Whole Roasted Duck

Beacon BBQ, $26

I have yet to experience a roasted duck that's better than Beacon BBQ's, a blue and easily missed to-go grocery and deli on Beacon Hill. (The joint, which is all function and little beauty, also sells superb dim sum dishes.) What makes the duck here so good is, unlike so many places, that it's not that salty nor sweet. Instead, it is prepared with a focus on what's best about a duck, the almost gamy mix of juicy fat and soft dark- and light-brown meat. I also love eating the tangy bones of this bird, but I will not bring up that pleasure here. CHARLES MUDEDE

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Sausage Greens Pizza

Blotto, $29

 

 

 

 

 

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Blotto has some of the best pizza (and vibes!) in Seattle. Made with a light, crisp, naturally-leavened crust, it's extremely easy to pound one of these bad boys in the span of 20 minutes. I'd obviously advise against doing that for your stomach and tastebuds' sake as this pie is meant to be savored. While there are three constants on Blotto's menu—vegan, cheese, and pepperoni and peppers pizzas—they're not afraid to switch it up with their speciality pies, using local and seasonal ingredients. Currently, their Sausage Greens pizza ($29) has been rocking my world. It's made with a base of tomato sauce and aged mozzarella and topped with Olsen fennel sausage, red onion, parm, and kale from Sound Sustainable Farms—delicious. It's the perfect mix of meaty and vegetal, and tastes great dipped in their house-made ranch. I'd highly suggest pairing this pie with their Caesar salad ($13) and Mah Zeh burnt potato side ($8), which is a seared Russet potato that comes with a labneh and chili dip. Pair it with one of their natty wines why dontcha?  JAS KEIMIG

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Adult Lunch

Off Alley, $50

 

 

 

 

 

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It brings me significant amounts of pleasure to report on the ongoing greatness and increased recognition of Off Alley, the small but mighty Columbia City restaurant featured in The Stranger back in February 2022 (they’ve since landed on the NYT’s Best New Restaurants list and enjoyed coverage in Eater, Resy, and Tasting Table). Evan Leichtling and Meghna Prakash’s deeply personal, no-fucks-given twelve-seat restaurant has gone from strength to strength, crafting a nightly funhouse menu of food you will not find anywhere else in the city, or honestly, the country, inspired by local produce and protein and international travel: quail and sweetbreads with blue cheese popover, foie gras buckwheat waffles, crab fat deviled eggs, braised sea snails with winter radish, and so forth.   

Dinner at Off Alley has become a reservations-only affair, with long wait times during peak hours (the restaurant is truly tiny). But my favorite time to go is on Sunday, when from 1 pm until around 6 they offer “Adult Lunch”—a sort of riff on the weekend-long lunch tradition beloved from London to Lisbon, which bears little by way of resemblance or intention to the horror show known as “brunch” here in America. A proper Sunday lunch at Off Alley might be enjoyed solo or as a duo; you should order two or three things from the menu, and maybe a little dessert; and a drink is nice, whether it’s wine or a cocktail or a beer or something zero proof, all of which they’re well-stocked for. You should lose track of time a little bit, but not in a “stuck in my phone” sort of way; more like losing yourself in a good book, a conversation with a stranger, or a particularly compelling date. Each plate is good on its own but taken together, across a Sunday afternoon, adult lunch achieves a sort of thermal mass, an exit velocity from reality, arriving at last at cosmic grandeur, or at least a little scoop of kumquat ice cream. Fifty dollars is a guidepost—you might spend a little more, or a little less, and it’s fine either way. It’s Sunday lunch. This is your time. JORDAN MICHELMAN

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Tajarin con Burro e Salvia

Spinasse, $30

Spinasse's Tajarin con Burro e Salvia is widely considered to be one of the best pasta dishes in the city. But here's a lesser-known fact: You can make it at home. No parking, no pants. Just you and a beautiful nest of handmade pasta drenched in a delicate buttery sauce and the latest episode of The Last of Us. Spinasse's $30 pasta kit comes with everything you need to make the iconic dish—a hefty handful of their housemade pasta shredded as fine as Easter grass, a small mountain of cultured butter topped with the expert amount of salt, pepper, and fresh sage leaves, and a small container of grated Parmigiano. From there, it comes together in literally seconds. Just melt the butter, allowing the sage to permeate through every last molecule of fat, boil the pasta for 30 seconds, and then quickly but gently stir the two components together with a decent splash of pasta water. The butter and starchy water transform into a smooth, perfumed sauce right before your very eyes. The pasta is melt-in-your-mouth tender and thoroughly coated, but not weighed down by the glistening sauce, just as you aren't weighed down by society's expectation to wear pants. MEGAN SELING

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El Zabuton

Asadero, $40

You have $50 in your pocket and steak on your mind. You want something amazing and special, a little different from the usual filet, ribeye, or NY strip, but don’t want to break the bank. The El Zabuton from Asadero is exactly what you’re looking for. 

The zabuton, or Denver steak, is a lesser-known cut from the chuck area of the cow and does not require the usual long cook time due to thorough marbling. Every bite is perfectly melt-in-your-mouth tender but without the sometimes too-rich fattiness of other wagyu steaks. At Asadero this piece of meaty heaven comes out of the kitchen seared and sizzling on a slab of rock, which remains at a high temperature for the entire meal. I found peak tenderness is at medium rare and would recommend ordering it rare (or one temperature below how you prefer your steak) and letting the rock do the rest of the work. (Tip: Ask your server for an extra plate to put your steak on once you’ve reached your preferred temperature to avoid overcooking.) The El Zabuton is served à la carte, topped with a sprig of rosemary, a small pile of rock salt for additional seasoning, and two house-made salsas, all of which are great, but not necessarily needed, as the meat itself has a full and buttery flavor with a hint of natural sweetness. EVANNE HALL