suze

www.cafeflora.com Is ~10 min. drive from downtown, straight out Madison. It's not on the water but is very well respected for innovative vegetarian cuisine.

Daniel's Broiler on Leshi is a lovely waterfront place for dinner (on Lake Washington) again ~10-15 mins. from downtown.

At Assagio's I was thinking of things like the delicious spinach ravioli in gorgonzola cream sauce, etc. (which I assumed was vegetarian but I could be wrong).

kureiff

Matt's in the Market is very good and fantastic for lunch.

You might need reservations for dinner as there are only a few tables.

kimamom

The soft-shell crab at Flying Fish was excellent. Also, loved the espresso creme brulee for dessert! ***kim***

Fodorite018

Assaggio's is very nice, we have been there several times and were never disappointed.

Il Fornaio is one place that I will not return to. The food was ok, but the service was so terrible (not just for our party) and the manager knew the problems and still nothing was done.

stormygirl

my recommendation for Maximillian wasn't really in response to vegetarian but they make some damn good mussles and veg omelets!

With regard to Italian and vegetarian I don't really think it's always a safe assumtion- many dishes are prepared with chicken or veal stock. Just a thought- you might really want it to say vegetarian.

Rovers has a vegetarian tasting menu if your looking for a special yet expensive option.

Cafe Flora and Carmelita both get high praise in town as veg restaurants.

As long as she eats seafood you shouldn't have a problem! a lot of restaurants can be found online also.

lovingheart

Everything considered--Il Fornaio. Have the antipasto and a glass of wine--they supply the wonderful bread. (You can order the antipasto for one, despite the statement on the menu that you must order it for two.)

christy1

Cascadia has, among its tasting menu choices, a 7 course vegetarian menu. THey may have vegetarian a la carte entrees as well-there is an online a la carte menu here too. You really cannot go wrong here, even if it might be a bit of a splurge.
http://www.cascadiarestaurant.com/html/me_2.htm

kimamom

Christy1, I just browsed through my Wine Enthusiast and Cascadia is listed in the America's Best Wine Driven Restaurant awards. It was given the Ultimate Distinction Award. Assagio, Salty's, Rover's, Wild Ginger and Dulces Latin Bistro were also listed in the Seattle area. Cheers! ***kim***

Patrick

Just visited the Cascadia web site. I think it may have moved to the head of the list. Thanks.
Now how many meals can we squeeze into a three night stay, again?

stormygirl

Patrick,

Cascadia has a fantastic happy hour- $3 Alpine martinis, $1 mini burgers made with ground filet, $1 calamari, etc.

So even if you don't go for the full meal you can do as the locals do...... tonight in fact!

kimamom

Patrick, there is only ONE restaurant in Portland that made the list. Care to take a guess which one it is? ***kim***

Patrick

Haven't started my Portland research yesterday, but did just book Fifth Avenue Suites for our two nights there, so that will be next. Ok -- which restaurant?

Rhardy5554

Can't agree with your Cascadia suggestions. It does have a great view of downtown Seattle. Other than that, we found it to have mediocre food, was noisy, and definitely not worth the trip. If you want to go this far, there are many better choices.

Patrick

No offense, Rhardy, but it's not hard to chose which is likely to be more right for us --15 major food critics from all over the country claiming it's wonderful, or one unknown on a forum saying it was mediocre. And if we avoided "noisy" restaurants, we'd have missed most of the greatest meals we've had in the past few years.

Don't get me wrong, you're entitled to your opinion. But I rarely find "mediocre" food at restaurants that have been raved about by such an array of major food critics. I'm guessing you've only been there once, and sampling a few dishes does not guarantee "mediocrity" in the entire menu, either.

kimamom

Patrick, the only Portland restaurant that made the list was Fernando's Hideaway. www.fernandosportland.com Apparently it's a place serving Spanish cuisine (as the website instructs you to call it.)

I'll have to check it out when we visit Portland in a few weeks. ***kim***

suze

Rhardy <there are many better choices>

Please do tell us what they are ... I'm not disagreeing and have never been to Cascadia, but since I live here in Seattle I am always curious to hear what people think of the restaurant scene who are in the city as visitors.

Rhardy5554

I really goofed on this one! I was mixing up Cascadia (to which we've been, and liked) with Palisades to which my remarks applies. Sackcloth and ashes for me - and no gourmet meals for at least 24 hours! And we do live in the area, too.

stormygirl

Rhardy, I knew there was something you were confusing because there is really no view at Cascadia! Good job catching yourself.

I think that list is weird!! I like all the restaurants except for Salty's but really only Cascadia and Rovers have top notch status.

Others in that category Suz would be Union, Lampria, Mistral, Le Gourmand, Campagne, Canlis.

These are considered the top dining (white table cloth, get dressed and splurge on the wine) places in Seattle.

There are many many more that fall into the next step down which is where we mostly frequent.

BTW last night at Cascadia even my friend who only eats chicken had a mini burger and loved it!

Patrick

Glad, that's cleared up Rhardy!

We ate an Canlis many years ago and still have the salad recipe that I make all the time. But it reminded me then of sort of an "old folks" place or place for proms and birthdays.

Sure are lots of options, and I know we won't starve. But in a two week trip, trying not to break the bank, we've got to do some looking for great but now "special occasion places" too.

suze

Thanks for the help stormygirl, re current white table cloth cream-of-the-crop restaurants. although i live in seattle and used to work in 'the business' these days I'm afraid my dining experiences are limited to lunches in Belltown & the Market (ohana, frontier room, virginia inn, emmett watsons, etta's seafood, cutters) and dinners on 15th (Jamjuri, Jalisco, Olympia Pizza!).