Food & Drink
Best New Restaurants 2011
Just when you think you’ve got Seattle restaurants all figured out, a new batch opens.
By Allison Austin Scheff and Allecia Vermillion October 17, 2011
This article originally appeared in the November 2011 issue of Seattle magazine.
We’re all about noise, fun and affordability, if you take the crowds packing the Brave Horse Tavern and Revel as evidence. But then the Madison Park Conservatory and the elegant Book Bindery come onto the scene to up the sophistication quotient. And don’t forget our never-ending love affair with pizza and burgers, food trucks and pastries.
Take Seattle’s culinary temperature by eating your way through this year’s best new restaurants. We think you’ll be deliciously surprised.
Click links to read more in-depth reviews of each Best New Restaurant:
#1
Sushi Kappo Tamura
Spine-tinglingly fresh fish shimmering from the sea, with a focus on sustainability and seasonality. Move over, Shiro’s and Nishino: This is the best sushi in Seattle—and it’s also the most consistently stellar restaurant to open this year.
***Sushi Kappo Tamura is our Best New Restaurant of 2011***
#2
Revel
Fun, accessible, spicy Korean dishes in a supremely likable, upbeat space (and with even more likable prices).
#3
Book Bindery
Plates both beautiful and delicious, served in an elegant dining space.
#4
Fuji Bakery
A jewel box of sweet and savory pastries unlike anything else in Seattle.
#5
Hitchcock
Finally, there’s a definitive restaurant on Bainbridge Island that highlights the best of the region’s meats, plants and sea bounties.
#6
Bar del Corso
A neighborhood restaurant good enough to lure folks to this underrated corner of the city. It’s Beacon Hill’s living room, with really great food.
#7
Where Ya At Matt
Serious Creole cooking and the cult of personality that is Matt Lewis.
#8
Skillet Diner
An upbeat, affordable diner. Don’t let the plethora of plaid shirts fool you—toddlers and hipsters are equally at home here.
#9
Madison Park Conservatory
A sophisticated addition, current enough to draw food obsessives, approachable enough to bring the parents.
#10
Cuoco
People-pleasing Italian with an artisanal touch: pastas made with a delicate hand and vegetables that are stars in their own right.
Plus, One That’s Worth the Trip
The Willows Inn
Not exactly new, and not exactly nearby, the Willows Inn still registers on our “Best New Restaurant” radar for truly brilliant food.