Leslie’s Top 10 Picks For Dining Out

This time of year, people are obsessed with making lists. Christmas card lists. Shopping lists. Lists of credit cards that are not maxed out.

Meanwhile, writers are frantically scribbling their year-end Top 10 lists. Top 10 books. Top 10 movies. Top 10 reasons not to read Top 10 lists.

So, I thought I would make a preemptive strike by sharing my favorite Spokane restaurants, especially because this is the season for dining out.

The chefs and kitchen crews at these restaurants have distinguished themselves by taking basic ingredients and working culinary magic. They have elevated food above mere nourishment into something diners might ooh and aah over when the plate is placed on their table. And the owners and managers at these establishments deserve credit for creating inviting surroundings, whether the dining room is sophisticated and upscale or casual and charming.

Here are my picks:

1. Luna. This place succeeds on every level - creative cuisine that changes seasonally, polished service and a gorgeous atmosphere. Chef Brett Fontana’s menu combines the best of home-cooking and inventive, flavorful combinations in entrees such as a blackened snapper with a savory hard cider sauce. On the winter menu, the roasted scallops appetizer served with a spicy Thai peanut sauce and crispy veggie spring roll is a study in well-balanced taste sensations.

The menu also offers the flexibility of more casual dining. Or, you can’t go wrong with a bowl of one of the satisfying soups.

Luna also deserves recognition for attention to detail, from the wonderful variety of freshly baked bread right down to the earthenware honey pot that accompanies tea service.

In a perfect world, the acoustics at Luna would be improved, so conversation wouldn’t be so difficult when the restaurant is crowded.

2. Fugazzi. Memorable meals in stylish surroundings. I’m still having sweet dreams about a dinner I ate there last summer. It was a blackened, butterflied, perfectly cooked trout served with a colorful corn and red pepper salsa. The fish was perched on a tasty cornmeal pancake. This pretty plate belonged on the pages of Bon Appetit magazine.

Michael Waliser’s menu is everchanging, playing off the seasonal flavors. The accompanying peasant-style bread baked daily on the premises makes an excellent companion.

Meals are served by a savvy staff.

This cosmopolitan dining room could be even better if it expanded its lunch offerings.

3. II Moon Cafe at The Mars Hotel. This restaurant defies easy categorization. The menu includes Mexican dishes, but chef Steve Quinones finishes them in elegant French sauces. There are entree salads with Oriental flavors along with all-American steak dinners. But, for my money, this spot serves the best seafood in town.

I’ve tangled with a barracuda there and have savored the delicate flavor of an Atlantic blue bass. The shrimp enchiladas come bathed in an elegant champagne sauce. And then there’s the best calamari steak in town.

Unfortunately, uneven service can mar an otherwise delightful meal. The staff seems to vary in ability from competent to clueless. You might be kept waiting for a table, even with reservations.

4. Upstairs Downtown. This lovely setting re-creates an elegant dining room you might find in the French countryside. Chef Karla Graves shines by successfully updating old classics, while her husband Larry graciously oversees the dining room.

A bouillabaisse-type stew is given a contemporary touch with the addition of polenta and a saffron aioli. A chile relleno takes on new meaning when a polbano pepper is stuffed with mashed potatoes instead of cheese.

If I could make any improvements, I would reopen the upstairs section of the restaurant as a kind of post-dinner coffee spot and showcase the restaurant’s magnificent desserts, made on premise by Kathy Scheibner. But I realize a dessert-only venue probably wouldn’t fly in Spokane.

5. Fery’s Au Croissant. Unfortunately, you can no longer eat at this downtown restaurant because it closed last fall. However, I was so impressed with the wonderfully seasoned, beautifully presented meals made by Fery Haghigi, I felt compelled to include this erstwhile restaurant on my list.

While it was open, a small, loyal group of customers enjoyed Fery’s peerless chicken curry and sumptuous specials such as grilled polenta with wild mushrooms and a flaky spinach tart.

I’m still surprised this venue couldn’t find a larger audience. Maybe it was a bad location or perceived lack of parking. But it wasn’t the food.

Fery’s fans will be delighted to hear she is now selling her outstanding

pastries to local eateries. Look for them on a dessert cart near you soon.

6. The Anaconda Grille. The atmosphere at this tiny neighborhood restaurant is funky and fun. (Don’t miss the tribute to Expo ‘74 near the restrooms.)

The food is contemporary Italian, by way of California. Creative choices like a pasta dish with figs, grilled yams and soy-plum sauce reside happily alongside more traditional entrees such as spaghetti marinara, eggplant parmigiana and lasagna.

The sauteed calamari appetizer is Gina Lanza’s signature dish, something that harkens back to her days as the original owner of Amore.

The main drawback at the Anaconda is a lack of liquor license (due to its proximity to a school), which means if diners plan to bring their own wine or beer, they must first pick up a banquet permit for $10 at a Washington state liquor store.

7. The Asian Cafe. I’m so hooked on the Asian Cafe’s pumpkin curry that if I don’t get my weekly fix, I get cranky.

What this small storefront operation lacks in atmosphere, it more than makes up in vivid, unusual flavors. The menu is largely Laotian cuisine, which is a cross between Vietnamese and Thai.

Besides the curries, other winners out of the kitchen of the husband-and-wife team of Pia Phothivongsa and Max Moulaxart’s are the homemade peanut sauce made with fresh roasted peanuts over tender-crisp broccoli, carrots and chicken, the roasted shrimp served with a tangy-sweet dressing and the delicate salad-roll appetizer. This uncooked take on a spring roll comes with nearly translucent rice paper rolled with lettuce, thin noodles, pieces of chicken and mint leaves. It’s heavenly.

8. Thai Kitchen. There are a half-dozen good Thai restaurants in Spokane, but what makes this one special is the extra care in selecting top-quality ingredients. The couple who run the Thai Kitchen, Paul and Benjamas Hall, make daily trips to the market and make sauces and spice blends from scratch.

The curries, especially the potato and peanut-studded musaman curry, are highly recommended, as is anything served with the slightly sweet peanut sauce. Or try the cold noodle salad, presented with pretty garnishes.

This is a small place and everything is cooked to order, so service can be slow.

9. Marrakesh Moroccan restaurant. The main dining room is ensconced in billowing fabrics, giving it the feel of a movie set from “Lawrence of Arabia.” However, in spite of the hand-washing ceremony, the belly dancing and the waiters in Middle Eastern costumes, the Marrakesh doesn’t cross the line into hokum.

That’s because Omar Fekhar’s food outshines the theatrics. Of the five courses served with every dinner, the well-seasoned lentil soup and the flaky, chicken-stuffed pastry called bastilla are standouts. Memorable main courses include the chicken braised with honey and prunes and the salmon Marrakesh.

10. Birkebeiner Brewery. The menu at this smoke-free pub gives new meaning to the term bar food.

Chef Dale Yates’ jambalaya, creole and seafood gumbo are spicy enough to prompt most diners to break a sweat. A new dish features a buffalo ribeye steak seasoned with Cajun spices.

Of the Tex-Mex fare, I’m a big fan of the black bean cakes, served with fresh salsa and fine, chunky guacamole, but was disappointed by the new chicken enchilada with a wimpy habanera sauce.

Put out the fire with an apricot ale, brewed in tanks you can see from the dining room.

, DataTimes MEMO: These 2 sidebars appeared with the story: 1. TOP 10 Luna, 5620 S. Perry, 448-2383. Fugazzi, 1 N. Post, 624-1133. II Moon Cafe, 300 W. Sprague, 747-6277. Upstairs Downtown, Howard and Main, 747-9830. Fery’s Au Croissant (closed) Anaconda Grille, 510 S. Freya, 533-0064. Asian Cafe, 1422 S. Lincoln, 747-4344. Thai Kitchen, 12722 E. Sprague, 926-8161. Marrakesh, 2008 Northwest Blvd., 328-9733. Birkebeiner Brewery, 35 W. Main, 458-0854.

2. YOU CHOOSE Did we miss your favorite Spokane restaurant in this roundup? Well, because we value the opinionated palates of our readers, we’re throwing the list-making open to amateur restaurant reviewers everywhere. We want to hear about your favorites. Cast your vote for a top-notch eatery by calling The Spokesman-Review City. A touch-tone phone is required. In Eastern Washington, call (509) 458-8800 and once the connection is made, enter category 4856. In North Idaho call (208) 765-8811, category 4856. CityLine is free, but normal charges apply to long-distance calls.