Double Teaming Le Petit Cochon, A Rave for Westward

[Photo: S. Pratt]

So much for settling in. Not even two months old, Derek Ronspies' Le Petit Cochon is already getting the review treatment this week — twice.

Both Seattle Weekly and The Stranger take a stab at the whole hog-inspired restaurant perched above Chiso, just down the hill from Roux and RockCreek, making Fremont Ave. a nice hot-bed of fresh culinary action.

The Weekly's Nicole Sprinkle says LPC will win diners with more than just its 'exotic' meats.

For instance, the blood and foie, which she really liked. Her only beef with the dish: "It could use some crusty bread on the side. That much spreadable richness needs it." Praise for the duck breast and risotto, both of which she says were cooked perfectly. "Where the dish goes astray, however, is in Ronspies' desire to get a lot of tastes onto a plate."

Bethan Jean Clement agrees, saying that the balance just isn't there yet:

The kind of highly composed, high-minded food that's being attempted at Le Petit Cochon is an art. Ronspies is sometimes near the mark, but more often, it feels like he's throwing things against the plate and using lots of beds of puree to make them stick.

Whereas Sprinkle still kind of loves the abandon Ronspies is working under ("While that abandon sometimes gets reckless, more often than not it's exciting and interesting"), BJC seems to be pretty over it.

Providence Cicero, meanwhile, dives into Westward this week, calling the still newish nautical-themed restaurant on Lake Union stylish, but with substance.

[Josh] Henderson hires chefs he trusts and lets them strut their stuff. Here Zoi Antonitsis, former chef de cuisine at Madison Park Conservatory, puts a Greek slant on the Mediterranean menu, which, despite the nautical setting, divides equally among seafood, meat and vegetables.

High praise for everything she sampled on the menu. Seems the only thing she didn't like was the fact that she couldn't sit outside in front of the fire pit because it was too cold.

Three stars.

· Le Petit Cochon [Official Site]
· Seattle Weekly Review [Seattle Weekly]
· The Stranger Review [The Stranger]
· Seattle Times Review [The Seattle Times]