good eats in seattle

Well, that's a strange title for this blog post since most of my blog is about where to eat in Seattle. But earlier today I came across a Seattle Times article about where to take guests who are visiting Seattle, and it led me to two other interesting lists from the Tea & Cookies blog and the Frantic Foodie.

In general, there are some great recommendations across these lists, but a few of them caught me by surprise. Poppy? No offense to Jerry Traunfeld, former executive chef at The Herbfarm and James Beard Award winner, but my one visit to his Capitol Hill restaurant failed to impress me and I've never returned. Am I missing something? I was also surprised to see that Oddfellows made one of the lists, but then again, only snacks and drinks were recommended.

I recently had the pleasure of showing off Seattle's foodie delights to out-of-town guests, and here is a brief recap of where we ate and drank:

• Taylor Shellfish Farms in Melrose Market for some bubbly and freshly shucked oysters.
• Nishino, where sushi chef Mori makes the best spicy tuna handrolls.
• Tavern Law and the secret upstairs bar, Needle and Thread, for craft cocktails, a fire show, and magical Japanese ice balls.
• Le Rêve Bakery, to pick up hot-out-of-the-oven kouign amann.
• Patty Pan Grill at the U-District Farmers Market, where we devoured their veggie quesadillas complete with grilled beets, greens, and other market-fresh goodness.
• Matt's in the Market for an expertly prepared meal featuring house-made sausages, smooth and creamy foie gras, Copper River Salmon, Alaskan Halibut...
• Bookstore Bar in the Alexis Hotel, where the boys enjoyed the impressive array of fine Scotch and whisky.

There were many other contenders, but I'd say this was a decent sampling of good eats in Seattle. Where would you take your visitors?