food + drink
and an accessible menu, Aslan would be right in the middle, embodying all of those elements. It’s thoughtful enough to keep your standard-issue food snob happy, but it’s familiar enough not to scare away the culinarily timid. The menu includes offerings such as a makhani curry bowl, slow roasted pork belly, and karaage Japanese chicken, as well as plenty of vegan and gluten-free offerings and adaptations. Their beer is also awardwinning in its own right and excellent to pair with a variety of dishes. If you’re in Bellingham, it’s a must-visit.
alongside European-inspired street foods in a cozy guesthouse tavern.” The food lives up to the inspiration and excellence it strives for, with a vegetarian menu that leaves even the heartiest carnivore wanting for nothing and with a strong focus on breakfast foods. Look for dishes like curry pierogis, farmers cheese pancakes with citrus crème fraîche, shakshuka with burrata, and the beet Reuben sandwich.
1330 N. FOREST ST. BELLINGHAM www.aslanbrewing.com
BELLEVUE
BELLINGHAM
I’m going to make a bold claim: Resonate Brewery makes some of the best pizza in Seattle and should be part of the “Seattle’s Best Pizza” conversation far more often. It’s on the rustic side of comfortable, a place that’s easy to take the family but also great for after-work drinks, and the pizza is worth traveling for. With a cold, fermented Roman-style crust and ingredients like capicola, house-made sauce, burrata and habanero-infused honey, it’s not your standard pizza place. They also offer stromboli, charcuterie boards and, if you’re in luck, a to-die-for warm brownie sundae.
Otherlands Beer Fair Isle Brewing celebrates seasonality and local ingredients alongside its wild-fermented beers.
and cider. Their menu features creative takes on familiar food, including banh mi burritos, golden beet salad with blackberry apricot gastrique, and pizza with fig, brie and prosciutto. 1302 W. 2ND AVE. SPOKANE www.my-site-101810.square.site
SNOHOMISH
Spada Farmhouse Brewery
Otherlands Beer feels like what Rory Gilmore would have opened if she had studied abroad and backpacked through Europe before marrying a chef, coming home and opening a brewery. You know exactly what it would look and feel like, don’t you? And you want to go? You should. Otherlands is in the class of 2020, opening during a worldwide pandemic in a very saturated beer market and making it work. In their own words, “Otherlands Beer is a small brewery and café dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, the exploration of the unknown and the celebration of the beautiful and the absurd. Offering rustic lagers and farmhouse ales
2121 HUMBOLDT ST. BELLINGHAM www.otherlandsbeer.com
Resonate Brewery + Pizzeria
5606 119TH AVE. SE BELLEVUE www.resonatebrewery.com
Spada Farmhouse Brewery, although new in its physical location, has garnered a growing fan base for its wild-fermented beers. Set up in a picturesque location that could double as a set for a Christmas movie, the space has the feeling of an English pub meets an elevated dining spot. Look for menu items such as fried Brussels sprouts with maple-mustard vinaigrette, a hot honey chicken sandwich on brioche, and mini doughnuts with caramel dipping sauce. 709 1ST ST. SNOHOMISH www.spadafarmhousebrewery.com
BELLINGHAM
Aslan Brewing Co. If there was a Venn diagram of laid-back bar food, elevated and thoughtful cuisine
Aslan Brewing Co. serves up its elevated version of pub grub in Bellingham.
20 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2024
