A New Restaurant on Alki
We escaped Downtown and Capitol Hill for a change and celebrated the reopening of the West Seattle Bridge by taking a journey to check out Driftwood, 2722 Alki Avenue SW, 206.420.7381, https://www.driftwood
seattle.com/. Driftwood is a new restaurant (opened in January 2023) by Dan and Jackie Mallahan. It is in a prime location on Alki beach — our view included the mini-Statue of Liberty, as well as, of course, a sweeping view of the water. Its fairly small footprint is oriented toward the view, including bar type seating at the (open depending upon the weather) window (recommended).
We sampled the Sunchokes, Dungeness Crab, and Fried Panisse (Polenta) prepared with fennel, crab hollandaise and pickled celery root (a small plate, but try it); the Halibut, sourced from the Makah Nation, with Red Wheat, stinging nettle, roasted cinnamon cap mushroom, kalettes, picked shallot and “puffed Halibut Skin” (they served the wheat separately to accommodate our gluten-free diner); and the Rockfish prepared with celery root mouse, shitake mushroom conserva, buttered savoy cabbage, and puffed wild rice. We ordered the house pull-apart rolls with shitake butter and shitake relish to help the gluten eaters among us mop up the sauces — we did not want anything to go to waste. We liked all of them and, as an overall observation, they were heavily seasoned and frequently by seasonings we could not identify (in their words, “bold flavors”). We found the unusual flavors nice for a change. We ate family style and there was no consensus favorite dish, but if we had to pick one, do try the crab and fried panisse small plate. Alas, we did not leave room for dessert.
From the bar we tried the Woodland Manhattan that used Brucato Woodland Amaro and Kiprock Distilling Nocino with the Rye to make it distinctly different from the customary version. For a mocktail we tried the Sorrel Sour based on cinnamon hibiscus tea with salted maple syrup, sour juice and cardamon which did not fool us into thinking it was alcoholic, but was very good nonetheless.
Driftwood takes pride in being very locally sourced (“market driven”) so its menu changes frequently. Although we did not try any shellfish, Driftwood already had a reputation for sourcing some of the freshest shellfish in Seattle.
The staff was friendly, helpful, and upbeat. We enjoyed the experience as well as the food. The prices are on a par with downtown Seattle, so be prepared. Reservations are recommended and for those of you who do not get to Alki often, remember to leave extra time to find parking.
An Update to a Fremont Watering Hole
Red Star Taco Bar, 513 North 36 St. (at the SW corner of Market and 36th), 206.258.3087, https://www.redstartacobar.com/seattle-welcome, in Fremont, about a block West of the statue of Lenin, has been around long enough (seven years) to be a fixture for some. We checked them out now because they went gluten-free starting the end of April. It has a classically Fremont funky atmosphere with a clientele to match.
We were hungry so we started with chips and salsa; the chips were fresh; the salsa was not too hot. But the table was well stocked with a variety of hot sauces, including two from the very local Callahan’s hot sauces (Habanero and Chipotle Black Pepper) for spicing things up. For more real food we followed with the Taqui-Queso with Chicken and grilled asadero cheese in corn tortillas and garnished like a Taco, and the shredded chicken Tamale in salsa verde. Both were worth ordering again and filled us up (so, once again, no dessert, and we did not even get to the Taco portion of the menu!).
We went early in the day on a week day so we did not try the Mango Habanero Margarita which we understand to be one of their more popular drinks. But we plan to return to check it out. Instead the virgin guava margarita was very good; good enough to tempt us to have it again instead of a regular margarita. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our midday visit and plan to return whenever we find ourselves in Fremont and not looking for Thai food. Red Star also has a late-night happy hour and we always like to check those out. And, if you live in Tacoma, Red Star has a location there, also.
Parking is not as bad in Fremont as in Alki, but it can still pose a problem. N.B.: Red Star is a bar, so 21 and over could be a limitation for family dining. But we found it a fun Fremont location worth a try if you have not already discovered it.
