Marcus Lalario and Matt Dillon Opening Ciudad in Georgetown

Get ready, Georgetown: It's only been a month since Marcus Lalario's Fat's Chicken and Waffles graced the Central District, and now The Seattle Times reports that the restaurateur is partnering with James Beard Award winner Matt Dillon (Sitka and Spruce, the Corson Building, Bar Sajor, and more) for a new restaurant in your parts. Ciudad, the casual spot coming at 6118 12th Avenue South (near Hitchcock), will revolve around a monster charcoal grill, says Dillon. He'll have more of a side role in the new restaurant, not involved daily, but will be designing the menu and acting as a consultant.

Per The Times: "The menu [Dillon is] making for Ciudad sounds extremely tasty: "It's gonna be very just hot and spicy and limes and cilantro, bold flavors," Dillon says. He also talks about chili paste, vinegar, honey — hot and sour and sweet. To go with all the grilling [of seafood, lamb, vegetables, and more], Cuidad will serve rice, potatoes, flatbread, pickles, herb salad and such. They're calling the food American, by which Dillon means 'Spanish-slash-Korean-slash-Portuguese-slash-Lebanese... grilled, delicious food with very simple accompaniments.'"

Lalario and Dillon are designing new Ciudad with London's Mangal Ocakbasi in mind. Traditional in Turkey, "ocakbasi restaurants are where people eat when they're out, as opposed to places to go out to eat at," reads that restaurant's website. No word yet on when Ciudad will open, but Dillon reports (and the photo above verifies) there is "a huge outdoor area" to look forward to. Joining ranks with Georgetown's new Charles Smith Jet City Wines, the largest urban winery on the West Coast, the neighborhood just keeps getting better.