And The Beets Go On

All beets are equal, more or less: tiny babies at Portage ($8), shredded at Place Pigalle ($7), lumpy at Cafe Presse ($7), chunky at Tavolata ($10). But some vegetables are more equal than others, and the question is, whose are tastiest?

Beets have become Seattle's default winter salad, served with a vinaigrette or mayonnaise dressing, sometimes accompanied by bitter greens or crunchy walnuts, almost always enhanced by a bit of cheese.

Tavolata adds a hefty slice of Spanish goat cheese, cana de cabre. Couple at the bar one night say they drove down from Canada for a serving. Worth the wait at the border, yes? But isn't ten bucks a lot to pay for the most humble of root vegetables? No, not when they're this good.

And if you're lucky, you get to see the consequences of beet-eating: beeturia. Turns pee and pooh dark red. Lucky because only 10-15 percent of the population reacts in this way, lucky because it's not hematuria (blood, which would be serious). Whew!

Portage, 2209 Queen Anne Ave. N., 206-352-6213
Place Pigalle, 81 Pike St., 206-624-1756
Café Presse, 1117 12th Avenue, 206-709-7674
Tavolata, 2323 Second Ave., 206-838-8008

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