Where to eat in Seattle? Try Lecosho

Midway down The Harbor Steps on the south side of 1st street in Downtown Seattle you'll find Lecosho. It was there I met up with my friend Jen from elementary school for Happy Hour. What began as ordering a snack turned into my dinner that night!

The entire evening was a pleasure. We had so much fun catching up and the food was fantastically delicious! Jen knew I'd love the way Lecosho's food tasted and the way it looked. Turns out they practice a locavore approach to the ingredients they use which I always love to hear or read about.

She was also the perfect food photography assistant voluntarily moving clutter out of my backdrops and patiently offering to wait, without complaining, for me to shoot each dish. LOL I had to mention the not complaining part because hubby is the least helpful food photography bystander (not assistant) I dine with. As our food arrives at our table he'll literally say to me, "I'm not moving anything, not my napkin, fork, glass or arm. And I'm not waiting to eat!"

I started with an Orange Juice. It's part of my effort to eat more nutrient dense foods instead of always drinking water.

We ordered several dishes to share starting with the Columbia City Bakery Baguette, Sea-salted Butter, and an Olive Relish ($3.00).

The butter was sprinkled with crystalized flakes of sea salt.

The Olive Relish was to-die-for. It was delish on the bread smeared over the sea-salted butter. All I could think was:

A. I could eat this whole order as my entire dinner.

B. The salt, butter and olive relish would also be awesome tossed over a bowl of angel hair pasta.

If you love olives and bread I'd definitely recommend this dish.

Next we had the House Green Salad with a Soft Boiled Egg, Baguette Crisps and a Cornichon-mustard Vinaigrette ($5.00).

It's one of Jen's favorite dishes at Lecosho. I'd definitely order it again. In fact, I'd order almost  all of the same dishes we had that night if they're still on the menu the next time I visit Lecosho.

But now we get to the highlight of the entire meal. The Spaetzle with Brown Butter and Pecorino Romano Cheese ($5.00).

I'd never had Spaetzle before. Lecosho's is tiny bits of pasta browned with butter and dusted with grated Pecorino Romano cheese.

Dig into the bowl and the golden, browned buttered pasta is revealed. It was OMG delicious! I swear. If I lived in downtown Seattle I'd be at Lecosho's happy hour at least once a week eating two orders of the Spaetzle for dinner. Since I live in San Jose, CA and it's a two hour flight to Seattle each way I seriously need to learn how to make this dish.

Fresh Sardines on Toasted Baguette

Our final dish was the Grilled Sardine Tartine ($6.00). Often overlooked, sardines may be considered humble fish but they contain selenium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, potassium and omega fatty acids. They are also high in Vitamin D.

One thing to watch for when eating sardines, I later learned Atlantic Sardines are a fish to avoid on the Seafood Watch list, the definitive guide to which fish are most sustainable and/or healthy to eat (pertaining to mercury content, chemical exposure, etc.). As it turns out Pacific Sardines are more sustainable of the two most common varities so in the future I'll be sure to ask ahead which ocean sardines I'm considering consuming have come from. These were Atlantic Sardines so if the restaurant is offering Pacific Sardines the next time I'm in town I'll order this dish again. Otherwise I'll try something else as there were still more options of things I would like to try on their menu.

Lecosho is known for their house-made sausage and charcuterie. We didn't order any but if the rest of the dishes we did try are any indication I'm sure they're fantastic.

Jen and I at The Harbor Steps after dinner at Lecosho.

I'm looking forward to going back to Seattle just so I can visit Lecosho again. If you're ever in town and want to try a nice sampling of rustic and comfort style foods in a casually elegant setting overlooking Puget Sound be sure to visit them during Happy Hour. And take a friend. It's more fun with two because you can order order and share twice as much :)

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You'll find Lecosho at:

The Harbor Steps (midway down the steps on the lefthand side)
89 University Street
Seattle, WA 98101
206.623.2101

Visit the About Page on their website for lunch and dinner hours. As of June 2012 they offer both an early and late Happy Hour:

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Everyday
10:00 PM - 1:00 AM Sunday - Thursday
11:00 PM - 1:00 AM Friday & Saturday