Chef Holly Smith has a James Beard Award and a Northern Italian–meets–Pacific Northwest tasting menu with versions available for pescatarians, vegetarians, even vegans. The subtext: Diners with dietary restrictions don’t feel like their special occasion came with an asterisk. Nor should anybody else, given the comfortable dining room and wine service that feels welcoming no matter your knowledge level.

If you couldn’t quite make it to Vegas to celebrate, but yearn for that level of theatrical fine dining, the 31^st-floor penthouse of Bellevue’s Lincoln South Tower can help. The menu harbors an array of ultra-fine beef cuts, many sold by the ounce. Steak house–style sides display similar levels of intricacy. Dinner here also means sashimi and rolls from a sushi counter, high-drama dessert, and panoramic views of water, hills, and city.

Sushi Kashiba in Pike Place Market remains a sterling destination for special dinners. But the sushi counter is walk-in only. Across the lake at Takai by Kashiba, you can reserve seats at chef Jun Takai’s sushi counter for a 23-course omakase that claims its own rarefied level within the sushi atmosphere. Chef Jun includes playful soup and tempura courses in between astonishing nigiri, often with aged fish or other special treatments. His mentor, Shiro Kashiba, makes frequent appearances to greet diners. The more streamlined omakase available in Takai’s dining room is a great option, too.

You probably didn't need a reminder on this one. Canlis opened in 1950 and remains, these years later, Seattle’s go-to for Big Deal Dining. Third-generation owners Mark and Brian Canlis have done a remarkable job balancing an uncommon legacy with current views on fine dining. Right now, chef Aisha Ibrahim oversees a menu where diners choose three courses. From there, the kitchen interlaces a few surprises.

Maybe don’t take your mom here. But if your idea of a big-deal meal involves expanding your food horizons (and you don’t mind sitting side by side along a counter facing the wall), by all means wrangle a reservation for some of Seattle’s most innovative food. Chef-owner Evan Leichtling serves both a $137 tasting menu and a la carte dishes like fresh cheese dumplings with smoked ham and amaranth, or otoro tuna atop brioche.

Chef Shaun McCrain and his wife and business partner, Jill Kinney, make running a polished fine dining restaurant look effortless. Credit the couple’s prior experience at Per Se. Or Kinney’s warm hospitality, or McCrain’s capacity for applying precision French technique to Northwest ingredients. Special occasions are in experienced hands with Copine’s three-course menus (with an optional extra course that’s invariably hard to resist).

The Asian Family Market complex on Aurora doesn’t scream “fine dining,” but behind a set of enormous doors this yakiniku restaurant offers a high-end Japanese take on tabletop grills. Niku Niku offers up A5 and gold label wagyu cuts, as well as more budget proteins. Everything comes beautifully trimmed, paired with the ideal marinade. This first US outpost of a Taiwanese chain also has impressive sake service and ample spaces for large groups.

Maybe it's the misfortune of opening in 2020, an inauspicious year for in-person dining. Or the rocky minute when this space was a Bisato revival. Either way, 84 Yesler deserves way more attention. Chef Christina Siegl oversees a menu of pasta and seafood that's deeply finessed but still feels fun. Consider it well-traveled Italian: Smoked octopus comes with ikura and hollandaise; panko breadcrumbs add a dash of texture to decadent lobster tajarin. No meal should be without parmesan churros. The restaurant does both a la carte and a four- or six-course tasting menu.

Dinner starts with a place card that’s a map of Washington and a bouquet from chef-owner Aaron Tekulve’s mom’s garden—your first clues that the 10 courses to follow celebrate our state and its seasons. Delicate, technique-filled bites get amplified by a wine program that pours only bottles from Washington. We’re talking emerging labels and uncommon varietals; you could go a whole meal without seeing the state’s staple cabernet. Surrell also serves its menu at a chef’s counter and on a well-considered patio.

Diners who seek breathtaking food and a format you won’t find anywhere else in America should head straight to Archipelago. This isn’t the place for uninterrupted conversation and everything on your terms. Instead, owners Aaron Verzosa and Amber Manuguid present a nightly menu of Filipino American discourse to a rapt audience of eight diners. Historical lessons, cultural context, and childhood memories get wrapped around a menu of heirloom grain pandesal, miki noodles, and myriad other smart seasonal creations. 

Dustin Ronspies keeps things pretty low key—no website manifestos on seasonal ingredients, not even a sample menu. But as his multicourse menus make clear, he’s a formidable talent. The menus change each week, but the constants include perfectly cooked seafood, a handsome meat course (with plenty of alts for vegans, pescatarians, etc. if you notify them in advance), and artistic presentations.

Few restaurants in town have aged as gracefully as this ode to Piedmont's cuisine. Chef Stuart Lane ensures Spinasse remains one of Seattle’s most impressive Italian restaurants. The delicate hand-cut tajarin pasta is a staple, but the antipasti, vegetable dishes, and secondis like rabbit meatballs and pork ribs feel equal parts rustic and special. Come to think of it, same goes for the dining room.

Neighborhood residents might drift in for an impromptu bite while you work your way through a tasting menu. Consider it proof that Maximillian and Jennifer Petty’s original restaurant balances formidable food with informal hospitality. The five-course chef’s tasting avoids any crossover with the a la carte menu, which harbors favorites like the crispy pig head candy bar. Creativity even reigns at the bar, where the staff has been known to make (excellent) nonalcoholic versions of any drink on the main cocktail list.

Seattle is rich with destination-worthy omakase. But this counter, hidden inside the hodgepodge Broadway Alley complex, blends omakase tradition (aka “mostly sushi”) with the Japanese tradition of kaiseki. This means pristine nigiri shares the stage with composed courses that tell a story of the season. Omakase is traditionally a bit of a chef freestyle, kaiseki deeply regimented. Sushi geeks will appreciate the easy way chef Hideaki Taneda fuses these two philosophies. The tucked-away setting only adds to the charm.

Half the charm of dinner here is the place itself, a 1926 Italianate cottage secreted away in a Georgetown garden. The other half is Emily Crawford Dann’s Italian tribute to Northwest seasonal ingredients. Both the dishes and the environs are rustic, in a deeply charming way; there’s a reason the Corson Building does so many weddings. The restaurant serves dinner indoors, but also on its covered, heated patio.

High-end Korean barbecue sounds like a fun special-occasion alternative to a steak house—but it’s hard to relax and celebrate when you’re focused on the proper internal temperature for that Kurobuta pork belly. At Meet, a grill specialist glides over to your table and handles the grill cookery, ensuring you won't get distracted and overcook your order of A5 wagyu. Meanwhile, you can focus on your highball—or on the conversation—until meat is ready to dip in sauce, or wrap in a ssam.

A flurry of single-bite snacks, known as stuzzichini, kick off chef Nathan Lockwood's tasting menu. Plenty of restaurants in this town exist at the nexus of Northwest and Italian, but Altura strikes a rare balance: dishes are filled with technique, but don't feel so manipulated, they turn off diners wary of too much fuss. Altura also does an exceptional job honoring allergies and dietary restrictions.