Tilikum Place Café (407 Cedar St, 282-4830), has been open, relatively quietly, since November 2008.
I say quietly because while I hear its name tossed around constantly by Seattle foodies, writers, and chefs, its popularity doesn’t seem to have spread widely throughout the city. When I arrived there for dinner at 7:30 on a Friday night, the place was packed—as it should be. But by 9 pm, the dining room was pretty much dead. The room was similarly empty at 1:30 on a Tuesday afternoon.
That’s got me scratching my head, because people should be lined up outside the door. They do it all the time—and for much less. If you find yourself putting your name on a two-hour wait list for pizza, for chrissakes, do yourself a favor and come to Tilikum Place Cafe instead.
Tilikum Place takes its name from the park it overlooks. Just off Denny, in the shadow of the Space Needle and Queen Anne, it’s oddly both close to and far away from everything. From a culinary standpoint, this area is better known as a land of pizza, greasy bar food, and 7-11 snacks. But Chef Ba Culbert’s food is something entirely different: homey, thoughtful, fantastic.
Culbert and her team make as much as possible from scratch—sausage, pasta, pickles, condiments, pastries. The time and care show—not just in the obvious places, but in the little details like the tiny shortbread cookie that sits on your saucer, hidden momentarily by your cup, when you order a pot of French press coffee. It shows in the constantly shifting menu; dishes change with the seasons, of course, but also, it seems, just when someone in the kitchen feels inspired to do something new.
The food is mostly European-inspired, but the kitchen clearly feels at ease drawing from other influences, as evidenced by a few dishes with unexpected, perfectly executed Middle Eastern elements. The food here feels more personal and laid-back than it does at other fine dining restaurants.
Even on a gray day, Tilikum’s space sings with light, courtesy of sky-high ceilings and an endless front wall of windows. The old wood floors, laid in a chevron pattern, delicate floral wrought-iron lanterns, and stunning view of … a Christian Science reading room—all the details only add to the offbeat charm that makes you want to wile away hours here.
Though I was tempted by the day’s lunch special of housemade bratwurst and sauerkraut with German potato salad, I opted for the Tilikum Fry-Up, an almost obscenely generous amount of food for just fourteen dollars. This is hearty comfort food at its finest: a pile of baked beans with an uncommon depth of flavor, courtesy of three types of pork and a little kiss of maple syrup sweetness, two grilled pieces of buttered baguette, two slices of bacon, a hand-formed sausage patty, and seared tomato halves, all topped with a perfect sunny-side-up egg whose runny yolk bound things together perfectly.
Tilikum’s other signature daytime dish is the Dutch baby (pictured above), an eggy, impossibly airy pancake that’s baked to order in its own tiny cast iron skillet. A savory Dutch baby of housemade chorizo and cheddar ($8) was a beautiful blend of softness and spice, creaminess and tang.
Come dinnertime, Tilikum’s dining room transforms into a cozy, dim space warmed by the glow of nearby neon signs and little white lights lining the windows. Housemade pate ($9 for a hefty portion) is pleasantly rustic and chunky, studded with pistachios, purple and golden raisins, and laced with the scent of clove. Lamb kefta ($12), three free-form patties of moist ground lamb, come swimming in a cast iron skillet of spiced tomato sauce, and get an extra briny, flavor boost with kalamata olives and feta cheese. The kefta comes with grilled bread—ideal for wiping the skillet clean. The hand-cut pasta with sage butter and Parmesan ($11) had some textural problems—it sat for a while and became gluey, but its flavor was delectable, the butter rich and woodsy from sage, and the finely diced toasted hazelnuts on top crunched and popped like bread crumbs, adding a lovely sweetness all the while.
The dinner special, whole grilled trout ($20), stuffed with first-of-the season nettles, carrot shavings, lemon slices, leeks, parsley and thyme, was sublime: juicy, bright, and clean, with the trout’s mild flavor shining through clearly. Topped with an almond nettle pesto—verdant, earthy, nutty—the whole dish tasted of early spring itself.
A word on Tilikum’s desserts: they’re incredible, and I say this as someone who is entirely ambivalent about desserts and sweets in general. I enjoyed the profiteroles ($7 for a plate of six), wee puff pastry sandwiches filled with vanilla bean ice cream and topped with an addictive, smoky Earl Grey caramel sauce, but I was downright mad for Tilikum’s orange semolina cake ($7). This traditional Sephardic recipe, in which a whole orange is cooked down and pureed, was sweet with the slightest tinge of bitter, crunchy and moist, and topped with an unusual and utterly refreshing fennel and citrus salad. I would have ordered it again, but sadly, it had already been taken off from the menu on my next visit.
Considering its location, scores of people should be catching a bus from downtown or Belltown to Tilikum Place for lunch, or crawling down off Queen Anne for dinner, getting away from the inferior and overpriced places that blanket that neighborhood. And, folks on nearby Capitol Hill: There’s more heart and soul and flavor in one of Tilikum’s dishes than on entire menus of restaurants that have popped up in the Pike/Pine corridor.
Seattle, we’ve got an unpretentious, honest-to-great restaurant in our midst. It’s right under our noses, twinkling away under the Space Needle, hanging out next to the statue of Chief Sealth himself. Get on this.
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Misha is clearly one of those who blames all of us who didn't vote for Nader for the election of George W. Bush. Oh, and I clicked the “like” button my mistake, so subtract 1.
Tilikum Cafe also serves salmon from Naknek Family Fisheries (http://www.naknekfish.com), a family fishing collective based in Alaska. Thank you for supporting sustainable family businesses!
Adding an animal cut to a cream product in every single dish isn't “thoughtful.” That's what McDonald's and the Cheesecake Factory do for a living.
Promoting these businesses that sell livestock and cream is also the antithesis of the progressive, environmentalist viewpoint that Publicola usually supports. You might as well post a glowing review of the new Escalade mega-SUV calling it “fantastic” and full of “heart and soul.”
Misha – I think it was Emma Goldman who said “If I can't dance I don't want your revolution.” Let me paraphrase: If I can't eat meat and be called a progressive that makes you an idiot. I don't believe that Publicoloa has ever taken a stance on vegetarianism. How annoying for you that your lifestyle conflicts with my desire to be a carnivore. Maybe you should stick to reading restaraunt reviews in the Vegetarian Times.
Michael W, I didn't say anything about vegetarianism. I'm talking about livestock (large mammals like pigs, cows, lamb, horses, buffalo, etc.) and livestock products like heavy cream. Eating birds has its own issues, and so does eating fish, but I wasn't talking about those.
I guess you can call yourself whatever you want, but livestock consumption is much worse for the environment than SUV's or sprawling highways. There's just no question about that.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/100044...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cheri-shankar/can...
You can't expect FoodNerd to write a glowing review on a restaurant that serves mainly livestock covered in cream/cheese and get a free pass, just like if BikeNerd wrote a glowing review on Escalades or Hummers he wouldn't get a free pass.
Yes, I can. Your issues with “livestock products” are not universal. I take food politics seriously. I take eating pretty seriously. And I have never, ever told another person what they should or should not be eating. I read food reviews to see what a professional has to say about the food and the experiance. I make up my own mind about the politics of consumerism.
Sorry, Misha, but food critics write about food, and most are partial to both meat and dishes with heavy cream.
Yes, and most automobile critics are partial to large SUV's and sports cars, and most real estate writers are partial to sprawling houses in the exurbs. That doesn't make them immune to criticism if they post those opinions on a progressive, pro-environment web site. I wouldn't take any issue with this review if it were posted on a conservative editorial site like soundpolitics.com or seattletimes.com.
No, “my issues” with livestock products – climate change and environmental destruction – are not universal, but they appear to be universal everywhere on Publicola except the food column.
Thanks…having just started working downtown (again after 20 years) I'm on the hunt for good lunch places. I'll head there 2 morrow!
Here's what's burning me about this Misha, and why I can't seem to let it go: your elitist, knee-jerk assumptions about what Publicola should be taking position on and writing about and your need to school the rest of us on the politics of food.
It seems to me that Publicola is a news blog that is focused on local political matters – with asides to cultural matters. Your idea that Publicola is “progressive, environmental” isn't really accurate. As I read it Publicola is a Seattle blog that reflects Seattle public policy concerns – that's a different thing. Expecting all writers to conform their reporting to your definition of progressive and environmental misses the point.
I don't agree with your assessment that “livestock products” equal environmental destruction. In the articles that you posted links to there are plenty of posts by skeptics of your theory who agree with me.
I don't like being told by anybody what my political priorities should be. I read Publicola because I want insight into the process of politics and I want to stay informed. Once they, or you, or anyone else starts telling me what I should think or believe, how best to be Seattlite, how best to be a progressive, I'll move on.
Because nothing is more irritating than Seattle Smug. Even if it's wrapped in bacon.
BTW, I think Bike Nerd is dumb. If Publicola wants to have a Transport Nerd I'm all for it. Course,Ii would love it if y'all might think to call them reporters…
Misha is clearly one of those who blames all of us who didn't vote for Nader for the election of George W. Bush. Oh, and I clicked the “like” button my mistake, so subtract 1.
Do you have any idea how much environmental degradation is involved in industrial soy, wheat, rice, leafy greens and other non-animal food products? I agree with the comments of your detractors and want to add that a diet consisting of the consumption of small-scale, sustainably raised animals can be less environmentally harmful than a vegetarian diet of mostly industrially-grown vegetable crops. Most vegetarians can't afford to eat only organic, local foods so there's a class aspect to this too.
This knee-jerk meat is bad, vegetables are good is so old-school, considering the flourishing of sustainable livestock production which, I was told when I dined at Tillicum Cafe (LOVED it), provides much of what's offered on the menu.
Now, if you're gonna pull the spiritually-based “bad to eat animals” argument, I'll shut up because that's another debate altogether (but, for the sake of argument, do you have any idea how many grass-hoppers, aphids, earthworms are murdered in vegetable harvesting?)
I went there a while ago because a friend of a friend is working in their kitchen. The flavors were good, but in general everything was on the edge of being under-portioned and over-priced. Good, but not great.
“I guess you can call yourself anything you want…” gosh, thanks Misha, that's so very generous of you to allow– and not pretentious at all!
mom and I had dinner at the Tilikum Place Cafe last week and shared every thing. The Squash soup? a delight and just right. The trout? Delicious and plenty for both of us. Never had nettles before and they were a surprise….very good. Had the banana cake, ice cream and large cup of tea for desert.
Should have ordered the pasta also as it is a favorite for us both.
No complaints from us ….just enjoyed a relaxing delicious dinner together. (My mom is 92 years old.)
omg, misha! get a hobby!
I had dinner there last night and was more than pleasantly surprised. The food was fabulous, unexpectably flavorful, inventive and perfectly presented.
This is a restaurant without “attitude” .
The food at Tillikum Place reminds me of great athletes who seem to do everything effortlessly. They make it look so easy.
Obviously, it takes great skill, effort and intelligence to turn out food the way they do. It appears simple but it is so expertly nuanced.
And in case you want to know what I had, it was the heirloom tomatoe salad with watercress and balsamic (but it was the preserved lemon that was the kicker), and then we split the pasta and salmon before we dove into and demolished the blueberry cobbler.
So many restaurants that the food fadists like are overwhelmingly bad. They are pretentious and contrived — flavors are drowned out by trying to combine too many different cuts of meat/fish/vegetables etc. Presentations take the center stage over flavor.
Now, with that off my chest, Tillifum Place Cafe has it right.