People

Best Chef

In an age that’s all about the celebrity chef, Charles
Walpole is a chef all about the food. And the food served at his Blind Pig Bistro is all about satisfying your hunger. I hunger for inspiration and for security. Walpole’s menu serves both. Take for instance the steak and charred-eggplant puree; the urfa biber-dusted chocolate cremaux (the most luscious hybrid you’ve ever tasted, of mousse and pudding); and an order of warm beer bread with freshly churned butter. These items, and a few others, are dependable, always on the menu. You can let the waitstaff take care of the rest. On a typical visit we pick a wine and ask Ben or Renee, who head the front of the house, to take over and surprise us with something new. They produce the perfect pairing: a sunchoke and fava-bean salad, say, or a plate of charred peaches, dishes that are always seasonal, local, inventive, and—the thing that’s hardest but most respectful of truly good food—examples of restraint. All the while Walpole is in the kitchen, quietly at work. In more than 20 visits, I have met him only once, and never had a dish I didn’t like or a meal I didn’t love. BETH MAXEY 2238 Eastlake Ave. E, 206-329-2744, blindpigbistro.com

Best Bartender

There are a growing number of great bartenders in Seattle. Some of them ply their trade in dedicated cocktail shrines, with hundreds of bottles at their disposal and a cornucopia of bitters, tinctures, and infusions. That’s not exactly the model at LloydMartin, where Tyler Kingdon has built a diverse, compelling, and challenging cocktail list that he manages to change regularly without the options most bartenders have at their disposal. His bar is also noteworthy for almost entirely eschewing well-known mass-produced spirits: you won’t find Grey Goose, Patron, Maker’s Mark, or Captain Morgan anywhere near LloydMartin’s shelves, yet Kingdon and the rest of the staff are ready, willing, and able to steer you to more interesting and often far tastier replacements: obscure amaros, vermouths, and other European spirits that take the place of the usual set of vodkas, whiskeys, and gins, often showing them in an entirely new light. In addition, he’s unassuming and always willing to explain himself and the idea behind a drink—a welcome trait given how daunting the cocktail list can look to a novice.ZACH GEBALLE 525 Queen Anne Ave. N, 206-420-7602, lloydmartinseattle.com

Best Barista

Mary Michaud makes making coffee look good. Part of this is due to the fact that Michaud always looks so nice herself. You might say that barista dresses don’t matter, but I disagree. Unlike many baristas, she resembles an elegant office worker or a model from a vintage Vogue fashion shoot. Her hair is swept up. Her necklace matches her dress, which matches her shoes. Both require attention to detail. Also, her coffee is damn good. She’s been with Vivace for years and years—I remember her, behind the counter, back when the Broadway Vivace faced Cal Anderson Park in what is now the giant light-rail hole in the ground. She makes as perfect a coffee now as she did then. Like her fashion sense, her temperature, extraction, and latte art are all spot-on. BM 532 Broadway E, 206-860-2722, espressovivace.com

Dining

Best Barbecue

It’s astounding that RoRo BBQ & Grill rarely registers on lists of Seattle’s best barbecue. RoRo’s fresh smoked pulled pork tastes closest to the delectable piles of soft, slow-smoked shoulder I ate when I lived in Alabama. And eating at the outside picnic tables or inside the shack of a restaurant perfectly completes the barbecue ambience. Tables are set with rolls of paper towels, a necessity when eating barbecue this messy. Douse your brisket, tri-tip, or pulled pork with one of five housemade sauces to customize your barbecue just as you like it. I prefer the Rob’s Reserve sauce, which has the perfect balance of smoky, sweet, and tangy I’m looking for. Each meal comes with homemade sides, from delightfully sweet cornbread muffins to garlic “mash taters” and baked beans mixed with chunks of bacon. I have it on good authority from my Alabama native buddy that RoRo’s sweet tea is the real deal, too—it’s got the right amount of sugar to feel refreshing but not ridiculous. MEGAN HILL 3

620 Stone Way N, 206-954-1100, rorobbq.webs.com

Best Brunch

Stumbling into the bright, high-ceilinged interior of Oddfellows and plunking down at one of the rustic tables is a favorite Seattle brunch experiences. Whether your day starts at 9 a.m. or 3 p.m., Oddfellows helps with a wake-up mimosa, bloody mary, or rotating brunch punch and endless refills of freshly brewed coffee, which help wash down the fantastic selection of straightforward but masterful dishes: a big fluffy brick of brioche French toast with a dollop of mascarpone and your choice of fruit compote or maple syrup; homemade oatmeal flecked with brown sugar and pecans, perfect for a rainy day; a bowl of beignets sitting under a snowy mound of powdered sugar and raspberry jam for dipping (a surprisingly revelatory combination for this native New Orleanian); and a dense homemade biscuit paired with cheesy scrambled eggs. When the weather’s good, ask to dine al fresco, preferably in the sliver of a back patio, hemmed in by enchanting brick walls that seem to speak to the history of this building; I can imagine old men with fantastic mustaches smoking cigars back there. MH 525 10th Ave., 206-325-0807, oddfellowscafe.com

Best Meal for a Hangover

You might face an hour (or longer) wait for a weekend brunch, but closet-sized Glo’s has the antidote to a long night of drinking on Capitol Hill. It helps to plan ahead; call to get your name on the list before you take the walk of shame. Once you get the chance to order, sop up some of that booze with hefty servings of favorites like the salmon scramble, with flaky salmon and a mess of avocado, cheddar cheese, and sour cream; various combinations of eggs, hash browns, and toast; and enormous omelettes. On the sweeter side, try a seasonal pancake special or a pile of blueberry French toast topped with whipped cream. If you have room (doubtful), finish the meal with a chunk of warm sour-cream coffee cake, sprinkled with powdered sugar and drizzled with sweet butter. Generous pours of Pegasus Coffee keep flowing as you slowly recover. If you opt to fend off the hangover before it begins, Glo’s mercifully opens Fridays and Saturdays at midnight. MH1621 E Olive Way, 206-324-2577, gloscafe.com

Best Chinese Restaurant

Chinese food in Seattle is primarily Cantonese, which I find a bit boring generally and lacking in quality locally. (And don’t get me started on the dismal state of dim sum.) So I send you to the Eastside, where you can find spicy Szechuan fare. Bamboo Garden is the best of the bunch. There’s a regular menu for the timid, but I recommend taking a look at the “Walk on the Wild Side” menu. Here you’ll find adventurous dishes like swimming fire fish, pork tongue slices, and sour & spicy jellyfish. My favorite is the spicy cauldron called “the other parts of the pig,” with pork intestines, pig-blood cubes, tofu chunks, basil, and pickled cabbage in a tangy broth. If things heat up too much spice-wise, refreshing watermelon juice is at the ready for a rescue. JAY FRIEDMAN 202 106th Pl NE, Bellevue, 425-688-7991, bamboogardendining.com

Best Deli

OK, so, you have to drive to Shoreline, then once you get to Pannonia Smokehouse the guy behind the counter is kinda gruff—but man, oh man, I’ve tasted cured meats from the far corners of the earth, and most of them are not nearly this good. This place sells itself as an Old World smokehouse using Old World recipes, which means you won’t find any of the extras you do in your typical deli case: gluten, artificial preservatives, lactic acid, smoke flavor, fillers, MSG, and colorings. What you do find is real flavor. And value. Pannonia sells over 70 varieties of meat—so I can’t claim to have tried them all yet. But I will. BM 1514 NE 177th St., 206-462-1227, carpatiasausage.com

Best Diner

Skillet’s elevated diner fare makes me sigh a big “duh” for this category. The diner opened on Capitol Hill in 2011 after a successful start as a food truck. A highbrow approach to comfort food makes the dishes here accessible yet refined, so as you scarf down a burger with Skillet’s famous bacon jam and blue cheese and a big pile of fries, you somehow feel like a glutton and a sophisticated eater at the same time. The beef, after all, is sourced from Painted Hills, known for its ethical and sustainable approach to cow-raising, and you’ve paid a respectable $14 for the privilege. My heart broke when Skillet, as it does every now and again, changed half of its menu,