Hint's Top 10: Seattle Dining Scene Just Keeps Getting Better

The rumpled napkins of 1990 have all been cleared away; the last digestive mint consumed. And before the waiting tables of 1991 are approached by your dedicated eater-outer, it is time for our annual appraisal - the gastronomic top 10.

The task this year was tougher than usual. Despite a sagging year in the restaurant trade nationally, Seattle's candlelit dining scene, if anything, glowed brighter than ever.

We had several promising new openings; many old standards got better with age. Most years I approach this New Year's evaluation with a list of 12 or 13 good choices out of the 52 restaurants we have reviewed, and gnaw over getting the right top 10 out of the finalists.

This year the list of finalists - really good restaurants that deserve commendation - numbered 20, and several others came close to consideration. In short, we had a very good year, and Seattle diners who followed our advice, dined well - and in some instances should have dined superbly.

One of the years' best dinners I had was in a place that was soon to become a place no more. Dominique Place closed down Dominique's Place in Madison Park with a week of farewell meals that will be remembered with fondness by his hundreds of devoted patrons. He didn't run out of customers; he just needed a rest and - for a life's change - some weekends off (Place has since joined another French chef, Gerard Parrat, in a custom salmon smokery in Juanita).

Two of the best restaurants I visited during 1990 were in Vancouver, B.C. And although in past years I included Canadian restaurants in our top 10 list, this year I decided to dedicate the space to Seattle-area spots.

My two Vancouver picks were The Raintree (1630 Alberni St., 1-604-688-5570) and The William Tell (765 Beatty St., 1-604-688-3504), either of which would have placed in the top five. I recommend both highly.

Among a list - in no particular order - of very honorable mentions:

Provinces, a fine regional Chinese restaurant in Edmonds; La Dolce Vita, an promising middle-priced spot in Ravenna; the Union Bay Cafe, splendid Northwest regional cooking near Laurelhurst; Italia, a downtown combination of an Italian deli, cafe and dinner house; La Flambee, a small French-Algerian bistro in Redmond; Rattler's, a New Mexican menu in an old Mexican restaurant on Eastlake; and Bravo!, a lively Italian standby in north Bellevue. I had thoroughly enjoyable meals in all of them.

With the usual proviso that what follows was selected only from restaurants reviewed during 1990, the list:

10.Casa U Betcha, 2212 First Ave. (441-1989). This Northwest variant on the daring Southwestern food themes developed by Mark Miller at the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, started slowly, gained culinary confidence and truly hit its stride by mid-1990. If your notion of Southwest cooking is another dreary round of rice, beans and assorted enchiladas, drop into this imaginative, outrageous ``Taco Shop.'' The bar stocks the best array of Tequilas in Seattle.

9.Buddy's Homesick Cafe, 8420 Greenwood Ave. N. (784-6430). Deja vu all over again. consultant-chef Cathy Casey put together the best of the 1950s and '60s hometown food styles, combined them with modest menu pricing, and came up with an engaging rejuvenation of comfort foods. The Chicken-fried Steak is a must-try, gloppy gravy and all. Also obligatory: Cranberry Pot Roast.

Nothing costs more than $8. I have minor misgivings about the Crackerjack Sundaes.

8.Buongusto, 2232 Queen Anne Ave. N. (284-9040). There have been few family-operated Italian restaurants that opened with this level of dedication, skill and just plain charm. It opened a few months ago and was swamped from the start. Roberto and Salvio Varchetta and Anna Mascio are the operating partners.

The sideboard holds Mamma Melina's Marinated Vegetables (and a dynamite grilled eggplant appetizer). The pastas are exceptional.

Try the Linguini Pescatora. There's a telling bit of philosophy printed in Italian on the menu. It translates: Better a plate of pasta today than a meatball tomorrow.

7.Le Tastevin, 19 W. Harrison St. (283-0991). Owners Jacques Boiroux and Emile Ninaud have been together for years, moving into the present, roomy quarters on lower Queen Anne in 1985. It has been - and remains - one of the city's major players, always reliable, occasionally inspired. It may seem mundane, but the house creamed spinach is one of the best vegetable dishes in Seattle. The Semillon-steamed Mussels are splendid, with Thai accents of lemon grass and ginger shallot butter. One of the best wine lists in the Northwest.

6.This one links two restaurants run by one corporation: Confetti's (1-258-4000) at the Everett Marina and several Anthony's Homeports, run by Mad Anthony's Restaurants of Bellevue. The relatively new Confetti's, which opened down the dock from the Everett Homeport, was an ingenious departure from a local seafood chain. A central, open-kitchen rotisserie and wood oven, provided the basis for a grilled meats and poultry menu, along with hearth-baked pizzas. Menu development by Sally McArthur. Outstanding, smokey roast chickens with hints of garlic, basil, olive oil and orange. The several Homeport marina-side restaurants have steadily grown in sophistication and excellence over the years.

5.Ponti Seafood Grill, 3014 Third Ave. N. (284-3000). This new restaurant immediately west and south of the Fremont bridge (Ponti means bridges in Italian) is a collaboration between two of Seattle's veteran restaurateurs, Jim Malevitsis of the Adriatica and Rich Malia who founded the since-departed Malia's Northwest. Together with chef Alvin Binuya they put together an eclectic menu that ranges far beyond a mere seafood grill.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Sage Polenta may be the best item in the place, along with rosemary grilled chicken and the Ponti Bouillabaisse. Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes get requests for seconds. Nice view of the ship canal.

4.Union Square Grill, 621 Union St. (224-4321). Dave and Steve Cohn of Consolidated Restaurants took some of the decor and several of the menu ideas from one of the world's most popular restaurants - La Coupole in Paris - and tried to re-create an early-20th-century feel in midtown Seattle. A Montparnasse brasserie it is not, but a warm, informally elegant place it is. The Bouillabaisse is outstanding; also the bountiful Choucroute Garni (although the sauerkraut could use tinkering).

Chef Ken Sharp oversees an appealing array of grilled and roasted steaks and chops. Triple-tiered Chocolate Cake in Raspber-

ry Sauce was originated by Sharon Kramis. Don't miss it.

2.A tie between two well-seasoned dinner houses:

Canlis, 2576 Aurora Ave. N. (283-3313). Gerard's Relais de Lyon, 17121 Bothell Way N.E. (485-7600).

Canlis has been a Seattle institution since Pete Canlis first opened it in 1950. Intentionally costly, it has at times over the years seemed more aloof and self-satisfied than its original steak and seafood broiler justified. It recent years, however, and under Chris Canlis' gracious leadership, the restaurant appears almost reborn. The menu is still far from adventurous, but there have been innovations like Thai Scampi and Sable Fish Mornay (topped with crab and steamed in ti leaves) and the execution and service are flawless. Try the Baked Oysters Canlis for a starter; the Mahi Mahi or any of the steaks are always reliable. Canlis can be a truly fine dining experience, more congenial than it once was (20 years ago I swore I would never return), but still costly. Whether its aesthetics matches its economics depends upon the purse of the beholder.

Gerard's Relais de Lyon (which is in Bothell, not Lyon) is the oldest established, still running, classic French restaurant in the Seattle area. Over the years it has had its ups and downs. When Nouvelle Cuisine was the rage a decade ago, Gerard's beautifully robust sauces were sniffed over by some who thought them delicious but unfashionable. Nouvelle went; Gerard Parrat stayed. The restaurant has always suffered when Gerard himself was not in command, both in the kitchen and the dining room.

That unevenness was remedied a year ago when (after a serious, verified complaint about service), much of the waitstaff was fired, and Parrat imported from France a highly skilled chef, Christian Degoix - who, like Parrat, had trained with Paul Bocuse in Lyon. Gerard's still offers the best Rack of Lamb around; a stunning duck wrapped in grilled eggplant and served over a pool of huckleberry and mushroom sauce, with roasted chestnuts; a splendid Crab Bisque. The Relais can be pricey, but a four-course, late-night menu ($25 fixed price) takes effect at 8 p.m. The house-smoked salmon is, uh, incroyable.

1.Szmania's, 3321 W. McGraw St., Magnolia. (284-7305).

Not easy to pronounce (SMAHN-yas), but easy to find, Szmania's is in the middle of the Magnolia shopping district. Ludger Szmania, a young German-born executive chef formerly with the Four Seasons hotel chain (Seattle, Vancouver, Houston), opened his own, intimate neighborhood place last October. The menu is highly imaginative, but not flighty. He and his wife, Judy, expected a modest local response. Instead, they served 3,400 dinners in the first three weeks. The kitchen is open - try for a counter seat at least once - and the activity is nonstop.

The Sauerkraut a la Szmania is outstanding; the Fresh Wild Mushroom Risotto the best in the area; Grilled Homemade Duck Sausages with Lentils are worth trading a birthright for.

Seafood lasagnas made to order. Desserts to make you leave home.

All in all, the find of the year.

Now for this year . . .