realized how little most people ate until I was in college. I read that annual per capita lamb consumption in the US is only 2 pounds, meaning that I'm eating 20 or 30 people's share each year. Lamb ribs are the most underappreciated cut of meat in the world, when prepared well, there is nothing I'd rather eat. Funny, my dad was part owner of Superior Farms in Dixon. I spent a fair amount of time there even though we lived in Seattle. For those who are interested, my dad's marinade recipe: 2 parts soy sauce 2 parts pineapple juice 1 part dry vermouth Lots of chopped or crushed garlic Marinate overnight

I was actually referring to driving up to Vancouver to have dim sum at Kirin, unfortunately that didn't materialize. Maybe my taste in Chinese food simply isn't discriminating enough, but I just haven't noticed a significant drop in quality at IG since the management change. Some things are different, but not necessarily worse. Both with dim sum and on the regular menu, there are dishes that weren't previously offered, that I have really enjoyed. Maybe I've just been lucky.

If you're looking for something for a particular occasion, I happen to be very close with someone who has a few hundred different styles available for rent....just PM if you're interested.

Very true statement, it's an encouraging trend. I kind of wish that someone would take a shot at something truly cutting-edge here. None of the places you mention, nor the others of that class (Union, etc.) put any real emphasis on technique. As much as I appreciate the emphasis on local/seasonal/simple ethic that seems to pervade the local culinary scene, I think it also can be a drag real innovation.