Friday morning on KUOW’s “Weekday” two local food writers, Allison Austin Scheff from Seattle Magazine and Sara Dickerman, talked about the “hotness” of Wallingford’s restaurant scene and eulogized the closed Avila at length.
“Wallingford’s really getting hot. Wallingford is suddenly really polishing its restaurant image,” said Dickerman, while Scheff audibly agreed. Host Steve Sher needed convincing, asking, “Really? Wallingford is getting hot? Hmm.”
The writers talked about Joule and Tilth, praised May Thai, and they mentioned Satay, which recently opened in the old Avila space.
Scheff rhapsodized about Avila: “Avila were doing all their tricks at once, which can be a little bit much. I love when people in Seattle will push things. They were doing things like taking a piece of lamb, wrapping it in hay, and lighting it on fire to smoke it, which is hilarious and perfect.”
Dickerman said, “If it could have survived, it would have been fun to see what they edited out and how they streamlined it.”
Hear the Wallingford mentions at about 28:00 in the show audio. If you’re interested in the Seattle restaurant scene, give the whole show a listen.
