Queen City Grill: Wow! What A Menu

# # # # Queen City Grill, 2201 First Ave. Seafood, grills. Lunch ($6 to $11) 11:30 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner ($15 to $21) 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; until midnight Friday, Saturday. Lounge, full bar. Major credit cards. Nonsmoking area. Reservations: 443-0975. --------------------------------------------------------------- It's not the corner tavern it used to be. On the other hand, if it were you probably wouldn't have been caught dead there. Or feared you might be.

The Queen City Grill took over what had been a fairly trade-worn First Avenue booze bucket, the Queen City Tavern, four years ago. No, it really wasn't all that dangerous. It just looked that way.

The Grill still looks like an inner-city corner tavern, but more congenial, more reassuring, and - in a culinary sense - much more refined. The very age of the structure, the faded tone of the interior masonry - old white bricks glazed tobacco-stain gold - and the dark wood booths and bar suggest a mellow, perhaps bittersweet urban history - a First Avenue bar with a million bibulous memories seeped in its very boards.

It's not that way now, of course. A few nights ago, I slid into one of the dark wood booths, forked into a couple of admirable crabcakes, nibbled on a decent sourdough roll, sipped a glass of cabernet and looked over my shoulder at a very good sign. Dominique Place was sitting at the bar.

I believe in the taste of chefs. Place is one of the best in Seattle, although quiescent. He sold Dominique's Place (now Sostanza) in Madison Park last year to Erin Rosella and, last I heard, was off to Palm Springs to sell custom-smoked salmon, which he makes with Bothell French chef Gerard Parrat, to millionaires in the California desert.

"I am an old friend of RoBAIR," he said, referring to Robert Eickhof, the Queen City Grill's G.M. "We worked together at the Crepe de Paris in '78."

Eickhof has played significant supporting roles in Seattle's culinary scene: He began at Rosellini's Four-10 (also with Dominique), then the Crepe in '78, formed Annie et Robert (with Annie Agostini), opened Italian restaurants for Umberto Menghi in Seattle and San Francisco, worked with Carmine Smeraldo at Il Terrazzo, with Peter Lamb at Il Bistro - and now the Queen City Grill, of which Lamb is co-owner with Steve Good.

The menu is simple and direct, but not without sophistication. Chef Paul Michael's Caesar Salad ($3.95 for an individual portion; $5.95 as a main course, or shared), for example, is an accurate throwback to Caesar Cardini's Tijuana original: hearts of Romaine are arrayed as finger food with the dressing drizzled from the center (instead of the chopped greens, tossed with vinaigrette, egg, and cheese that is commonly served).

Another recommended starter is the Goat Cheese Appetizer ($6.95) served with roasted red bell pepper section and a fragrant head of roasted garlic for a spread on warm toast. Smoked Tenderloin of Beef ( also $6.95) is uncommon and uncommonly good. The presentation, too, is appealing. Thinly sliced, it is served with a bracing, hot stone-ground mustard.

Is there a restaurant left in Seattle that does NOT serve Dungeness Crabcake appetizers? The Grill serves them ($10.95 for two), but with a slight difference. Instead of the heavy spice-and-garlic loaded sauces found elsewhere, Michael's gentle garlic aioli is inviting, subtle and allows the flavors of the crab to shine through.

The dish is available as a full dinner for $14.95.

House salads ($2.95) may be all the starter you need. Both dinner and lunch portions are generous. Over a mix of assorted wild greens and Boston lettuce, you have a choice of a refreshing mint-garlic dressing or a smooth blue cheese vinaigrette.

I don't know why I am obliged to smile at descriptions of "Free Run" chicken ($14.95 for a grilled half of that ambulatory fowl), but somehow the verbal image prompts a caution my mother once applied to all money, coined or folding: "How do you know where it's been?"

This critter had been to Jamaica, or at least its skin had. It had been densely rubbed with Caribbean "jerk" spices. Once past skin-deep, however, the taste, texture and moistness of the chicken were superb.

Grilled Fresh Ahi ($18) is available on an occasional basis. The large steak I had was more than I could finish (Can one ask for a kitty bag? Yes) and again, exquisitely grilled - rare but heated in the center; moist throughout. Grilling meats to correct doneness is difficult; grilling seafood even more so. Chef Michael's hot line crew has it down.

Chicken Milanese ($9.95) is available only at lunch. It is a breast of chicken, lightly crumbed and served with a savory lemon-shallot sauce, reminiscent of the Italian version of Wienerschnitzel, which is, of course, made with veal. Fork-tender and served with pan-fried baby red potatoes.

You can even get a non-industrial burger there. On the other hand, it's a $6 burger. But the thick patty was hand-shaped (about a third of a pound, I guessed), beautifully pink in the interior and very juicy. A slab of melted white cheddar oozed on top; stone-ground mustard sputtered underneath.

I haven't tried the desserts. The wine list is substantial, and somewhat pricey. A few bottlings in the $18 to $20 range will soften the bottom line shock.