I like Anthony Bourdain, he is interesting, but I'm not sure about his tastes in food. I visited several restaurants in Hong Kong, Taiwan, NYC that he seemed to like and I thought they were lackluster.

But like he says, it's been a while since he's cooked or written, so to me, he's more of an interesting tv celeb. Since I like him, tho, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe the restaurants spruced up their dishes cus they knew he was coming.

This place has locations all throughout Asia and is seen as a cheap sushi place. To combat its image, Genki created a more upscale brand, which instead of being cheap and mediocre, is expensive, upscale and mediocre.

Tutta Bella!

I like their pizza, but I also like Fondi's and Belltown Pizza.

A lot of my friends have a dream of owning some kind of cafe/teahouse/restaurant. I've also had a dream of having my own joing. But Diaz's advice is spot-on for me: I can get most of the perks and none of the headaches of being the owner just by being a big spender at a place where everybody knows your name.

Quoted: "What many people have is an urge, a fantasy, to be around food," says Diaz, a restaurant consultant at Diaz-Schloss Communications in Montclair, N.J., "but not a great understanding of what it takes to run a restaurant." "What they really want," he says, "is a familiar place to go every night where they can impress their friends." He tells them to give their investment money to a broker--and become big spenders at a favorite restaurant instead. "That way," he says, "they can get all the perks they're looking for and none of the headaches

On my list: Campagne, Zoe, Barking Frog and Cascadia.

Nishino, Earth & Ocean, Etta's, Flying Fish, Fish Club (for lunch), Oceanaire and Ray's are some of my favs on the list.

Quoted: Now starting its 6th year, Dine Around Seattle, formerly known as 25 for $25, is Seattle's wildly popular, bi-annual promotion where 30 fine-dining restaurants present 3-course dinners for $30 and many offer lunch for $15. The promotion is offered Sunday through Thursdays from November 1st-29th, excluding Thanksgiving.

This Japanese restaurant in the ID is a great deal. Call ahead to reserve a spot on the waiting list. It may still be an hour wait when you get there, but that's better than a 2 hour wait.

The article mentions that one of Maneki's dishwashers in the past went on to become the 66th prime minister of Japan!

$25 gift cert for McCormick and Schmick's. I like this place. To get it, make the reservation online for a meal prior to 11/10 and follow instructions on the form.

Quoted: McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant features 30 varieties of fresh seafood on a daily changing menu. Recognized with Best Seafood Restaurant awards.

This is the new dining special being offered in this area. 20 restaurants with $30 prix fixe for the month of May.

Quoted: NWsource New Urban Eats offers $30 three-course dinners at Seattle restaurants May 1-31, 2007

General Tso's chicken has 1,300 calories, 3,200 milligrams of sodium and 11 grams of saturated fat, 40% more sodium and over half the calories an average American needs for an entire day.

Yikes!