With Sunset's 'Better Quality Fast Food,' Who Needs Chick-Fil-A?

Welcome back to Week in Reviews. Seattle's food critics recently visited Heartwood Provisions and Sunset Fried Chicken Sandwiches. Here's what they had to say:

DOWNTOWN—The Seattle Times' Providence Cicero gives two stars to Heartwood Provisions and its food-and-cocktail-pairing conceit. She finds the performance "lopsided" in favor of the drinks:

"Muddled flavors and overwrought presentations were common missteps in dishes that didn't trip the light fantastic. A mushy, hyper-acidic lemon-caper marmalade was an off-kilter condiment for lamb 'carpaccio,' lightly seared meat, cut from the eye of the rack and rubbed with an array of spices — allspice and clove prominent among them."

CAPITOL HILL—For Seattle Weekly, Nicole Sprinkle enjoys an early look at Sunset Fried Chicken Sandwiches, Monica Dimas' latest venture inside the 12th Ave location of Rachel's Ginger Beer. Sprinkle feels it "speaks to our town's growing trend of better-quality fast food":

"These are not your average fast-food chicken sandwiches. Instead they're heaped with meat, exceptionally moist inside, fried to a dark glaze on the outside, and served between toasted buns. The Picante, though billed as spicy, is not screaming hot. Rather, it gets a breath of heat from pickled jalapeños and chili mayo. Tangy cabbage slaw, beautifully crisp, brings vegetal brightness. The OG is essentially the same sandwich, but less spicy; the mayo has no chili and dill pickles replace jalapeños."