Dining at Sixth and Pine

There are very few places I will gladly frequent several times a week, but Sixth and Pine is one I would happily return to on consecutive days (and I have). Sixth and Pine is the new concept cafe inside the Westside Pavillon's Nordstrom's department store which features a more complete restaurant experience, including a hostess, wine list, tablecloths, and daily specials.

Every table receives an inventive crudite of pickled vegetables.

The chicken noodle soup includes not only a comfort factor, but a delightfully robust and complex flavor.

The chicken "pot pie" is basically a creamy chicken soup with a rosemary biscuit. I found this less appealing than the chicken soup, but once you broke up the biscuit in the soup and added some salt and pepper, it was a fair version.

The best wedge salad I've ever had was here! I've actually ordered this at least three times as of this writing and every time it has been spectacular. The quality of the blue cheese, the sweet crunch of the candied pecans, and the perfectly ripe roma tomato wedges, make this a stellar salad. You might want to order extra salad dressing on the side because the portion is so big, you will probably want more. The picture is a HALF order, which came as a "side" to our entree!

On the regular menu the roast chicken is the ultimate comfort dish. This version had tender moist meat and crispy skin, seasoned with only salt and pepper; simplicity at its best! The grilled vegetables were perfectly done, and the portion was so big my friend only ate half and took the rest to go.

One of the daily specials is the flank steak, served with fries, a cilantro chimichurri sauce and horseradish sauce. We ordered it rare, and it came that way (always a plus for a piece of meat this thin). The fries were perfectly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Both sauces were complimentary to the meat and the meat was good enough to be eaten without any need for either sauce.

The fish and chips was less of a success, with a fairly thick batter and fish that smelled slightly "fishy".

The braised short rib daily special was a good effort, with marvelous jus and perfectly fried onion rings, but the meat was not as tender as it could have been. The sauteed spinach side, mashed potatoes, and the roasted carrots were all decent, but nothing stood out as exceptional.

The Prime Rib daily special was outstanding for the price of $10.95, with a wonderful au jus and creamy horseradish. It was also very impressive that the meat was as rare as ordered (difficult for many places to do with prime rib roasts). The only negative was the baked potato was not baked properly and the skin stuck to the potato, but that was a minor flaw compared to the quality of the meat.

The chocolate chip cookie sundae was as good as it looks. The cookie was tender and freshly made, the ice cream was a quality brand, and the whipped cream was fresh.

Wines from France, Argentina, and CA are all offered ranging from $7-$14 per glass and all the entrees range from $10-$16, so this is truly a quality find for the price. Everyone on the staff is professional and has a great attitude.

What more could you wish for except perhaps a bigger stomach so you could fit in more menu choices :)