Year in review - the best things I ate in 2013, and looking ahead to 2014
Some people judge a year based on health or wealth. I judge mine based on how well I feasted.
In this column, take a tour of the best things I stuffed down my gullet in 2013. I’ve also got a recap of the neatest restaurant openings of 2013, and a look ahead to cool things coming in 2014.(Note: Some menu prices and items might have changed during the year.)
Primo Grill
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Ammar Mannaa, owner of Ammar's Mediterranean Restaurant holds a lamb kebab meal at his Tacoma restaurant. File photo 2013. Lui Kit Wong/Staff Photographer[/caption]
Ammar’s Mediterranean Grill
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My favorite burger at Shake3 - a hickory burger. Peter Haley/Staff photographer[/caption]
Shake Shake Shake
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Pho soup at Vien Dong, a restaurant that opened in 1989 in the Lincoln neighborhood. Lui Kit Wong/Staff photographer[/caption]
Lincoln District Vietnamese eateries
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Berries macerated in a ginger syrup spill out of a crepe at Savor Creperie.[/caption]
Savor Creperie
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Thurmond Brokenbrough holds a sample platter from Uncle Thurm's soul food restaurant. Lui Kit Wong/Staff photographer[/caption]
Uncle Thurm’s
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Brian Marzano is pictured here with one of the restaurant's nightly specials, striped sea bass, with house made spinach and ricotta ravioli, fresh corn zabaione and grilled asparagus.
Dean J. Koepfler / Staff Photographer[/caption]
Marzano Italian Restaurant
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A huge plate of Italian spaghetti and meatballs served with red wine, bread, on a red & white table cloth draws raves from loyal patrons of Pizza Casa in Lakewood. Dean J. Koepfler / Staff Photographer[/caption]
Pizza Casa
Honorable mentions
PaesanGangnam BBQSoulBig nods for high-style restaurants
Shake Shake Shake is an example of what happens when two artists – Steve Naccarato and Robert Stocker – open a restaurant. On display through oversized windows is a striking palette of aqua set against electric orange. The funky dining chairs look right out of a bowling alley — because they are. In a former life, they lined the lanes at the Old Elks Club bowling alley.
Up the hill, diners will find Hilltop Kitchen, a restaurant and cocktail den from Chris Keil, who built a national reputation for his housemade tinctures, unusual spirits and stylized brand of apothecary cocktailing at Tacoma’s 1022 South (now called 1022 South J).
Hilltop Kitchen feels more cavernous than it is. The long, narrow room still carries the bones of its predecessor Tempest Lounge, but strikes a more modern pose with exposed ceilings and hanging fixtures sprouting exposed bulbs. 913 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Tacoma, hilltopkitchen.com
Big restaurant announcements
Gordon Naccarato announced his plans for Smoke + Cedar, a restaurant he plans to open in early 2014 at the new Elks Lodge building at the Allenmore Golf Course (both open to the public). Much like Naccarato’s Pacific Grill, the restaurant will serve modern fare. Expect playful spins on classic American dishes. Naccarato specializes in food with a 1960s sensibility and 21st-century presentations.
Meanwhile, Primo Grill owners Charlie McManus and Jacqueline Plattner announced that they’ll be moving their Italian restaurant a few blocks away from their perch at Sixth and Pine. The new location is in a Sixth Avenue building that also houses their sibling establishment, Crown Bar. The new restaurant space will be more modern, but will still have the infrastructure that has made Primo Grill regionally famous: a wood-fired oven and grill.
Sue Kidd dines anonymously and The News Tribune pays for all meals.
This story was originally published December 26, 2013 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Year in review - the best things I ate in 2013, and looking ahead to 2014."