RestaurantReviewSeattle, WA

June 2011

A Publication of:

FREE Area Restaurant Reviews Inside - TAKE ONE!

Inside:Fab’s Corner Cucina

Los Gatillos Taqueria

Sienna Deli

Anthony’s Ristorante

Sweeney’s American Bistro

J. Liu Restaurant

Fun Seattle Facts

Crossword

Sudoku

Hours of OperationLunch: Tues-Fri 12-2pm • Closed for Lunch Sat & Sun

Dinner: Tues-Thur 5-10pm • Fri-Sat 5-11pm • Sun 5-10pm

(206) 654-6545WWW.FABSCORNER.COM

4336 Van Nuys Blvd. • Seattle, WA

Customer Review:My friend lives really close by and we were

starving...but really didn’t feel like driving down

Ventura Blvd so we walked on a food hunt. As

we were strolling down the side streets, we came

across this restaurant.

It looked quite fancy and we weren’t sure we

wanted something too upscale but decided to

check it out anyway. We requested sitting near

the bar and 2 minutes after we sat, I knew this

would become my new favorite Italian restaurant

in the valley! They have happy hour from 4-9pm

everyday!!! And happy hour is not all about drinks

only! The food was amazing!

The service was exceptional too! Tessa was so

wonderful and very welcoming. Food, drinks,

service were all so great that we went back 2 days

later!!!

Definitely going back soon!

About Fabs:

In 1982, Joe and Vinnie Fabrocini opened an

Italian restaurant in Tacoma, WA and named it

FABS in honor of the family. The success of the

business helped start a trend of popular casual

Italian eateries in Los Angeles. Soon afterwards,

the family expanded across the city as two brands:

FABS and Fabrocini’s. In 1984, Joe Fabrocini

found a great location here in Seattle. With some

dedicated work and that “magic” the Fabrocinis

bring to their loyal customers, it became FABS!

Los GatillosTaqueria

Authentic Mexican & Salvadorean Cuisine

602-545-1959420 Redwood Street #32

Five years ago, Ramiro Rubio introduced Seattle to the joys of regional Mexican food in a second-story Broadway aerie that, to its credit, looked more like a campy Castillian inn than a bursting piñata. Late last year, Los Gatillios’ lease was up, nearby Caffè Minnie’s shut down and Rubio took his show on the road to a street-level space near Broadway’s northernmost end, proving that New York is not the only town where Broadway’s been reinvigorated with theatrical revivals.

There’s a fab fiesta feel at the new Los Gatillios, where the action grows increasingly festive at night in a room whose billowy draperies lend an air of intimacy and whose retractable street-side wall opens to invite warm weather breezes. Linen-draped tables rest under dual skylights and dramatic chandeliers. The lobby waiting area offers armchairs upholstered in a shade of guacamole that perfectly mimics the bright avocado mashed, then served, in a heavy mortar at lunch ($3.75). These comfortable green furnishings are also arranged in close-knit clutches in a small bar in the recesses of the dining room.

A wall-length breakfront near the restaurant’s entrance is an effective advertising device whose glass shelves support aged tequila — available in more “flavors” than you’ll find at Baskin-Robbins. One can easily imagine that the skeleton-faced calaveras (the folk-art favorites standing sentry over the booze) died a happy death after sneaking their fill of potent añejo when no one was looking.

Rubio plays king to a court of Mexican-accented servers as warm and colorful as the chips they offer along with spicy, avocado-laced salsa. At dinner, those tri-colored chips share a basket with slices of rustic bread and the salsa is joined by a side of scallion cream cheese that begs for a bagel. Tell it to shut up and order an appetizer, but do so with the knowledge that you won’t have room for flan or anything else you might find on the dessert tray resting on the counter near the open kitchen.

Los Gatillos is one of our favorite spots for Mexican cuisine in Seattle

From the Seattle Times:

FREE LOCAL DELIVERYBefore 2:20pm (Minimum Order: $10.00)

WEB SITE: WWW.THESIENNADELI.COM

3900 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Seattle, WAT: 206.494.7799

WHAT CUSTOMERSARE SAYING

As Seen on Yelp.comGreat service and delicious food. If you want a nice healthy choice then this is the place for you. They have a wide assortment of sandwiches and they can be paired with a salad to complete your meal. The food here is much more

satisfying than Subway or Quiznos and you begin to start craving the food as your lunch hour approaches.

James C. - SeattleI grab lunch here 2 to 3 times a week on average... Friendly staff know most of the regulars by name, menu is diverse, features Boar’s Head meats and cheeses.

Travis R. - RedmondI get lunch here a lot. It’s owned and operated by a nice family who will

remember you when you come in. The sandwiches are good and I like the nice soft rolls they use along with their vinaigrette.

Justin V. - VancouverExcellent sandwiches. Good quality and yummy.

Jennifer D. - Seattle

BUILD YOUR OWNSANDWICH

Regular 6”: $5.99 Extra Large 9”: $7.99All Sandwiches Come With a Pickle Spear

1

2

3

4

STEP Choose Your Bread

STEP Choose Your Meat

STEP Choose Your Cheese

STEP Choose Your Veggies

STEP Choose Your Condiments

5

• French Roll• Rye Bread

• Honey Whole Wheat• Wrap • Sourdough

• Turkey• Mesquite Turkey• Pastrami

• Swiss• Provolone• Muenster

• Cheddar• Mozzarella• Jalapeño Jack

• Lettuce• Pickle

• Tomato• Red Onion

• Mayo• Cajun Mayo• Yellow Mustard

• Boar’s Head Mustard• Dijon Mustard• Italian Dressing

Avocado: $1.00 • Pepperoncinis: $.50 • Double Meat: $1.25/$1.75Sienna Chicken Noodle Soup Bowl (12 oz.): $3.25

Make it a meal for $2.00 more! Add a Small Soda & Side SaladPotato Salad • Macaroni • Chips

• Roast Beef• Bologna• Deluxe Ham

• Black Forest Ham• Genoa Salami• Mortadella

(206) 677-1099www.AnthonysRistorante.com

24630 Washington Avenue, Suite 100, Seattle, WA

Anthony’s offers well-prepared Sicilian favoritesFrom the Seattle Times

If you haven’t been to Anthony’s in years, you must return, not only for those Sicilian favorites but to savor a dining experience that, while still homespun, has become the finely woven product of well-practiced artisans.

Andres, a smiling sylph with the bearing of a ballerina, roams the front of the house with a watchful eye. Veteran servers, wrapped in waist-to-ankle aprons, are smoothly efficient, however, willing and able to recite every detail of every dish, even the frequently changing specials.

The food has never been better. Top-notch chefs — for a while it was Joe Hook (formerly of Café Juanita); currently it is Gordon Wishard (Lark, Licorous, Vios) and Zach Millican (Artemis

and Spinasse) — take their vows of fresh, local, seasonal and house-made seriously.

Look to the printed menu for Anthony’s stalwarts such as caponata and pasta con le sarde. The former, a chunky relish blending eggplant, red pepper, olives, capers, raisins and pine nuts, pals happily with panelle, spears of fried chickpea dough so thickly cut that the middles are almost creamy under their golden sheaths.

I can’t imagine you’d get a better version of pasta con le sarde in Palermo itself. Sturdy perciatelli noodles, thick spaghettilike strands with a hollow core, are well suited to wear the heavy mantle of sauce, a gritty, saffron-kissed mash of sardines and breadcrumbs, fennel and pine nuts, olives and raisins.

Our StoryAnthony’s Lounge & Ristorante (originally opened over 10 years ago as Anthony’s Ristorante, which was located in Temecula) is the oldest family owned restaurant in the Murrieta and Temecula area.

The Lounge opened in July of 2008 to extend their original restaurant and provide a lounge and live entertainment atmosphere. Whether you are new to the area or your friends and family want to enjoy the best Italian dining experience ever, come visit us at Anthony’s Lounge and Ristorante

The food at Anthony’s is based on authentic family recipes Tony’s parents brought with them when they emigrated from Calabria, Italy in 1954. Their first restaurant opened in 1963 in Anaheim. Everything on the menu is homemade from the sausage, ravioli and lasagna, to the crepes used to make their manicotti and cannelloni, ricotta gnocchi and over 50 traditional entrees from pasta, veal (vitello), chicken (pollo), seafood (pesce),

Tony & Joan say:“Welcome to Anthony’s Lounge

and Ristorante”

antipasto, minestrone and other specialty dishes prepared by our experienced Chefs.

Ask about our “Daily specials” always fresh, which may include fresh fish, Chilean Seabass, Sword fish, Halibut, when in season and Salmon. There is also Filet Mignon, Ribeye, Porterhouse Steak, New Zealand Lamb and beginning on Friday thru the weekend our fabulous “Osso Buco”

to Sweeney’s American Bistro, where we’re always happy to see you. We work hard to provide you with the best dining experience. We use the freshest ingredients and quality preparation to make sure you always have a great meal. Here at Sweeney’s American Bistro your satisfaction is always guaranteed. If you’re not happy with some aspect of your meal just let us know and we’ll make it right.

Our goal is to serve you the best food in a warm and friendly atmosphere. We want you to feel at home whether you are joining us for a meal or taking food out. Our chefs combine high quality ingredients with the right seasoning to create flavorful food.

Our interior is designed to be warm and inviting and our wait staff is at your service for the duration of your meal. They offer courteous and friendly service that will make you feel at home. We are known locally as a somewhat neighborhood “Cheers.” We’ll make sure your glass is never empty and you always enjoy your meal.

Our chefs have worked hard to create a well-balanced menu that features something for everyone. Our menu is a balance of traditional favorites and

inventive new dishes. We work with only fresh ingredients to ensure your meal is perfect every time.

We use fresh meats and vegetables to create food that is aromatic and inviting. We compliment our main dishes with fresh baked breads and crisp greens to offer you a complete dining experience. Don’t forget to leave room for our creative and indulgent deserts.

We pay attention to detail when preparing and cooking our food. Our chefs take care to make sure that every aspect of your meal is just right and allow the fresh, natural flavor of our ingredients to come out in every dish.

We Have a banquet room that can seat up to fifty people for meetings, birthday parties, anniversary’s etc. We also have a private dining room that can seat eight to twenty people for any occasion.

To book one of these rooms, call our banquet coordinator LEAH at 419-756-2858, Monday through Friday from 10:30am till 2:00pm.

206-756-2858777 Lexington Avenue • Seattle, WA

www.SweeneysBistro.comHappy Hour: Mon-Fri 2:00pm till 7:00pm

Dinner : Mon-Thur 4:00pm till 9:00pm • Fri-Sat 4:00pm till 10:00pmBar Open Later

J. Liu on Eastlake offers food that comforts and surprises

From the Seattle Times

You don’t expect to find a James Beard Award-winning chef dining in a funky strip-mall storefront squeezed between a Subway and a teriyaki joint on Eastlake. But there was Eric Tanaka, corporate chef-exec for Tom Douglas Restaurants, cheerfully chowing down at J. Liu with his wife.

Eight-month-old J. Liu has the sort of lineage that attracts the fooderati. The tiny restaurant occupies the hallowed space where Matt Dillon opened the original Sitka & Spruce. The layout is much the same but the glowing moss-green walls are now duck-egg blue, fancifully embellished with flowers and the motto, “Your smile is contagious.”

Chef-owner Christina Choi once scavenged the forest with Dillon’s pal, Jeremy Faber, helping Faber establish Foraged & Found Edibles, the premier purveyor of local wild foods to Seattle farmer’s markets and restaurants.

Dillon is a silent partner in J. Liu.

“I’m a semi-reluctant restaurateur,” Choi quipped in a phone interview. “Matt sort of threw it in my lap at the last minute.” But she’s no stranger to the business, having freelanced as a cook in many restaurants since graduating from Seattle Central’s culinary program 13 years ago.Choi’s cooking is instinctive, inspired

by her ingredients. Her food comforts and often surprises. What she doesn’t make from scratch is smartly sourced. She buys 90 percent of her produce from farmers. The excellent baguettes come from Le Fournil down the street.

A Berkshire pork short rib nestles among Chinese egg noodles fragrant with toasted garlic, haunted with star anise, rife with kale and tiny brown Foraged & Found mushrooms. Melrose Market’s Rain Shadow Meats makes the brawny bratwurst that accompanies dainty knoepfli, Swiss-style spaetzle seasoned with Maggi sauce and tossed with cabbage, leeks and butter.

Choi is Chinese on her father’s side, Swiss on her mother’s, hence the eclectic Euro-Asian menu. One of J. Liu’s two daily soups is always a soothing miso. What goes into the other soup pot depends on what’s at hand.

I sampled salmon chowder made with buttery fish stock loaded with chanterelles, chickpeas and prosciutto; as well as coconut curry broth dense with mushrooms and farro. Both were completely different and utterly satisfying.

50 West Bridge St. | 206.718.1818

City FactsSeattle

Seattle is ranked the most literate city by Central Conn. State Univ. Everybody reads here. The Seattle Public Library system has the highest percentage of library card-holders per capita in the country.

Seattle has the highest percentage of residents with a college degree or higher. Don’t worry, there are still fools behind the wheel cluttering up the freeways.

The Seattle General Strike in 1919 was the first general strike in the country. 60,000 shipyard workers walked off their jobs. Power to the people!

Seattle boasts the original Skid Row (now called Yesler Way).

Seattle is the northernmost U.S city with a population of over half a million.

Seattleites buy more sunglasses per capita than any other city in the nation. So much for the myths of rain and clouds here. Seattle’s offical low and high temperatures are 0 (31jan50) and 100 (20jul94).

At 76 stories and 937 feet Columbia Center is Seattle’s tallest building and is 12th tallest building in the country. Smith Tower, built in 1914, was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi at 42 stories. Floors are now being sold as condos.

Seattle sister cities I want to party in: Mombasa, Kenya & Reykjavik, Iceland

Seattle was the first city in the US to play a Beatles song on the radio.

The world’s first gas station opened in 1907 on East Marginal Way.

Across5. Kill Bill actress (3,7)8. He was Bobby Darin in the 2004 movie, Beyond the Sea (5,6)10. Russell Crowe was Maximus in this 2000 movie (9)11. Dr Gibbon in the movie, The Singing Detective (3,6)12. Marshal Will Kane in the 1952 classic, High Noon (4,6)13. Director of the 2002 movie, Road to Perdition (3,6)14. Director of the 2002 movie, The Pianist (5,8)

Down1. Joel Barish in the 2004 movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (3,6)2. Ingrid Bergman was Ilsa Lund Laszlo in this 1942 classic (10)3. Chuck Roland in the 2000 movie, Cast Away (3,5)4. Harrison Hill in the 2007 movie, Perfect Stranger (5,6)6. Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in the 1959 movie, Some Like It Hot (7,6)7. Melvin Udall in the 1997 movie, As Good as It Gets (4,9)9. Meg Altman in the 2002 movie, Panic Room (5,6)

Solution

Sudoku How To PlayA Sudoku is a number grid. The aim

of the game is to fill in the missing

numbers. There’s only ever one correct

answer.

You’ll see the big grid is split into

nine mini-grids. In every row in each

mini-grid, you must have each of the

numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

These can be in any order.

Crossword

Soultion:

Prime Certified Angus Beef • Australian “Kobe Style” Beef3 Course Prix Fixe Dinners • Fresh Seafood Daily • Private Banquet Room

Seattle • 000 Sycamore Valley Road • 206.565.0505 • Open for Lunch Monday-Friday

WWW.STAKE2HOUSE.COM

Seattle Times The Independent