allison.scheff's blog

There may be no better pre-holiday gift than a spot at Bruce Naftaly's (sure-to-sell-out-in-a-hot-minute!) cooking classes at Le Gourmand. In fact, several years ago I sent my parents to one of Naftaly's classes, and though I have yet to see demi-glace grace the old Austin table during a holiday dinner, George and Nancy sure enjoyed sipping wine and watching chef Naftaly's expert cooking, and then tasting the delicious meal he cooked for them. They still talk about it nearly ten years later. Read more »

When I found out that Marx Foods, the online specialty food retailer that supplies restaurants like Alinea and recently caught the attention of Food & Wine magazine, would be opening a brick-and-mortar space, it piqued my interest. There's still plenty of demand for specialty food stores in Seattle, and Marx Foods, which opened yesterday, sounds distinctive. Read more »

The runner-up on my list of Fall's Most Exciting Restaurant Openings (second only to the craziness that will surely accompany the opening of Shanik on December 3rd), Mamnoon is opening in a converted warehouse across from the Melrose Market. And that opening is happening...today, November 20th! Read more »

Like many of you, earlier this week I giggled and snickered at Pete Wells' New York Times all-question takedown of Guy Fieri's Times Square behemoth, Guy's Kitchen and Bar. It's the most emailed Times article right now, and why wouldn't it be? Read more »

Last year, I took the idea of having three days in Seattle to do nothing but eat, eat and eat some more, and I used that as a guide post for the varied restaurants we included in the Best Restaurants issue.

Our list of the 7 Restaurants that Define Seattle Dining Now was—and to a large extent, still is—my idea of how to taste the best in Seattle dining in one very filling weekend. Read more »

What may strike you about the restaurants we included in the November Best New Restaurants issue (on newsstands now) is just how specialized and unique each of the restaurants is. Read more »

We've been telling you about Meeru Dhalwala's Shanik, the most anticipated restaurant opening of the year, for a while now. (Pick up our November Best New Restaurants issue to read our full-length preview of Vij's much-anticipated sibling restaurant!) Read more »

Ah, Murray. Read more »

Danielle Custer, who old-timers like me remember from her chef jobs at 727 Pine and Fullers in the Sheraton, and who more recently worked at Taste SAM, is launching Monte Cristo, a gourmet grilled cheese truck on Monday, October 22nd at Starbucks in Sodo (for more current whereabouts, visit Monte's website or Twitter page). Read more »

Walking through my neighborhood, I can't help but covet the fig trees weighed down with green figs on the verge of full ripeness, the Asian pear tree in my neighbor's yard which holds, I'd guess, 40lbs of fruit right now. But in a few weeks, these and the myriad apples that are ripe right now in trees on nearly every Seattle street will perish, rot, or fall and turn to brown muck on the sidewalks if they're not picked and eaten. Read more »