The Verdict on Tribunali
RONALD HOLDEN eats his street  - From Belltown Messenger #67, May 2009

Seems like we’re slowly coming off the ice floe, drifting through chilly waters toward a warmer, greener shore. But then, life is illusion, so I’m probably just dreaming it’s spring. Next witness!
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Seattle’s emperor of pizza (and sultan of coffee), Mike McConnell, has unveiled the fifth Via Tribunali outpost in the space at the back of the refurbished Crocodile.
If you’re not going to the Croc for a show, you enter through the alley between 2nd and 3rd. In the far corner, Tribunali’s signature oven, this one a deep red, built by a team of masons from Naples who used bricks made from Vesuvian ash. The pizzas are Neapolitan-style thin crust, quick-cooked in a blazing hot, wood-fired oven with a limited set of toppings and a relatively light hand on the cheese. A pizza, Italians will tell you — even as they argue over stylistic details — is not an all-you-can-eat buffet.
It’s been a busy couple of years for McConnell,...

Print this coupon out from the Internet to enjoy $25 off dinner at Flying Fish.

Did we mention that Flying Fish is one of the best restaurants in Washington State? "We" said so! Third person plural, baby! Just like Saveur magazine.

Seriously though - this is not advertising or I would mention that in a disclaimer of some sort. I just like the Fish. We all do.

Jack's Fish Spot in Seattle's Pike Place Market is a great little place that has been filthy every time I have gone by over the years.

My friend Elaine would agree: "Every time we go by there we look and the counters aren't wiped, and the place is a mess."

These photos from January 5 reveal breaded shrimp sitting on an unclean counter next to a carton of cream with spillage on it. There is a layer of filth on the burner - everywhere really. Some fries lying around on the counter and a bottle of cleaning fluid being stored with some spices and a box of salt. The shrimp and crab cocktails are surrounded by a watery mess of cocktail sauce and a crumpled up napkin. And these shots were taken before lunch began!

Our final photo in the lineup shows Jack's latest reports from the health inspector. "Improper shellfish identification ... improper parasite destruction procedures for fish."

I love the Market and Jack's serves my kind of food with the oysters on the half shell and stuff. I want to like it.

Remind me to write...

Re-purposed from Seattlest & Cornichon.org courtesy of our friend Ronald Holden...

SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

Nabe News from Belltown: Hail, Farewell & Watch Your Back

First things first: Brett Paulson, barman at Txori, responds to recent violent incidents in Belltown by circulating a petition that asks Governor Gregoire to send in the Washington State Patrol "to help eradicate the open air drug trafficking." Txori is two doors from Wally's, a convenience store that's a magnet for low-lifes, and Paulson's beginning to think it's safer to walk through Belltown's alleys than its sidewalks. Councilman Tim Burgess is on the case as well, asking the mayor for stepped up police patrols. "But the city says they don't have the manpower," Paulson says, "so everybody's jazzed about the petition." There's a copy on the counter at Txori, others making their way around the nabe.

That said, hail to The Local Vine, just named one of the country's top ten wine bars in the upcoming issue of Bon Appetit. Co-owner Sarah Munson was...