NYT's 'Best Restaurants' List Names 2 WA Eateries

SEATTLE — The New York Times published its 2022 list of the best restaurants in America this week, and two Western Washington eateries claimed honors among just 50 named nationwide. The Times sent food writers on a search for the most exciting restaurants, taking them from Puerto Rico to Orcas Island and everywhere in between.

In Seattle, the Times named Columbia City's Off Alley, billed as an intimate but laid-back dining experience with a seasonal menu and room for just a dozen patrons in a renovated alleyway on Rainier Avenue South. Opened by husband-and-wife duo Evan Leichtling and Meghna Prakash in August 2020, the restaurant earned earlier raves from Seattle Eater, Seattle Met and The Stranger.

"Their combined sensibility lends dinners the raucous feel of a Lyonnaise bouchon, with an urban edge," The New York Times writes. "The dishes are nose-to-tail accented with Pacific Northwest ingredients — braised tripe with morels and nora peppers; gooseneck barnacles with charred scallion aioli; fried pig head with preserved cherries and Walla Walla onions."

Hopping on a ferry to Orcas Island, The New York Times stuck gold in Eastsound at Matia, another intimate space that opened shop in the San Juans last summer. Despite being little more than a year old, Matia is no stranger to the limelight. As The Seattle Times notes, an early glowing review by cookbook author and recipe extraordinaire J. Kenji López-Alt overloaded the restaurant's reservation system. Dozens flocked to Matia the next day.

"Looking at the menu can often inspire an 'Is that going to work' feeling," The New York Times writes. "A pork chop with spring radish, bok choy, salsa macha and smoked date purée, for instance, or charred head lettuce, fennel marmalade, smoked egg yolk and oyster-mushroom conserva. But the answer is an emphatic 'Absolutely.'"

>> Check out the full list via The New York Times.