Checking In With Bar Sajor & Rain Shadow Meats Squared

Pioneer Square is the hood du jour for critics this week.

The Stranger asks if Rain Shadow Meats Squared can justify a place in Seattle's sandwichiest neighborhood and finds that the answer is not so easy to come by. Sure, there are hits, like the porchetta sandwich ($12) — a crusty baguette stuffed full of fatty roast pork and slathered with a pesto sauce. "This is a sandwich I'd stack against anything the Sandwich District—even the sainted Salumi—has to offer," declares writer Paul Constant. "But not every sandwich here is a knockout," he adds, referring mainly to the ham and cheese and Zuni.

Over at The Seattle Times, Providence Cicero makes her way over to Matt Dillon's Bar Sajor, which has already won over other critics in town. Just the sub-header alone could be her review:

Bar Sajor, Matt Dillon's beautiful new Pioneer Square restaurant, is his most pulled-together effort yet, evidence that, while still a creative renegade, this 2012 winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest is maturing as a chef/restaurateur.

The one downfall of Cicero's review seems to be the service, but nothing some great food can't take your mind off of:

That level of engagement was rare here. Most servers were attentive but aloof. The front-of-the-house staff doesn't yet work as a tight cadre with a common goal of pleasing the customer. Still, I came away from every meal at Bar Sajor not only content, but yearning to return.

Three stars.

· The Contender [The Stranger]
· Bar Sajor is Matt Dillon's Finest Yet [Seattle Times]
· Rain Shadow Meats [Official Site]
· Bar Sajor [Official Site]