[Photo: Joshua Houston / Seattle Weekly]
Hanna Raskin visits Jamie Boudreau's Canon, and she says there is "no better place in Seattle to master what's driving the city's fuss over cocktails." Raskin praises the food as well, "With few exceptions, the small plates are brash and beautifully executed." She singles out the Self Starter, a cocktail composed of gin, Lillet, apricot brandy, and absinthe. Her "must-order dish is the pork-belly buns". Raskin notes that it's too early to call Canon Seattle's best bar. And, in her "Reviewing the Review", she points to a potential service issue:
So did Canon come up short when it failed to provide me with an overview of my drink's ingredients? Should its bartender have been inquisitive about my likes and dislikes, or paused before sending out a cocktail that teetered on the edge of unpalatable?
The rules for bartender's choice drinks have not been written yet, so she is left unsure.
At West Seattle's Tuscan Tea Room, Providence Cicero finds the "serene and civilized dining room so many of you[readers] pine for". She notes that the hybrid combination of tea room and bistro has "great charm but a range so far-reaching the kitchen stretches to reach the high notes." Of the tea nibbles, Cicero says they are " long on fruit, short on sweets, with savory items that varied in quality and in the care with which they were made." She likes the bistro menu better, finding that the crespelle are "made with considerable finesse." Cicero awards Tuscan Tea Room two stars.
· Think While You Drink at Canon [Seattle Weekly]
· Tuscan Tea Room: an oasis of serenity, finesse [Seattle Times]
