At long last I made the trip to 1400 E. Union Street, with two friends, for lunch. Skillet (the diner) has been open a while now, and I suspected the crowds would have died down a bit. At 12:30 p.m., stepping in out of a rainstorm, we still had to wait a few minutes for an open booth, though there were free seats at the bar.
“The Burger,” as it’s known, is $14, and it comes with a thick patty of Painted Hills beef, arugula, bacon jam, and creamy Bleu cheese on a bun that tastes, and chews, like a fresh loaf of baked bread. I dislike paying $14 for a burger, but you can see, and taste, what you’re paying for. The personable burgers come with salad or fries, but for another $3 you can sub in Skillet’s poutine. Be hungry, or be with hungry friends, if you do this, because the poutine piled up on the plate will easily defeat the unprepared diner.
Poutine traditionalists will turn up their noses and head on over to Smith on 15th Avenue E., where you can spear cheese curds from atop a sopping platter, but you can’t sub those in for $3. The melted-on cheese at Skillet approaches the Platonic form of comfort food, but with a surprising bed of herbs, whose scent escapes the fry overtop as a forkful is brought away, like a reverse garnish.
If you are not a poutine enthusiast, no worries. One of my dining companions declared Skillet’s plain fries the best in Seattle, and then proceeded to dunk them in a mélange of ketchup and Sriracha sauce he prepared at the table. You are welcome to do the same.