Seattle Restaurant Week’s Feast Fest Kicks Off March 30

Restaurant industry veteran Gene Dexter, wine specialist at Charlotte at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seattle, has labored over his share of Restaurant Weeks since its inception in 2010. Dexter has also worked at places such as Monsoon, Ba Bar and the now defunct Union Square Grill.

Participating restaurants, food trucks and pop-ups will offer menus at $20, $35, $50, and $65 around the Puget Sound from Sunday, March 30 through Saturday, April 12 during this year’s Seattle Restaurant Week.

Seattle Restaurant Week is partnering with Eat Local First, a state-wide collaborative promoting local producers in featuring sharing their ethos. Guests can download a “passport” for additional discounts and to enter drawings.

Dexter urges guests to do their homework on the restaurants they want to visit by reviewing menus, as most don’t offer substitutions. “Restaurant Week is a menu program which represents quite a savings in money and creates a lot more value for the guests,” Dexter says. “I think it’s an opportunity for guests to try new experiences without having to necessarily break the bank.”

At Barking Frog in Woodinville, Restaurant Week is an opportunity to introduce the restaurant to new diners, as well as introduce their new chef to regulars.

“We’re looking to open the doors to those that wouldn’t come to Barking Frog,” says wine manager Torrey Lewis. “We’re also excited to introduce them to our new chef team led by Lyle Kaku and their exciting culinary creations.”

Kaku arrived at Barking Frog in January with 24 years of experience in resorts in his native Hawaii and Las Vegas, including stops at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Caesars Palace, Chinois, Postrio, and opening Spago Maui at Four Seasons. Most recently, he was the executive chef at the Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii.

Barking Frog is offering multiple options for a three-course lunch ($35) or a three-course dinner ($65) with a hyper focus on seasonal ingredients.

Close-up of a gourmet seafood dish beside a wine glass and bottle, next to a chef in a white coat, arms folded—ready for March 30's Seattle Restaurant Week.

Barking Frog is excited to introduce new chef Lyle Kaku during Seattle Restaurant Week.

Photo courtesy of Willow Lodge

Jeremy McLachlan is another veteran chef cooking at a new restaurant. McLachlan, who had cooked at Salty’s for nearly 30 years, is now the executive chef at El Gaucho Bellevue.

El Gaucho Bellevue, El Gaucho Seattle, as well as sister restaurants Aerlume, Aqua and Walla Walla Steak Co. in Woodinville are all participating in Restaurant Week. At El Gaucho Bellevue, McLachlan will serve classics such as wicked shrimp and Niman Ranch steaks.

Options across the region vary. Here are some recommendations.

• Nell’s Restaurant on Green Lake features a three-course menu (with several options for each course) for $50. The $25 wine pairings are highly recommended.

• Lillian Hill’s Brown Sugar Baking Co. features vegan specialty baked goods its Central District location next Thursday and Friday.

• Place Pigalle is offering a starter and main course option for $50. Entree choices include two of the restaurant’s classic dishes for decades: Northwest Bouillabaisse or duck confit cassoulet.

Experience Seattle Restaurant Week at a table set for four with folded napkins, cutlery, a candle, and flowers near a window overlooking the waterfront and Ferris wheel at sunset.

Place Pigalle at Pike Place Market.

Photo courtesy of Place Pigalle

• Cafe Campagne, which celebrated 30 years in Pike Place Market last fall, is offering three-course menus for lunch and dinner, including entree choices of a hearty beef merguez sausage of chicken quenelles (dumplings).

• Tom Douglas’ Palace Kitchen is offering a three-course menu for $50 from 5 p.m. to midnight. In addition, it is featuring a late-night option (10 p.m.-midnight) with three entree options for $20.

• The wife and husband team of Roxanne and Gary Brooks opened Barrel & Bacon last summer. Roxanne brings her Filipina background to the menu with specialties such as Longi-slider (a longanisa slider) for the main dish and ube-liveable bread pudding made with ube (purple yam). Three courses plus a mocktail are $50 during Restaurant Week.

Amidst the buzz of Feast Fest, a person beams while holding a plate with a burger and salad, embodying the joy of Seattle Restaurant Week on March 30.

Roxanne Brooks of Barrel & Bacon, one of the many chefs participating in Seattle Restaurant Week.

Photo courtesy of Barrel & Bacon

• U Wine Bar, the board game wine bar which opened earlier this year in Wallingford, will offer a flight of three wines from its diverse wine list, plus a bottle to take home for $50.

• Detroit-style pizza joint Sunny Hill in Ballard features a three-course option (salad, pie and dessert) for $50. For $25 add a bottle of the featured “pizza wine.”

Four hands eagerly grasp slices of rectangular pizza, adorned with a variety of toppings. They hover over a table brimming with more delicious pies, savoring the flavors of March 30 during Seattle Restaurant Week.

Detroit-style pizza at Sunny Hill in Ballard.

Photo courtesy of Sunny Hill Seattle

• Jude’s Old Town, the worker-owned co-op restaurant in Rainier Beach, is offering virtually its entire menu for dinner for two with two entrees and drinks for $65, or a sandwich, side dish and drink for $35.

• The Lakehouse at Lincoln Square in downtown Bellevue is serving three-course lunch and dinner menus, including toothsome vegetarian options.

• All five Tutta Bella locations (Columbia City, Wallingford, downtown Seattle, Issaquah, Bellevue) will offer lunch and dinner menus that include a salad, a personal serving pizza, dessert, plus an adult beverage for $35.

• Feed Me Hospitality Group will feature Restaurant Week menus at all five of its Edmonds locations.