2011 was an exceptionally fun and exciting year for Seattle families and thanks to our friends at Seattle Magazine, Seattle parents now have plenty ideas for date night. From recommendations for local spirits to tips on art collecting to splurge worthy meals, moms and dads now have tons of tips for what to do when the kiddos are with the babysitter for the evening. To sum it all up, Seattle Magazine has generated a sweet list of the Best Food and Drink Spots in 2011. So go ahead mom and dad, celebrate the end of a great year at one of these fab Seattle eateries.

Best Pie
Seattle Pie Company

It was the year of the pie! Proof: A half-dozen new pie shops opened this year, A La Mode, American Pie, High 5 Pie and the easy-to-remember Pie among them. But after eating our way through miles of crust and pounds of filling, we’re convinced that the shop that makes the best pies is one that we discovered a couple of years ago in Magnolia: the sweet, charming Seattle Pie Company.

Chef and owner Alyssa Lewis’ pies have flaky crusts, delicious fillings, and a crumb topping on the apple-huckleberry, apple and cherry crumb pies that is so good, you’ll be tempted to eat it right off the top with a spoon. Especially delicious: coconut cream, banana cream and the to-die-for chocolate cream pies. Long live pie!

3111 W McGraw St.; 206.217.4743; seattlepiecompany.com

Best Pop-Up Restaurant
Little Uncle

 

Despite the dozens of local restaurants opening every month, Seattle foodies are always on the hunt for the even newer, even hotter, even more brag-worthy finds. Enter: the pop-up restaurant.

 

Usually only around for a limited stint in a borrowed or rented space, these temporary restaurants are a clever way for chefs to test recipes for upcoming restaurants, play with different concepts or just cook in a different style than their current jobs allow. This year, we saw pop-ups from Skillet pre-diner, Canlis’ Hearth & Home pop-up, which lived inside Queen Anne’s Macrina for two days last winter, and chef Erik Jackson of Cuoco, whose pop-up was called A Square Meal when he staged it at the Volunteer Park Café last summer.

 

But our favorite—perhaps because it has been so long-lived—is Little Uncle, which, until late September, was known as Shophouse. Lark sous chef Wiley Frankand his wife, Poncharee Kounpungchart (shown above), cook the Thai street food that both of them love dearly. In fact, the success of the pop-up—which first lived at Licorous before the bar closed this summer, and is now alive on Monday nights at La Bête (Capitol Hill, 1802 Bellevue Ave.; labeteseattle.com)—spawned a summertime farmers market stall in Columbia City. Could a brick-and-mortar space be far behind?littleuncleseattle.com             

To read the entire article that includes the best fusion bakery, the best new foodie neighborhood, the best ice cream and cookie spot and so much more, click here.

This is our weekly guest post from our friends at Seattle Magazine, which keeps readers on the pulse of restaurants, personalities, arts, entertainment and culture that reflect the tapestry of our dynamic landscape. We’ve teamed up for an exciting partnership to bring you a weekly dose of fantastic Date Night ideas throughout greater Seattle.

 

 

 

 

 

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