After chef Shaun McCrain and general manager Jill Kinney left the beloved restaurant Book Bindery, they started this ambitious, refined fine-dining find with French inclinations in Ballard.

Website: copineseattle.com

Address: 6460 24th Ave. NW

Phone number: 206-258-2467

Number of seats: 60 in dining room and 10 at the bar

Entrée price range: $23-$48

Popular dishes: Grimaud Farms pithiviers de canard with sour cherries, pistachio and baby turnips; handmade chestnut agnolotti with Granny Smith apple, mushrooms, sage and brown butter emulsion; grilled Akaushi wagyu rib-eye “bourguignon” with roasted root vegetables, La Ratte potato purée and sauce bordelaise.

What others say: “[Chef] McCrain assembles dishes like a pointillist painter, applying dots and dashes of flavors and textures in patterns that form a coherent whole.” — Providence Cicero, The Seattle Times

Cypress Grove Bermuda Triangle cheese with beets

Grilled Akaushi wagyu rib-eye “bourguignon” with roasted root vegetables

“Sandwiches & grits” are the stated specialties of this homey, hearty, southern-inflected breakfast and lunch spot in Pike’s Place Market.

Website: cycenekitchen.com

Address: 1523 1st Ave.

Phone number: 206-617-6838

Number of seats: 27 in the dining room, 12 on the patio

Entrée price range: $10-$14

Popular dishes: Cajun boudin & grits with eggs over easy, red eye gravy and black eyed peas; shrimp & grits with New Orleans barbecue sauce, creole sausage, collard greens and hush puppy; sausage and egg sandwich with Creole sausage, roast garlic aïoli and scrambled egg; pulled pork sandwich with east North Carolina barbecue sauce and pickles.

What others say: “Owners Hassan Chebaro and Patsy Williams are happy to teach you about their favorite cuisine. You may ask Patsy what grits are (she handles the front of the house), and she’ll say they’re similar to polenta. Then her husband, Hassan, will make you a plate of grits so creamy and luscious you’ll want to visit the South.” — Paige Collins, The Seattle Times

Cycene exterior

Pulled pork sandwich with east North Carolina barbecue sauce and pickles

From a food truck to a bricks-and-mortar home with a lot of space outside, this hearty barbecue concept focuses on Kansas City and Texas — two havens for the barbecue arts.

Website: thewoodshopbbq.com

Address: 2513 S. Jackson St.

Phone number: 206-485-7381

Number of seats: 18 inside, 80 on the patio

Entrée price range: $10-$25

Popular dishes: Kansas City-style pork spare ribs; Texas-style sliced brisket; smoked jalapeño mac & cheese.

What others say: “Woodshop's brisket and sauce rivals that of even the Kansas City legend Arthur Bryant's. The restaurant off of Jackson and 26th has become my new weekend ritual, and I foresee that turning in to a full on tradition.” — Yelp comment

The bar

The outside dining area

Highly unusual assemblages of flavor and idiosyncratic presentations entice and confound diners at this playful, peculiar fine-dining establishment in the neighborhood of Queen Anne.

Website: edenhillrestaurant.com

Address: 2209 Queen Anne Ave. N

Phone number: 206-708-6836

Number of seats: 18 in dining room, 8 at the bar

Entrée price range: $15-$25

Popular dishes: Cauliflower "chilaquiles" with fermented chile hot sauce, green cabbage curtido, lime crema and manchego; crispy pighead "candybar" with Champagne pear soup, fermented black bean, pickled red cabbage, serrano and frisée; "Lick the Bowl": foie gras cake batter, strawberries, salted pound cake and sprinkles.

What others say: “Eden Hill is full of surprises. Just to name a few from the menu: kettle corn Brussels sprouts, Buffalo-style sweetbreads and crispy pig head candy bar.” — Providence Cicero, The Seattle Times

Crispy pighead "candybar" with Champagne pear soup, fermented black bean, pickled red cabbage, serrano and frisée

"Lick the Bowl": foie gras cake batter, strawberries, salted pound cake and sprinkles

This steakhouse that butchers and dry-ages in-house (and features four different butters to go with the beef once it’s cooked) is the visionary creation of Renee Erickson of The Walrus and the Carpenter and The Whale Wins.

Website: restaurantbateau.com

Address: 1040 E. Union St.

Phone number: 206-900-8699

Number of seats: 45

Entrée price range: $10-$22

Popular dishes: Octopus with purple carrots, pine nuts, Arbequina olives and fried mint oil; steak tartare with oyster, elderberry capers, preserved currant blossom and toast; Bateau Burger with 8 oz. house ground, dry-aged, grass-fed beef, semolina bun, onion jam and aïoli; Renee’s kale gratin with cream, nutmeg and aged cheddar.

What others say: “It’s these exquisite balances of yin and yang — a feminine steak house, where bloody beef shares billing with refined French, where a mere mortal can enjoy a $17 Ranch steak alongside a fat cat with a Delmonico, and where culinary gravitas coexists with liveliness of scene — that finally vault Bateau out of the realm of the ordinary and into that of the genuinely groundbreaking.” — Kathryn Robinson, Seattle Met

The dining area

Steak