Top  TECHNIQUE  Trend

It had to happen. Flavor-happy chefs and diners, unbowed by the food police, have embraced all manner of once-verboten goodies. There’s nothing like skillful frying to bring out the flavor and texture of food, and in these times, folks are taking their pleasures where they can. It doesn’t hurt that fried food is the kind of comforting, accessible, all-American stuff that people are falling for all over again, right up there with burgers, mac and cheese and ice-cream cones. Further, not many people deep-fry at home.

“You can’t beat frying when it’s done right,” says David Yuasa, co-owner of the popular new Pike Street Fish Fry in Seattle, a sleek, seasonally oriented place by the edgy Neumos rock and social club. “Done right” is what Yuasa, who comes from a family of fishermen, and chef/partner Michael Hebb have been striving for since the Fish Fry’s inception.

They achieve their goal with fresh, tempura-battered, fried species like sturgeon and albacore, served with fried lemons; their $4 frites are often touted as the best in the city.

“It’s all in the technique and the quality of what you’re frying,” says Yuasa. “As with all simple foods, you have to focus on every detail.” He and Hebb opened Pike Street Fish Fry because of the surprising dearth of proper fried food in Seattle. Mostly takeout, the nine-seat restaurant has rapidly become part of the hip Seattle dining scene, a destination for off-work chefs as well as anyone who appreciates fresh seafood. In addition to fried-fish entrées and sandwiches, the menu has grown to include fried asparagus and green beans (served in a walkabout cup), as well as grilled octopus, sausage sandwiches, grilled Hawaiian ahi tuna steak and a pulled-pork sandwich with pickled cabbage and salsa verde on an artisan roll. But it’s the three fryers that really churn out the food.