De La Soil Is One of the Most Underrated Restaurants in the Seattle Area
The Seattle suburb of Kenmore is mostly famous as “the place where the seaplanes are,” but you should make time to come here for De La Soil, an under-the-radar counter-service restaurant inside a Copperworks Distilling location.
What to order
- Even by Pacific Northwest standards, De La Soil is unusually committed to local and seasonal ingredients, with much of its produce coming from nearby Tuk Muk Farm. The menu changes seasonally, but a safe bet is to order anything made of onion. The blooming Walla Walla onion, for instance, is served on a bed of creamy goat cheese brightened up with a little corn. On a second visit we discovered the blooming onion was gone (alas), but in its place were wild onion doughnuts, soft and airy but also warm and comforting — especially paired with the smokey gruyere fondue dip.
- The beef fat–cooked baby carrots are charred and sweet and go well with the creamy-umami black garlic yogurt sauce. The real clever twist is the dish is topped with some pistachios covered in a Doritos-esque barbecue powder, giving smokey-sweet-spicy notes.
- The less adventurous should go for the smash burger, more pickly and tart than usual thanks to dijonaise and a pickled green tomato. It also comes with Beecher’s smoked cheddar rather than a flavor-neutral American cheese (they love smokey flavors here), a smash burger for grown-ups.
- Cocktails, mostly whiskey- and gin-based, can be ordered at the Copperworks bar.
The vibe
Though it’s inside a tasting room, De La Soil is decidedly all-ages, with plenty of high chairs and an outdoor patio area where the restaurant grows its own herbs. The more-creative-than-it-has-to-be kids’ menu features items like lemon and ricotta pasta with chicken skin “breadcrumbs.”
Best for
Casual hangs with friends or family. The food is decidedly date-night worthy, but bussing your own table is probably a romance-killer.
