Dimitriou's Jazz Alley (Seattle)

No combination is better than gourmet cuisine and music. I've always fantasized having a great meal, whilst listening to live music. In reality, unfortunately, just as a combo of a fancy restaurant and a nice view does not quite add up to quality food (Fraiche being one of a few exceptions), music bars tend to have just mediocre food with good or bad music. I've been to several restaurants with live music, such as The Cellar (a Jazz bar), Kino Cafe (flamenco shows) and Chai-East is East (Middle Eastern music performances), none of them serves food that exceeds my expectations.

I spent last Saturday night at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, a renowned Jazz bar in downtown Seattle, hoping to experience something different from the ones that I've been to in Vancouver. It falls into the cliche music bar category - ordinary yet extremely overpriced Pacific Northwest seafood. As I stepped into the restaurant, its reputation spoke for itself - two-storey restaurants completely packed with people, at least 100 diners according to my estimation. Without a reservation a week ahead of time, I doubt you'd be able to find vacancy on a weekend like this.

After seated, my server, a lovely lady, showed up immediately with a wine menu and a dinner menu. I ordered a glass of Italian Pinot grigio to start off my meal, followed by Steamed Manila Clams with pancetta and leek as my appetizer and that night's special crab ravioli as my main.
The band presenting that night was Stanley Clarke band featuring Hiromi, an amazing female Japanese pianist.

Dishes came to my table fairly quickly, and the time gap in between two courses was just the right amount - long enough for savouring my last bite, yet not too long to bore off my appetite. Steamed clams were nice but not great, and the ravioli was nothing out of brilliance, even a bit too salty for my liking. What upset me was the portion and the price - three pieces of ravioli cost big, fat 30 dollars. For that price, they certainly did not taste like something worth $30. I passed on dessert and ordered another glass of local Syrah.

To my delight, both wines tasted deliciously, especially the Pinot Grigio, which partnered perfectly with clams. And glasses were filled 3/4 full ! Service was friendly and adequate. Music was fantastic, one of the best Jazz performances I've ever seen. Overall, everything about the restaurant was great except for their food.

That being said, I find it unfair to apply the same criteria of judgement to live music restaurants and regular restaurants, as people go there for the music, not solely for the cuisine. I guess it could be a good thing to have lower quality of the food, so not to steal the thunder from the show. The most economical way is to have dinner somewhere else and just order drinks during the show.