Barbara Basia Patrick, PB Kitchen’s head chef, serves up cabbage rolls, pierogi, and more every week at the Polish Home Association.
  • Barbara "Basia" Patrick, PB Kitchen’s head chef, serves up cabbage rolls, pierogi, and more every week at the Polish Home Association.

Seattle is in the midst of a restaurant boom. New restaurants are opening at a rate that seems faster than our stomachs' ability to sustain them. But quietly toiling away in every neighborhood are unassuming places that also deserve your attention. These stalwarts fuel the city and form its culinary identity.

Close to my heart and my home is Beacon Hill's La Bendicion Tienda Mexicana (2256 Beacon Ave S, 329-1039), whose signs advertise envios de dinero and calling cards. Inside, coolers are filled with bottles of Jarritos and Coke, and towers of queso fresco and tortillas. On weekends, the ladies in the backroom kitchen churn out breathtakingly good tamales, the flavors changing with their whims: chicken in mole negro or a thick red guajillo chili sauce, or pork in salsa verde. They cost less than $2 apiece and come straight out of the steamer, soft and moist. They're usually available between noon and 2 p.m., but timing can be tricky: Get there too early, and they might not be ready. Arrive too late, and they'll be gone…

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