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Place Pigalle mingles ethnic accents with bistro fare to agreeable results

Friday, August 20, 1999

By GREGORY ROBERTS Mail Author
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
RESTAURANT CRITIC

Open for 17 years now, Place Pigalle qualifies as a venerable Seattle restaurant. And if the increasingly fast track that is the local dining scene leaves Pigalle somewhat short of the avant garde, it still performs admirably in its chosen role: a cozy, stylish bistro tucked away in the Pike Place Market, with a made-in-Seattle view and a well-executed menu of dishes that are agreeable, accessible and often excellent.

Chef Michael Parpart is not averse to multiethnic mingling, and he adds Asian accents of wasabi, hoisin, coconut milk and other ingredients to the basic, French-influenced repertoire. But the demi-glace and jus more than hold their own, and the overall effect is comforting rather than cutting-edge.

Though much of the menu changes seasonally, Parpart imbues some dishes with the aura of local classics. Steamed mussels Pigalle provide a welcome break from the usual garlic-and-white-wine treatment, the shellfish bathed in a gravylike blend of bacon, celery, shallots and balsamic vinaigrette that's smoky, tingly and terrific. Oyster stew avoids creamy overkill, even as it floats a big hunk of butter alongside plump oysters in a broth both briny and opulent.

Nouveau Cassoulet pulls full-bodied flavor from chunks of lamb and rabbit braised with flageolet beans in red wine, while tempering the rustic stew with surprising delicacy. Rabbit, a main-course mainstay at Pigalle, stars in a roulade, the tender roasted saddle harmonizing with its stuffing of chestnuts, apple, spinach and blue cheese in a well-tuned cider demi-glace.

(Editor's note: When originally published, this review contained inaccurate information concerning the restaurant's hours, parking and history. This version has been corrected.)

The setting is classic in its own way. Formerly a seaman's tavern, downstairs from what once was reputedly a brothel, the space was taken over by restaurateur Bill Frank in 1982.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Place Pigalle, 81 Pike St. (Pike Place Market), Seattle; 206-624-1756. Prices: lunch appetizers $8.50-$9.25, entrees $9.75-$13.75; dinner appetizers $7.50-$10.50, entrees $17.25-$22.75. Hours: lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday; dinner 5:30-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 6-11 p.m. Friday, 6-10:30 p.m. Saturday. Full bar. Smoking permitted in bar only. Reservations accepted. Major credit cards. Obstacles to access: Outside steps descending to entrance. Validated valet parking $4 at dinner Wednesday-Saturday; validated free parking at Pike Place Market garage.

(3 stars.)

The simply decorated L-shaped dining room, set with white-linened tables on a checkerboard tile floor, wraps around a small raised bar and affords a sweeping vista of Elliott Bay. It's a casually romantic spot, staffed by skilled waiters, though the mood can be marred by a sometimes sniffy maitre d'.

Seafood plays a prominent part at Pigalle. Gravlax, caraway-cured in house, rests atop a cool cake of julienned cucumber, radish and celeriac as a delightfully refreshing starter. A sake-ginger-cilantro broth moistens tiny, steamed Manila clams served shell-less, their spotlight nearly stolen by a carrot-flecked mound of faintly earthy mung beans.

Pigalle pan-roasts salmon to perfection, the moist filet glistening a shade past translucence; it's set off superbly by the acidity of roasted tomato and the pungence of pancetta in a dilled vinaigrette that adds rich complexity to the dish. Striped sea bass stands out when roasted to a flaky turn for sprinkling with Chinese-style black beans and Fresno chilies in a citrus-soy sauce.

Pigalle's take on seafood stew outpoints many local competitors in the cioppino-bouillabaisse line, barely daubing a heap of mussels, clams, calimari, salmon and halibut with a roasted-tomato broth laced with saffron and thyme. But the lunchtime specialty of Hazelfish disappoints, overwhelming mild Pacific red snapper with its coating of ground hazelnuts.

Pigalle succeeds with salads, including the warm asparagus version dusted with sesame seeds and dressed to kill in a red miso vinaigrette. The kitchen fares less well with the daily soups, missing the target, for instance, with a too-sweet rendition of chilled Crenshaw melon.

The dessert lineup is limited, but offers some satisfying treats. The pot de crême exudes lush, chocolate-y intensity. The brandied almond tart nicely understates its sugar hit beneath a blizzard of slivered almonds. Crème brûlée can delight with silky grace, at least when the crust stays on the safe side of scorched.

Place Pigalle's regular wine list is extensive, filled mostly with Northwest and California wines and taking in some French selections. Quite a few choices are priced under $30 a bottle, though there are premium wines as well.

More blue-chippers reside on the reserve list, an impressive catalog that numbers among its treasures some Helen Turley zinfandels and a complete run of Quilceda Creek cabernet sauvignon back to 1979. While prices climb into three figures on the reserve list, there are several attractive and well-priced wines in the $40-to-$60 bracket.

Post-Intelligencer food critics arrive unannounced and pay for all meals and services.

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