Three Local Gems that Survived Covid
This month we are paying attention to some establishments that have been around a few years, but we just did not find and review them earlier. All three of this month’s choices show why they survived Covid, and we are glad they did.
One of our diners has walked by an inobtrusive spot for years before trying out Due Cucina, 412 Broadway East, 206.208.6670, https://duecucina.com/. The first thing we noticed was the fresh pasta being made — they make all their own pasta in the restaurant, and their own Italian sausage. You choose your sauce, then your pasta, and then the extras.
We tried both the low carb/high protein pasta (campanelle) and the gluten-free (casarecce) pastas. For toppings we went with both beef ragu and mushroom white truffle oil sauces (separate orders) with the campanelle and enjoyed them both. The pasta itself is rich and clearly cooked to order to al dente. Of the two, the mushroom truffle oil sauce, with the optional pork sausage, was clearly the bigger hit and is a combo for which we will probably return again and again. On the casarecce we tried the Cacio & Pepe sauce which was basically romano cheese and pepper. It was good, and it was hard for us to notice the pasta as gluten-free (and that is good for those who usually do not like gluten-free pasta). (Note: the gluten-free pasta is made on the same machinery, so it is not appropriate for a diner who may need to avoid cross contamination.) We accompanied the ragu with a glass of the house Barbera D’Albo and even with that appropriate pairing the meal was quite affordable.
There are several more sauces we want to try, especially the duck ragu (with Peking Duck) and the Carbonara with poached egg, so we plan to be back. Due uses the same machine for all of their pasta so cross contamination is possible if one is truly gluten intolerant.
Due has a heavy focus on takeout and catering and has no wait staff. If you do not email your order in advance, the person taking your order is taking time away from making pasta, and you pick up your order and bus your own dishes. The staff is very friendly. Due started at this Broadway location (formerly Samurai Noodle which had more prominent signage) and has spread to Totem Lake, Roosevelt, and West Seattle. This will not remain merely a local gem for long as they have plans to expand to Texas in the near future.
A Cider Lover’s Paradise
We have been paying attention to gluten-free offerings. We traveled about half a mile South from Due at our gluten-free diner’s request to check out Capitol Cider, 818 East Pike, 206.397.3564, https://www.capitolcider.com/, at the Northwest corner of East Pike and Broadway East. Capitol Cider is a scratch gluten-free kitchen. But it is, first and foremost, a cider bar with a selection of over 200 ciders (and mead, and a full bar if cider is not your drink of choice).
We started with a few orders of the Crispy Calamari and some sweet potato fries. For main courses, most of our diners tried the (gluten-free) fish and chips made with Alaskan cod or the braised short ribs, and also a kale Caesar salad. Overall, it all qualified as comfort food — good but not the reason you go there except for the gluten-free diners who miss their fish and chips. For dessert the flourless chocolate torte was a hit. And, since the entire kitchen is gluten-free, there is no risk of cross contamination. Much of the menu is also dairy-free — they clearly cater to special diets.
Many of us accompanied our food with cider giving us a hint of the variety available there; cider is definitely the draw. It would take many trips to taste a significant portion of their cider and mead offerings. And for the cooler weather, one of us enjoyed the mulled cider.
Capitol Cider has been open ten years and has an established following. It boasts it is Seattle’s first Cider bar and the largest independent cider bar in the country. It has a lively atmosphere, but not too noisy, and covered dining on the sidewalk. It got crowded as the early evening went on, so reservations are a good idea.
A Beacon Hill Favorite
Next, we headed South to Beacon Hill to try another fashionable spot: Homer, 3013 Beacon Avenue South, 206.785.6099, https://www.restaurant
homer.com/home. Homer touts itself as a neighborhood restaurant, but it is drawing from all over town, thanks in part to its being conveniently located near the Beacon Hill light rail stop. Their menu has a Mediterranean theme, but they have also developed a reputation for their home made soft-serve ice cream and fresh baked cookies.
We sampled the hummus with chickpeas and cumin, and the “set of top three spreads” which included the hummus, labneh with dried tomatoes and min, and celeriac and cashew dip with red chili pepper together with fresh baked pita while we were waiting, and took advantage of their bar, sampling their “Brownsteine” (a Manhattan style cocktail with Urfa Biber-infused Cynar as an extra ingredient), their “Kumquat Parade” (with Tequila, Kumquat Shrub and lime), house wines, and a custom mocktail that was so convincing we had to confirm it had no alcohol.
We took full advantage of the menu and ordered a wide assortment to accommodate our group once we were seated inside. We had the caramelized sunchokes with black garlic, kumquat, celery, shiso and bee pollen, the ash roasted sweet potatoes with rose-hazelwood Romanesco and fermented lime a yogurt, the grilled beets with tahini, peanuts elder berries and ancho chilis, the smoked kohlrabi with Asian pear and red onion, and marinated and roasted olives, from the small plates. From the larger plates we tried the black cod with pomegranate molasses (usually on the menu with petrale sole). We had no favorite item because everything was great. The only thing we would do differently next time is leave some room to sample their signature soft-serve ice cream.
Homer only takes reservations for groups of six or more. Homer opens at 5 p.m. and, by the time we got there at 5:40, the wait time was over an hour (estimated, and real). But they did serve us drinks and appetizers on the picnic tables out front, so the wait time was not a problem for us — it was fairly warm and dry that day, but the outdoor seating is neither heated nor covered. They have plans to expand their outdoor seating this summer.
As mentioned above, reservations are only for groups of 6 to 10, but, if you make reservations you are required to order off the “family feast” menu ($50 per person).
There is a reason all three of these neighborhood gems survived Covid. We plan to return to all three of them.
