I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was indeed distinctive and unusual, but not overbearing. The dining room was open, light and inviting, the bar cozy and dark. There were certainly some antique touches and lots of big plants, but it felt more like the Palm Court at the Plaza in New York or the Laurel Court at the Fairmont in San Francisco rather than your great grandma’s dining room.

The food was also better than expected. My seafood fritter appetizer had been allowed to go cold in the pass-through and was not impressive, but my dining companions’ fried oysters were hot and quite good. However, my halibut main course was cooked perfectly; the inside tender and the outside with a nice thin crust. The others had the Salmon and also enjoyed their meals. For desert, I had a coconut pudding that was a bit sweet but which I had no problem finishing.

The service was good, attentive, but not overbearing. The staff friendly, but not obsequious. The prices were a bit high, but not unreasonable.

I think that this would be a good restaurant to try when looking for something a little different, something unique.

This week, I tried their Po’Boy. For over $10, I got two tiny pieces of fried fish with a little spicy mayo on a roll and a tiny bit of over-spiced slaw in a cup. The fish seemed fresh, but was relatively tasteless and the tiny swipe of spicy mayo didn’t help much. The fish portions were small enough that there was an ocean of bread left over on the small roll it was served on.

Yesterday’s experience has been fairly representative of the food there. I’ll add that I usually take out rather than eat there. At lunch time the place can be quite busy and it is organized rather poorly since there isn’t a place to wait and not be in the way. So you often get a gaggle of people standing in the areas around the tables or where you order and pick up the food getting in each others way.

Homegrown seems to be succeeding, but I’m not sure it is because of their food or their concept. If they cut their prices by 20-30% and reconfigured their space a bit, I might like this place a lot better. You can certainly eat better for the same amount of money without having to look too far and that is what I will continue to do.

Chez Shea dining room.

For years we’ve stood waiting at Matt’s In The Market and pondering what was behind the door at Chez Shea. We knew that it was supposed to be nice, but we never got around to eating there until recently. We were pleasantly surprised at the size (it is quite small and cozy), the environment (similar to Matt’s old vibe when it was smaller, but more romantic) and the staff (friendly, but not to the point of being annoying). I was very happy that I didn’t feel out of place wearing a suit, the other diners (for the most part) were dressed for special occasion meals as opposed to the shorts and t-shirts you sadly see too often in high-end restaurants around here.

The food was good with some touches of excellence, but not enough to be a draw on its own at this price range. If you are into “Big Flavors”, you can skip Chez Shea. The food was fairly subtle but solid; tasty, but not overpowering. Two elements of what I ate remained with me (admittedly these were the biggest flavors in my meal): I had a Hamachi Crudo which came with some sliced Jalapeno that added an interesting kick to an otherwise bland dish; and a Muscovy duck that was prepared two ways, one of which was a Confit Crepinette that was simply amazing.

The menu is fairly standard high-end northwest cuisine: seasonal, fresh ingredients, featuring seafood and northwest game. The menu itself was a little small, but it was ample enough that we were able to find good choices for four courses each. As with many higher end restaurants, the portions are smaller, but we didn’t leave feeling hungry. If we’d skipped a course, we might have left seeking some extra food though. The wine list was good as well, but not extensive.

Overall, we liked Chez Shea, but probably more for the atmosphere than the food. The food was good enough that we’d definitely consider it again for a special romantic dinner, but not so good that we’re already planning our next visit. I would definitely like to come back and try the Bistro some other night. It is even smaller than the restaurant and may be a great “date night” destination.

At Bennett’s we are committed to serving pure, all natural, additive free food. You won’t find artificial preservatives, colors or sweeteners. No flavor enhancers, hydrogenated oils or processed foods. What you will find, are the freshest most authentic ingredients we can offer.

Most of our ingredients are deeply rooted in the Cascadia region – an area extending from northern California to southern Alaska, and the coast to the continental divide, taking in Washington, most of Oregon and Idaho and part of Montana

For the modern foodie, this is very attractive: Slow Food, sourced locally, organically grown. An interesting concept around the quality of the ingredients doesn’t make for an interesting restaurant, however, unless they can back it up with the quality of their cooking. Bennett’s, for the most part, delivers. Our party of four was unanimous on our appetizers and deserts, all quite good. The entrees themselves were somewhat less consistent. I had a razorclam linguine (razorclams being fresh and available that day). The linguine included some cooked greens that were flavorful, but overwhelmed the rest of the plate, the clams themselves contributed little to the dish. Also, it was served luke warm. The rest of my party was happy with their entrees, although the small portion sizes were commented on.

The one serious issue with Bennett’s is that it has a bit of an identity crisis. The environment feels like a nice family restaurant. It has a bar area that runs into the restaurant. On a Saturday night, there were as many families there as there were couples. The ceilings are high and the lights are bright. The room isn’t large, but in tone it feels more like the Five Spot than Rover’s, including the volume of the conversations in the room. This is not a bad thing in itself. As we were there with our infant daughter, it actually felt comfortable, like we didn’t need to worry about disturbing other patrons. The service isn’t formal, although it isn’t completely informal either. The food itself is more formal in presentation, portion-size and pricing. Our 3 course dinner for four including wine came to around $50 per person. So, you have formal food and prices and informal ambiance; hence, identity-crisis. I’m not the first to point this out, this is a consistent issue in their other reviews.

Based on the pricing and the quality of my entree, normally I would suggest avoiding Bennett’s; but I like their concept, and my other courses and the rest of my party’s meals convince me that I shouldn’t judge them too hastily. Another comparison worth making would be Tilth, their ideolical peer in Wallingford. I can’t make that comparison yet, but I hope to soon.

The question is “Is Bennett’s worth the trip?” I’d say, if you like Slow Food without the pretention and you have that kind of money to spend on a good meal (that isn’t a special event), yes. We will be returning. If our food is at least as good next time as it was this time, Bennett’s will certainly be added to our collection of eateries worth visiting.

Update – April 18, 2009
We returned to Bennett’s for a brunch last weekend (and a second opinion). Again, I thought the food was a bit uneven: the french toast was amazing; the salmon benedict, less so, but not horrible. The breakfast prices were much more reasonable though, $8-$12 for an entree. The second opinion is about the same as the first. With the more reasonable prices, we will definitely return for brunch and will hope to find other dishes as awesome as the French Toast. We will probably return for another dinner as well, but I don’t know yet if this will become a regular occurrence. We’re still figuring this place out.

You want a good meal to be an experience. Restaurants work hard to create an appropriate ambiance. Allowing diners to diminish that can pollute the memory of a special evening. I started thinking about this again when I read Adam Roberts’ Anti Dress-Code Manifesto and the response by Frank Bruni in the New York Times. You can tell that I found myself much more in line with Frank Bruni rather than Adam Roberts.

I’m not suggesting that all nice restaurants have dress codes, but there are several which are trying to provide a special atmosphere where I think it would be appropriate. Maybe we would choose one restaurant over another for a special occasion because we’d know that if we wanted to dress up, we wouldn’t feel out of place.

Canlis has a reputation as one of the more stuffy restaurants in Seattle, proclaiming on their website:

Canlis is a fine dining restaurant. Most men feel comfortable in a suit or sport coat. They are not required, but they are encouraged. Certainly, casual attire (jeans, tennis shoes, short sleeve shirts) is not appropriate. The golden rule: there is no such thing as overdressed!

I was heartened by this, and looked forward to our meal there. Of course, because this is Seattle, the restaurant does not enforce this policy and so, in my suit, we were seated next to a party of people in jeans and casual shirts. Luckily, the balance of people’s attire in the room was more on the formal side, so I did not feel too out of place although I was dressed more formally than anyone else in the restaurant under 60. I did feel somewhat overdressed.

The atmosphere does lend an air to the stuffyness: It does feel like a formal restaurant. The staff is numerous and well dressed, the decor is tasteful. When you pull up, a valet rushes to your door. You are greeted as you enter and your coat is whisked off your back and put away.

This formal atmosphere was fairly destroyed, however, by the wait staff who were overly friendly, made mistakes with our order and made some fairly large blunders for a restaurant proclaiming itself as a fine dining establishment. Twice a course was served when one of our party was not at the table. This might seem like a minor complaint, but it is the kind of thing you don’t expect in a restaurant like this. There were a lot of small things that really destroyed the atmosphere: food was served to the wrong person; one server kept bumping a person at our table while serving another table; one of the items we ordered was forgotten by the server and then delivered after the course was complete. You could pardon these kind of mistakes in a lesser restaurant. We certainly haven’t experienced this very often in this price range. Other “formal” touches were there: napkins were replaced whenever someone left the table; silverware was exchanged at the end of each course.

One other thing was just odd. There were a lot of families with small children there. I have nothing against this, but I’m not used to seeing it in this kind of establishment. Especially in these kinds of numbers. There was even a crying infant there. I love children, but it really does take away from a high-end meal to see a child pretending to play the drums with his silverware at the next table, or to hear a child screaming.

All of these minor quibbles (and they are minor taken individually) could be excused if the food was exquisite. The food was quite good. Of my whole tasting menu, I had only one complaint: my scallops were not cleaned adequately; there was some very unpleasant grit as I ate them. However, they were cooked perfectly, so that is a minor complaint. The whole menu was quite good and was certainly equal to other restaurants in its price range.

Overall, I have a hard time recommending this restaurant. I think it would be a great place to bring an out of town relative if you want an interesting view and your guest is enough of a foodie that you want to skip Cutters, Salty’s or Pallisades. Beyond that, I don’t see a real reason to go there again. The food is good, but there is better in the city at the same price or less. The atmosphere is nice, but not an attraction in itself.

Going out for really high-end food should really be a treat. It should be an experience that you want to savor, to remember fondly. It should make an event extra special. Life is too short and money is too precious to feel like you’ve dressed up for nothing and thrown away huge amounts of money on a meal that was not worth it.

I didn’t hate Canlis, but I didn’t love it either; and for food at this price, it means I really can’t recommend it.

Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body, research suggests.

The drink has already been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, and a study by a US team for the Journal of Neuroinflammation may explain why.

A vital barrier between the brain and the main blood supply of rabbits fed a fat-rich diet was protected in those given a caffeine supplement.

UK experts said it was the “best evidence yet” of coffee’s benefits.

how boring

The fact that this scores only 8% better than the not-very-good Grand Lux Cafe means that people have no taste. Although the lines at the Cheesecake Factory already make that clear.

I hate the Cheesecake Factory.

From their website:

The idea for Grand Lux Cafe came to life when The Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas asked David Overton, Founder of The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, to create an upscale casual restaurant concept for their property.

Excited by the proposal and the opulent “Venetian” theme, Mr. Overton traveled to Europe to study Italian trattorias, French bistros, and the grand cafes and pastry shops of Vienna. This culinary tour through Europe, focused on food, architecture, décor and design, provided the inspiration for what the restaurant was destined to become.

Blending the grandeur and luxury of European cafes with the sensibilities and spirit of an all-American restaurant, “Grand Lux Cafe” was born. Today, with locations in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Houston, Grand Lux Cafe is proud to offer our guests unique, casual global cuisine in an elegant yet relaxed atmosphere.

I’ve eaten in Venice, I’ve eaten in Italian trattorias and tons of French bistros. Beyond the hordes of loud tourists, I don’t see any other similarities. At least it isn’t expensive, which its’ only redeeming quality.