Seattle chefs dish on the plates they love most.
Rockfish Ceviche at Manolin Noah Forbes
“Rockfish Ceviche at Manolin”
– Renee Erickson
Near Erickson’s restaurant, The Whale Wins, is a Latin-tinged seafood bar where she can’t get enough of the chopped, marinated rockfish, topped with crunchy shreds of fried sweet potato. “It’s super limey; the major component is just chopped rockfish and sweet potato. I devour it all the time.”
3621 Stone Way N; manolinseattle.com
Renee’s restaurants: eatseacreatures.com
“Omakase at Sushi Kashiba”
– Ethan Stowell
Stowell, the man behind some of the city’s best Northwest-Italian dining (think Goldfinch Tavern, Tavolàta, and Rione XIII), admits his favorite dish is really a parade of them: A multicourse dinner from local sushi legend Shiro Kashiba, especially the sampler of four different tunas, fried spot prawn head, and uni in a seaweed cone. Seattle has loved Kashiba’s creations for decades, Stowell notes. “To still be killing it at age 76, that’s pretty impressive.”
86 Pine St; sushikashiba.com
Ethan’s restaurants: ethanstowellrestaurants.com
“King Crab Chawan Mushi at Sushi Kappo Tamura”
– Rachel Yang
The silky Japanese egg custard tastes both classic and modern, raves Yang, known for her Korean food at Revel, Trove, and Joule: “That melt-in-your-mouth flavor is so sweet and subtle, you just can’t replicate it anywhere.” It’s a fixture on chef Taichi Kitamura’s omakase menu.
2968 Eastlake Ave E; sushikappotamura.com
Rachel’s restaurants: relayrestaurantgroup.com
“Cantonese Steamed Wild King Salmon at Wild Ginger”
– Tom Douglas
Beautifully light steamed salmon is a go-to when Seattle’s pre-eminent restaurateur (Dahlia Lounge, Serious Pie, Etta’s, Lola, among others) goes out to eat. Douglas is particularly fond of the version downtown at Wild Ginger. “It’s just lightly steamed with ginger and garlic and green onions and very little else. It really lets the flavor of the fish come through.”
*1401 Third Ave; wildginger.net
Tom’s restaurants: tomdouglas.com
“Corned Lamb, Mizuna, Spicy Nuoc Cham Salad at Revel”
– Maria Hines
Hines cooks seasonal Northwest food at her eateries Tilth and Agrodolce, so she gravitates toward flavors she won’t find in her own restaurants—especially the hearty salad chef Rachel Yang (see left) serves at Revel in Fremont. “Even though it’s a heavier meat, the way she brines it is lovely; it has a lightness to it,” Hines says. “It’s really fresh with the mizuna—it’s totally one of my favorites.”
403 N 36th St; relayrestaurantgroup.com/restaurants/revel
Maria’s restaurants: mariahinesrestaurants.com
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