5 Things You Need to Eat and Drink in December 2018

The weather outside is frightful—thank goodness there’s plenty to keep us indoors this month. December brings carte blanche to eat any damn thing you please, so balance all those cookies with some savory dinner plans and expert cocktails.

Revisit an old favorite in a new location.
After 20 years in the Batali family, storied Seattle charcuterie shop Salumi was recently sold to new owners, longtime customers Martinique Grigg and Clara Veniard. There’s more big news: Last week, the deli opened in a new location (404 Occidental Ave. S) blocks from the original. Now, we know how reluctant Seattle can be to embrace change, but this is both a bigger shop and a better place to wait in line; plus, Grigg tells me they’ll continue to host those excellent semi-secret lunches by reservation in the back room and will also be doing gnocchi one day a week still and the porchetta will be as delicious as ever. So lets give them a chance, yes?

Embrace Filipino cooking by way of an Italian-American tradition.
There are plenty of places around town that do a more traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes, but this year we’re most excited about the Filipino version to be hosted by Musang on Dec. 16 at Bar Del Corso. The Filipino pop-up restaurant is promising an untraditional, family-style feast full of fish and seafood; tickets are $70 for seatings at 5 p.m. or 8:30 p.m.

Deck the halls—with booze.
Every year, Rob Roy does Christmas drinking on 11. Through Dec. 24, you can stop by the Belltown bar and be whisked away to a winter wonderland full of Christmas kitsch called Miracle on 2nd, which on its own sounds about as appealing as those Hallmark holiday movies. But the best part is Rob Roy’s annual cocktail advent calendar, where you can partake in a different cheery, boozy beverage every day through the end of the pop-up. That’s a lot of drinking—but what else are the holidays for?

Eat up for a good cause.
On Dec. 16, five chefs (Jeff Vance of No Anchor, Cam Hanin of Ma’Ono/Supreme, Tarik Abdullah of Midnight Mecca, Matt Fortner of Matt’s in the Market and Erik Jackson of Good Day Donuts) are throwing a holiday dinner at Good Day Donuts to benefit the White Center Food Bank. Casual, family-friendly and surely a great time for a great cause. Dinner is $15 for adults, $8 for under 12.

Make your NYE plan.
Start now or risk having yet another New Year’s Eve that doesn’t live up to your incredibly high expectations. Canlis, Canon and Deep Dive are all hosting major enviable events (worth the hefty price tag if you can swing it), but we’ll be sharing more in the way of dinner destinations to ring in 2019 in the coming days. Stay tuned!