“Eat Out. Take Out. Help Out.” This is the event’s new tag line for Seattle Restaurant Week this year. The spring 2020 edition of Seattle Restaurant Week was set to start on March 29. Sadly, that didn’t happen, but here we are at the end of the year, and an opportunity is presented now. They’ve pulled out the stops, restaurants can offer a set menu, or feature any of the dishes they offer regularly, and on any of the days of the week they choose.

Try out the cuisine from a new place — a culinary adventure may become a new favorite. Patronize your special comfort food place, if you prefer. Dine in, or out, order to go. I guarantee that wherever, and however, you choose to dine, it will be appreciated.

Seattle Restaurant Week runs for two more weeks, now through Nov. 21. (On Friday-Sunday, the Seattle Restaurant Week menu may not be available at some spots –so please do check their websites.)

Local restaurant supporters — opportunities abound. Get out there and partake of the delicious fare.

Recent COVID numbers are on the rise, and dining option worries follow suit, and for everyone involved, eaters, chefs, and servers… Here is a link to the rules for the event and venues. https://srweek.org/safety/.

Visits to eatery website(s) yield detailed information about procedures in place, to offer dining patrons assurance. Although outdoor dining is still in place at many spots, colder forecasts may discourage.

Safest solution may be to order takeout. Protect yourselves and the restaurant staff as well. Show your support, and by not showing up in person, you likely reduce the cost of your meal to the establishment, so your purchase nets even more support.

Dining at home can be further enhanced, by a purchase of a bottle of wine or cocktails (in kits). Some locations offer half-off bottle deals, especially on mid-week dining.

Tip as generously as you can afford to. Service at the table is replaced by care given to packing up your food to ensure it will be tasty when you enjoy the contents at home, so…it’s all good.

Here is the list of participating local restaurants — and options for dining:

Anthony’s HomePort Edmonds: dinner on site

Bar Dojo Edmonds: dinner takeout

Calypso Edmonds: dinner on site

Issaya Thai Cuisine, Shoreline: dinner/lunch, delivery, on site, takeout

Portofino Restaurant & Bar, Edmonds: dinner/lunch, on site, outdoor

Salt and Iron, Edmonds: dinner/lunch, on site, outdoor, takeout

Sankai Edmonds: dinner onsite, outdoor, takeout

The Loft Edmonds: dinner, on site, outdoor, takeout

You can get more details and book reservations here.

I will stress that this “new” version of Seattle Restaurant Week is a bit different than years past. I urge everyone to have patience with the process. Online ordering was a bit bumpy this week, but a quick message to the folks at the restaurant, and moments later, all was well with our order.

Check out the online pages of participating restaurants. Individual menus may be offered, and mouthwatering photos of dishes will excite your taste buds.

Our order for dinner, in brown recyclable boxes, was just amazing and every bit as yummy as it appears in the photos, trust me.

There were three of us, so we just each ordered up.  I was able to get in a forkful of each dish, salad and dessert too… Just had to be quick with my chopsticks, heh, heh…

My rule for takeout is always “Eat the hot dishes first!” or as I explained to my family, it’s sort of European style, salad at the end of the meal, followed by a reasonable pause, before we dig into desserts.

Pork Belly Bowl: braised all natural pork — its honey lemon glaze complimented the veggies — crispy spears of cucumber, thick grated carrots, cilantro, lettuce, Serrano peppers, all over a generous portion of steamy jasmine rice, topped off with a sunny egg.  We loved the house pickles too and fortunately there were enough for us to have a taste.

Kalbi Beef Bowl: my container was filled to the top. Tender grilled marinated beef short ribs; well seasoned with my favorite sauce — I liken it to a Korean version of catsup. Complemented by   crispy veggies, and hot jasmine rice, the portion seemed to match bite for bite on ingredients. I was left with an empty bowl and a pile of tiny riblets.

My hubby opted for the Tofu Veggie Bowl. I’m always impressed with chef’s treatment of tofu. Cubes of fluffy and tender, perfect crisped coating were sauced with a understated spicy miso, so as not to overpower the delicate mushrooms and other veggies that shared space with Jasmine rice in the bowl.

Cucumber salad consisted of perfect rounds of the main vegetable bits if cilantro and soy-infused vinaigrette. Simply delicious… a great pallet cleanser.

Fig and Pear Salad:  almost in the dessert category, the dressing was a smooth mix of tang and sweet. Fruit was perfect and served up on the perfect green to balance all of that – arugula.

Miso Avocado Salad: a creamy miso yuzu dressing topped mini tomatoes, cucumber spears, carrots, crispy wontons, which rested on fresh artisan greens.

And… then there was dessert.

Always a fall favorite, Bar Dojo’s pumpkin gelato did not disappoint. Creamy, sweetness and pumpkin evenly balanced with just the right touch of spices. Hmmm. maybe this could stand in for the pie this year.

Mochi came in three types, chocolate, strawberry and mango, and large enough to slice so that we didn’t have to choose just one flavor.

Crème brulee, a pudding of perfection under a glaze of burnt sugar. The sound of that crunch, as my spoon penetrates the amber sheet to scoop out the eggy custard, is music that makes my tongue tingle and my heart sing.

Don’t be afraid of the frozen dessert items: Our Pumpkin gelato and mochi didn’t suffer in transit, and were popped into our freezer, until the end of the meal. It’s a whole new world, but the bottom line: We still get to nosh on tasty fare.

The heading of my article — “Eat Out, Take Out, Help Out” — that motto should be applied to all of our local eateries. While all do not participate in Seattle Restaurant Week, every one of our establishments need our support to keep their doors open, and their staff employed.

— By Kathy Passage