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 
$10 FOR BEETS!!!!!!!!!!!!
ONLY POOR FOLK + PEASANTS EATEM
THEY TASTE LIKE DIRT
TA TA
One reason I love Seattle - whatever is in season is on the menu! All these beet dishes sound wonderful...but I think mine are the best ;)
BEETS ARE ALWAYS IN SEASON
THEY GROW IN DIRT + COST PENNIES
POOR FOLK AND ANIMALS EAT THEM
TA TA
What did the carrot say to the wheat?
Lettuce rest, I'm feeling beet.