Belltown Bravos

Eat, eat, eat! If that’s all you do, that’s all you deserve: one mouthful after another. But if you pay attention, you start to taste shadings of difference: good, better, best. Herewith, my personal roster of the tastiest Belltown served up in 2007.

Belltown Restaurant of the Year: Steelhead Diner, not even a year old and clearly atop the dining scene. Hands down the best oysters of the season, “caviar pie” that’s already a legend, jumbo crabcakes that taste like the ocean, a commitment to local and organic ingredients, a serious wine list that sticks to approachable Pacific Northwest bottles. From his post in the corner of the kitchen, Kevin Davis oversees a dining room that’s half local, half tourist, all happy. Bravo!

Belltown Newcomer of the Year: A big welcome to Txori, the tiny Basque pintxos bar which gets me in, gives me a drink and a bite, and sends me on my way for under ten bucks and under half an hour. You can get a short glass of Stella for two bucks! It’s called a zurito. And a gilda–anchovy, olive and peppers on a crunchy slice of Le Panier bread–for $3.50. Haven’t had this much fun standing at a counter since, well, tapas-hopping in Spain. Runners-up: Tavolata, Entre Nous and Local Vine.

Most imaginative Belltown promotion: Campagne’s ratatouille cooking classes for kids.

Best Belltown Bar: the charming, cozy alcove at the entrance to Marjorie, where owner Donna Moodie often holds court while barman Ben Sherwood mixes exceptionally generous drinks and the kitchen turns out delectable plates like chicken tikka. At happy hour, try the pulled pork sandwiches with a Red Stripe.

Best Belltown Bites: Black Bottle’s lamb with hummus, Tavolata’s gnocchi with a ragu beef tongue, 94 Stewart’s braised lamb shank, Local Vine’s wagyu beef, Txori’s Gulas Pil-Pil, Le Pichet’s beet salad with sweetbreads.

So long, 2007! Here’s to many happy meals in 2008!

Manifesto

Everybody’s a critic, we know, and that’s the problem. From AOL to CitySearch, from Yelp to Zagat, from reader reviews in theStranger and forums in the Pee-Eye, we’re overrun with underinformed typists. Seattle has maybe two dozen people qualified to speak knowledgeably about restaurants, but where do you find them? Not on Chowhound, where the loudest noise is the grinding of axes. TripAdvisor? Read between the lines for self-promoting comments.

So here’s The Short List. We’re gonna do categories: best steak, best happy hour, best Italian, best late-night, best wine list, and so on. Where to go when it’s not your own money. Where to go in the nabe when it’s raining. Two, three, four places, tops. Subject to change, but not to popular vote. “We,” in case you’re wondering, is the royal we. Le blog, c’est moi.

Send in your ideas and comments. If you don’t agree, send your complaints.