Food & Drink

Happiest Hour

Bisato

by Marti Jonjak

Kelly O

SCOTT CARSBERG and his orange confit with chocolate caramel mousse.

Description: Local celebrity chef and James Beard Award–winner Scott Carsberg brings us Bisato, an upscale lounge and Venetian-small-plates emporium. It's a spin-off of Scott's previous four-star restaurant Lampreia, which sat in the same spot. Lampreia refers to lamprey, and in Venetian dialect, "bisato" means eel. (Eels are so happily welcomed in Italy. They're the traditional main course for Christmas dinner, and the A Gara del Bisato game is like bobbing for apples, but with eels.)

Scene: Bisato occupies a ground-floor condominium retail space in Belltown, and the look inside is what you'd expect—spiffy but indistinct, recalling lobbies of expensive hotels. The service is tidy, and there are no televisions; the open kitchen serves as much better entertainment. On a Friday night, nearby conversations are all business: "Now they have a face to go with the transaction." If you're wanting to get feisty—eat some pills, maybe wrestle a stranger—go somewhere else.

Happy hours: Daily 5–7 pm.

Happy-hour drink specials: A $5 list of select cocktails (the Adagio has rye whiskey, Orchard Apricot and Averna liqueurs, orange twist), wine (Vignalta, Primosic, more), beer (Bitburger German pilsner or Menabrea Italian lager), and wells.

Happy-hour food specials: None, but the regular menu is more affordable than you'd think: $8.50 marinated sardines with shaved fennel, $9 gnocchi with barolo sauce, seared lamb chops for $5.75 each. The New York Times made a big deal out of Carsberg's $6.50 orange confit with chocolate caramel mousse dessert—you should, too.