Downtown Edmonds, despite the down economy, is having a restaurant boom.
Multiple bistros — The Loft, Epulo and Five Bistro — have opened in the past three years to widespread acclaim.
In 2010, three more new restaurants came on the scene, including the Winged Pig (from the folks who brought you Olives), Vatika (an Indian place in the old Skippers space) and Demetri’s Woodstone Taverna, right across from the ferry landing.
I was immediately lured in by Demetri’s, owned by local restaurateur Sofeea Huffman of Kafe Neo fame, who has turned the unappealing home of the former Johnny’s Sports Bar & Grill into a chic urban restaurant with inviting booths and tables, low modern lighting and a new, granite-topped bar.
Though multiple TVs still adorn the space, warm fires, including the one burning in the stone oven and the one in the double-sided fireplace in the bar, keep the place cozy.
On my first visit, I was instantly won over by my favorite beer, Georgetown Porter, rarely served at restaurants, paired with a house specialty, calamari tenders ($8), little calamari steak strips (not rings), battered, fried and tender.
Demetri’s sea salt fish and chips ($8) was another tasty turn, beer battered and crisp and served with basic French fries.
I was less impressed with the tomato-basil-fresh mozzarella flatbread, which had a greasy-tasting crust ($7).
When it came time for me to eat a full dinner in the dining room, I brought a friend for a decadent girls’ night out.
Our server seemed young and inexperienced at first, but she was able to answer all but one of my questions quite intelligently and had a genuine enthusiasm for the food.
We deliberated for ages over the exhausting three-page menu, featuring 90 options in all, not counting desserts.
I always worry when menus are so large. Can a new restaurant do that many things well?
We started with two fantastic side salads. Mine was winter greens with apples, pecans and valdeon, which is a cow and goat’s milk blue cheese ($6). My friend had the Greek salad with greens, cukes, tomatoes, feta, olives and tzatziki dressing ($5).
Both salads came gorgeously presented in asymmetrically flared white bowls. They were fresh, well dressed and the ratios of ingredients worked nicely together.
From the tapas menu, we had the Dungeness crab-stuffed shrimp, three jumbo shellfish filled with artichoke hearts as well as crab ($10). They were delicious.
I thought the filling should have been more flavorful, but the dish was just right for my friend, who gave it an order-again A-plus.
We also had a tapas-sized plate of fire-roasted vegetables with pine nuts and country bread ($8), which seemed overpriced in relation to the portion size, but tasted great, even if the veggies were overcooked for my taste.
Our main courses were perhaps the weak point of the evening. I chose the taberna baked chicken, a piece of chicken breast stuffed with artichoke hearts, rolled and then wrapped in bacon ($15).
It was supposed to come with rosemary potatoes, but was instead served with a mountain of a sauteed vegetable our server was unable to identify. I’m pretty sure it was eggplant, an unwelcome and dramatic departure from the menu (with no explanation) for a girl who hates eggplant.
I found the chicken to be a bit dry and weak in flavor for something that sounded so indulgent, but my friend was delighted with it.
She, meanwhile, did not like her lamb burger, topped with caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes and feta aioli ($14). It was way too lamby, she said. And she really likes lamb.
I, however, loved it, so we traded dishes halfway through. I thought the lamb patty, which was huge, was delicious, well seasoned and went beautifully with its toppings. It came on a luxuriously soft bun with a golden-brown, chewy exterior.
Demetri’s dessert tray display — a creative array of manageable miniatures for $3 a piece — looked divine.
I chose a shot glass of panna cotta served with a figgy, compotelike topping ($3).
Though I have never tried panna cotta, I hope this is how it’s always done.
Creamy yet light, sweet and bright, it was heavenly and smooth and went well with its fruit topping. My friend, also a panna cotta newbie, did not like her crust-dominated miniature apple pie ($3), so she gladly tried my treat.
Is Demetri’s, which opened in November, perfect?
No, but even with all the other great options in Edmonds, I’ll be back.
If you live in Mill Creek, you might want to check out Demetri’s even newer sister restaurant, Tablas Woodstone Taverna, which serves similar food but with a greater emphasis on tapas at the Mill Creek Town Center.
Demetri’s Woodstone Taverna
101 Main St., Edmonds, 425-744-9999.
Specialty: Northwest-influenced Mediterranean tapas
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday.
Alcohol: Full bar.
Vegetarian options: Multiple vegetable dishes, roasted or grilled, and salads, dips, spreads and flat breads.
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