By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
It’s amazing the difference a year can make. What with upheaval in the economy, jobs, politics, life, it can be mind-boggling how so many things can change, yet so many others stay the same. Take for instance, the results of our annual Best of Everything survey — you know, the ones you’re about to read? We got a record number of responses this year (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!), and while some of our category’s winners have been the same year in and year out (I’m talking to you, Dani Weiss!), every once in a while we had an upset in our ranks. We hope you enjoy the list and take advantage of what everyone loves about the winners.
Mazel Tov! Planning a Celebration
Best Place for a Wedding
It looks like our blushing brides are inclined toward tradition, as once again the Fairmount Olympic Hotel, downtown Seattle’s glamorous ode to opulence, takes the prize. I am intrigued about the couple that tied the knot at the Peace Arch in Blaine, though. Did the rabbi straddle the border? Was seating for bride and groom divided strictly based on citizenship? Did the bridge and groom kiss, then go off to their respective countries to apply for a green card?
Best Place for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah
Congregation Beth Shalom, that shining synagogue on the (Wedgwood) hill, takes the prize.
Best Local Party Band or DJ
Once again, Hayden Hall, DJ extraordinaire, takes the prize. Spin it!
Best Place to Buy an Engagement Ring
Discerning grooms-to-be hightail it to one of the many locations of Ben Bridge Jeweler, a local family outfit for generations now.
Best Ketubah Artist
We’re goin’ South Side this year for this category, with a tie — between Renaissance man Rabbi Simon Benzaquen of Sephardic Bikur Holim and artist Rainer Waldman Adkins. Anyone want to challenge them for a draw-off?
Best Photographer
Once again her supporters came out in force, and Jewish community photographer Dani Weiss takes the category. I don’t know if the jobs situation has pushed more people into the shutterbug business, but a lot more new names showed up than ever before.
Best Videographer
We have a tie between previous winners Aaron Horton Productions and Michael Behar. These guys are the pros. In second place? The sister-in-law. With her little Flip camera, perhaps? Those shaky memories are more likely to invoke a seizure.
Best Florist
If I wasn’t a newspaper editor, I’d probably be a florist, just so I could sit in a store and sniff flowers all day. I’m kind of like Bambi that way. But Ballard Blossom, which takes the prize, is all business, and you see their little delivery cars everywhere — and for good reason.
Best Caterer
I’d appreciate anyone who can back up a truck to my kitchen and leave a bunch of delicious food. But who wouldn’t? We had a lot of caterers that people really love, but none so much as Leah’s. As one respondent put it, “Is there anyone else?”
DELI-cious
Best Corned Beef Sandwich
This was always an easy category to win, because there really wasn’t much of a competition. That changed this year with the upstart I Love New York Deli, with Seattle locations in the Pike Place Market and on Roosevelt in the U District taking the prize.
Best Smoked Fish
There were a lot of contenders, many of them local, for the best darned lox on the planet. But the smoking barrel award goes to Port Chatham Smoked Seafood on Market St. in Ballard. I’m swooning already.
And for those of you who’ve been following the great pickled herring debate, including the 92-year-old gentleman from Skokie, Ill. who spent the best years of his life in the fish business; his son, who grew up on the stuff; and, I suppose, my dad: You tried, and I salute you, but it still makes me gag.
Tradition!
Best Rugelach
There’s no question, year after year, as to the winner of this category. Though you can no longer stop in and pick them up at whim, Leah’s still flattened and rolled up the competition.
Best Challah
This is a tough call, because the magically delicious challah is often what we ate as a child. Imagine, with contenders like Macrina, Grand Central and Essential Bakery (all of whom were mentioned multiple times in your responses), what today’s young generation will have to do to find a great challah. Still, none of those bakeries hold a candle to — you guessed it — Leah’s!
Best Bagel
“As a New Yorker,” wrote one respondent, “I cannot answer this question.” One other New Yorker did, with that city’s great H&H as an answer, but come on. Those are 3,000 miles away! It’s a good thing we’ve got bagels good enough to compete — in this case, we’re talking about Bagel Oasis, the (kosher!) joint in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood. Slice me a hot one!
Dining Out
Best Burger
Yes, yes, we know. The mountain of bacon hovering behind the counter is a giveaway that this joint ain’t kosher. But you love it, we love it, and it’s darn near impossible to go to either Red Mill location (Interbay, Phinney Ridge) and not have to wait in line.
Best Pizza
Have you noticed an explosion of delicious pizzas in a town where just a few years ago it was a challenge to find anything decent? Well it’s a good thing that the year-old kosher establishment, Island Crust, run by the fine folks from Nosh Away, had real, honest competition before they could run off with the pie.
Best New Asian/Fusion
They’ve been entertaining diners downtown before the symphony (or just for a night out) for over a decade, and they’ve now expanded to the Eastside with the opening of the über-fancy Bravern shopping center. That’s right, Wild Ginger drives us, ahem, wild!
Best Romantic Dinner
I’m sitting next to my wife in a coffee shop as I write this. What with the kids and all, that’s the closest we come these days to going out on a date. I suppose that’s why we have to rely on all of you for the answer. In this case, it’s the traditional that takes the prize, view and all. Canlis, the violinist and the flowers are for you.
Best Brunch
What’s more relaxing than sitting back on a Sunday morning and enjoying the view of the Sound while the boats float by? Aside from battling the hordes for that last Dungeness crab leg, I mean? Eating brunch at Salty’s on Alki, of course!
Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant
I don’t recall finding the indoor jungle gym last time I was there, but you of course can’t go wrong with pizza. And that’s why Island Crust on Mercer Island takes the prize!
Best Sushi
We’ve got a tie — it appears that some like the kaiten (conveyer belt) style while others prefer the traditional have-a-waiter-deliver-it-to-your-table style. In the kaiten department you’ll find the local chain Blue C Sushi, co-owned by nice Jewish boy Steve Rosen. For fancy sit-down, Nishino in Madison Park takes the prize.
Best Indian
We’ve got a couple Indian joints in town that have been certified kosher, and those two, Pabla (in Redmond and in Issaquah), receive the Golden Samosa.
Best Middle Eastern
Mmmm…. falafel! We’ve showcased a number of Middle Eastern joints around town in the past, but the winner is an old standby in Seattle’s University District: Cedar’s and its deep fryer bring joy to us all.
Best Mexican
Of the few awesome Mexican restaurants we can find so far north of the border, Cactus pokes our chimichangas the most.
L’Chaim!
Best Wine List
I think the real winner’s at my house: “I hate it when you tell me to do that!” “What else is there to eat?” “I’m too tired to brush my teeth!” But we hear Canlis has a pretty respectable list as well.
Best Happy Hour
I didn’t realize Hillel at the University of Washington actually offered a happy hour, but maybe that respondent meant every hour is happy hour. For those of us who have to slog through the daily grind and need a little something to get us through the end of the day, we head on over to Palomino.
Best Place to Meet Friends or to Watch a Game
These days it’s probably your best buddy’s “man cave,” but for those of us who haven’t traded in the vacuum tubes for 52 diagonal inches of 1080p plasma, there’s always The Ram. It is, tellingly, where one of our respondents tells us he met his wife!
Sweet Tooth
Best Bakery
In a town known for the highest per capita use of flour (source: um, none?), should it come as no surprise that the breads and pastries at Macrina in both Belltown and on Queen Anne would take the prize?
Best Chocolatier
We did a preliminary test of this category last summer with our sweets issue, and one of our faves was one of yours, too: Fremont’s Theo Chocolates. Someone toss me a bar of their fig, fennel and almond dark. Please!
Best Dessert with a View
Did we maybe create this category with Canlis in mind? Well, not really, but they keep winning year after year anyway. Of course, it’s possible with their new dessert chef Jason Franey that they would have won even without that view.
Best Cupcake
What do you think, cupcake? We’ve got so many choices these days, both in Seattle and on the Eastside (not including your corner supermarket), you’d think the verdict would spread evenly. But such is not the case. A six-pack of frosted delight goes to our friends at Trophy in Wallingford Center, University Village, and the Bravern.
Community Matters
Best Local Jewish Organization
They keep winning and our respondents keep coming back for more. Jewish Family Service has had to put much more emphasis on the “service” part of their name with so much increase in need in their food bank, counseling, and so much else. They win it once again by a mile!
Best Youth Organization
We’ve got a tie in this category, but there were just so many to choose from! Trust your kids to both BBYO and NCSY for a rockin’ good time while they hang out with other Jewish teens.
Best Jewish Camp
It’s quite amazing exactly how many Jewish camps there are in this state (and the ones in this state handily beat out anything in places like, ahem, California). Camp Solomon Schechter placed a close second last year, but this year the Tumwater Tallis Troop tips the teeter-totter.
Best Jewish Web Site
We are shocked — shocked! — that our own family of Web sites, JTNews.net and jew-ish.com, didn’t win the prize. Even though we of course know they’re the best. But truthfully, the winner goes to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, with their newly revamped jewishinseattle.org.
The reality of the situation
Best Place to Volunteer, Best Food Bank, Best Counseling Services, Best Vocational/Training Services
In the interest of space, we’ve rolled these four categories into one because the award goes to the same agency that won best Jewish Organization — Jewish Family Service. What that means, then, is that for those of you not in need of a food bank, counseling or job training, get your butts in gear and start volunteering!
Best Free Activity for Kids
Fridays just wouldn’t be the same without the Tot Shabbat at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, and our respondents agree. Light a candle for the J, both on Mercer Island and in Seattle’s Northend.
Confidential to one respondent: Technically, the children’s area at Bagel Oasis is free, but I kinda think they’re expecting that if you go in there that you should shell out for some bagels.
Religious Reflections
Best Congregation
With a committed membership, strong cred in ritual and social action, plus an army of chefs that caters their Shabbat lunches, of course Rabbi Jill Borodin (pictured here) knows why Congregation Beth Shalom feels the love.
Best Mohel
For the people who responded that they’ve got a 50 percent chance of finding out the best person to do a ritual circumcision, you should hope that the man who’s good with a paint brush on his award-winning ketubot is as good with a knife. Rabbi Simon Benzaquen takes the prize. And as an extra bonus, we’re going to skip any puns using the word “cut.”
Best Jewish Supplemental School
For many people it’s a given that they send their kids to a Jewish day school, but for those who opt into something else, but want to ensure their kids still know a thing or two about their past and their traditions, you’ve got two choices to ensure your kid will win the Bible Bowl regionals: The Kavana Cooperative in Seattle and Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue.
Best Adult Education Program
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum’s got a good thing going with the nearly four-year-old organization that’s taking the world by storm. She shares the honors with the no-longer-upstart but still jam-packed, schedule-filled, incredibly educating Seattle Kollel.
Shop Till You Drop — And the Relaxation After
Best Fitness Club
The world of fitness has gone quite upscale lately, so much so that some places actually have people to do the working out for you! But everyone loves the Stroum JCC, which is convenient for that east-to-west commute (or vice versa) and has great machines and a built-in guarantee that you’ll run into an old buddy or even a guy with a great big potbelly who pinched your cheeks when you were a kid.
Best Spa Experience
There’s no shortage of spas in the area, from Ballard to Snoqualmie Falls and as far north as the middle of British Columbia, but the ever-popular Gene Juarez pampers like you’re floating on clouds.
Best Destination When I’m shopping for Clothes for Myself
I thought that when nobody was looking, I could easily slip into Value Village or Target and get the latest fashions and nobody would be the wiser. Maybe I’m deluding myself, because the clear winner is the upscale and local icon Nordstrom.
Best Kidswear
Apparently choosing the best for ourselves when it comes to clothes doesn’t spread to the kids — at least not all the time. The category was split between the higher-end Hanna Andersson, which makes the most awesome and durable pajamas — I know from experience — and the usually dirt-cheap Old Navy.
Best Independent Toy Shop
Head on up to Greenwood, where Top Ten Toys has an awesome selection of just about everything you need that isn’t overpriced, overbranded junk from some chemical-filled factory in China. Though to be fair, they do have some of that stuff, too, if you really, really want it.
Best Outdoor/Neighborhood Shopping
Okay, so they’re outdoors, and for the people who live nearby it is in the neighborhood, but do you really have the high-end mall University Village in mind when you think in those terms?
Best Little Local, Independent Shop
Okay, now that I’ve gotten the local vs. mass produced rant out of the way, we didn’t come away with a clear winner for this category. But let’s name a few favorites: Archie McPhee, Cupcake Royale, the soon-to-be-misnamed Elliott Bay Books, Goods for the Planet and Third Place Books. We have it pretty darn good here, folks.
Best Candy Shop
I think some of the selections for this category — Fran’s, Chocolopolis, the bulk bins at Greenwood Market — might take some offense at being called a candy shop. But they didn’t win, anyway. The actual winner was, with chocolate-covered cherries on top, See’s Candies.
People of the Book (and Screen)
Best Independent Bookshop
Just in time for them to make their move to Capitol Hill in a couple months, this is the place that hosts some of the best readings in town, not to mention a killer selection of new and, until they’re sold out, used books. The Elliott Bay Book Company takes the prize. Interestingly enough, Third Place Books came in — you guessed it — third.
Best Jewish-Content Book of 2009
Kudos to our good friend Wendy Marcus, music director at Temple Beth Am, founder and editor of the Drash literary journal, and author of a book of short stories called Polyglot, which takes the prize.
Best Jewish Author of 2009
Wendy won for the book but she hasn’t quite made it to favorite Jewish author. Yet. That honor goes to someone slightly better known, the man who makes me run for a dictionary every time I read him, the author of last year’s Manhood for Amateurs, Michael Chabon.
Best Jewish Film of 2009
We had a ton of major feature films last year with Jewish content — Inglourious Basterds, Defiance, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg! — but the clear winner was the true-to-life memoir by Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man.
Best Israeli Film of 2009
The story of a little boy accidentally abandoned by his mother shows a side of Israel and its recent immigrants that gets buried under so much else the state deals with. And for that, Noodle takes the prize.
Best Jewish Actor of 2009
I’m about to take a break from this and turn on “30 Rock” so I can check out the caption on Frank’s hat, and not just ‘cause the man with those hats, the hi-larious Judah Friedlander, is the man with the acting chops.
Makin’ Friends…and Maybe a Bit More
Best Place to Hang Out and Meet Other Fun Jews
We had a tough contest here. Hillel’s great, and they came in a close second, but the clear winner was the growing and intentional community situated all over a single block in Seattle’s Northend: The Ravenna Kibbutz. Shout out for a Shabbat dinner! You can find ‘em on Facebook, too.
Best Online Dating Site
I didn’t even know they were still around, they’ve been so quiet lately, but JDate is the clear winner — particularly for the respondent who trumpeted the fact that it’s where she met her husband.
Best Jewish Pickup Line
Ahhh…. Once again, some of these are just too darn dirty to print. So. We’ll go with these two: “Hey, want to try my challah?” and “Care to taste my brisket?” We’re thinking “Are you Jewish?” reeks just a bit too much of desperation.
Grab Bag
Best (or Worst) Political Antic of 2009
No contest. Anything Sarah Palin. And not in a good way.
Most Important Political Issue of 2009
Regardless of what the pundits say, the economy was not first and foremost on our minds. But issues very closely related to the economy were: Health care reform (if, at this point, you can still call it that) and figuring out Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s good to know we’ve got thinking people on our side.
Name the most stunning, amusing, thrilling, or otherwise superlative local news of 2009. And tell us how it relates Jewishly, if you can.
Really? The best you could do was the death of the P-I? Oh well, better luck next year.