Surprised to find his long-term plans unfurling during a global pandemic, Steinbrueck still sought to bridge the Seattle seafood restaurant gap between high-end and walkup-window. So I was introduced to that being the ‘best’ part at a young age.” Whenever we cooked crab, she’d always get the crab head and eat that with rice and chili vinegar. “It was always my grandma’s favorite part. Crab fat finds a home in Local Tide’s clam chowder as well as in specials, and he attributes his affinity for that to his grandmother, too. The red rice served with the black cod gets called “Grandma’s” because she came up with it after her doctor told her to cut back on white rice for her cholesterol level “I’ve been eating this particular mix for as long as I can remember,” Steinbrueck says. The shrimp toast comes from a recipe he found years ago in one of his mom’s Chinese cookbooks. “But I’d say it’s mostly because it’s stuff I like,” Steinbrueck notes.

His mother is Chinese Filipino, and he grew up with his maternal grandmother living with the family, too - hence some of the Asian flavors on the menu. LOCAL TIDE IS the work of owner/executive chef Victor Steinbrueck, who opened it in August 2020. Yet given the more exciting combinations to be found here, I wouldn’t again choose this restrained one. The weekends-only special crab roll, the menu’s price outlier at $30, gets you lots of whole claw pieces of fresh, splendid local Dungeness, nice-and-lightly dressed with crab-fat mayo and nestled atop a creditably cushy toasted bun. Somewhat surprisingly, the Dover sole that works so well in Local Tide’s nostalgia-inducing sandwich didn’t make for great fish and chips - the fillets were too thin, turning the pieces of fish into an exercise of the coating’s crispiness with not enough flesh for the center to hold, and some oversalting to boot. (The shrimp is the one type of seafood on the Local Tide menu that isn’t locally sourced.) A cabbage slaw with cute black sesame seeds and sesame vinaigrette feels like a kindness here, not an afterthought. Wow is right - there’s juicy nuance, forceful salt and nearly too much butteriness, with a sweet mayo and rather serious house chili oil for dipping, in case too much is never enough. This rendition of the dim sum favorite of chopped shrimp mixture topping golden-fried bread triangles also utilizes pork in the form of lard, and if that’s what causes its unparalleled savory glory, all hail the pig. “This is delicious!” the other responded with unadulterated joy.

“Wow,” one half of a couple devouring Local Tide’s shrimp toast uttered slowly on another occasion.

Yes, it costs a lot more than some, and it requires many, many napkins yes, it is worth it. This, I’m just going to say, is one of the best banh mis in the city. Contains Pork.” The rockfish sausage is where the pork happens, creating a surf-and-turf umami joined by the nuoc cham and the mayo augmented by Vietnam favorite Maggi seasoning, with everything else a festival of flavors and textures spilling out of an ideal baguette. The rockfish, on the other very messy hand, is a riotous delight of a take on the Vietnamese treasure, claiming as its ingredients “Rockfish Sausage Patty, Cucumber, Pickled Daikon & Carrot, Purple Cabbage, Fresno Chilis, Herbs, Nuoc Cham, Maggi’s House Kewpie, Baguette. But dining in gets you the best view of Local Tide’s above-and-beyond presentations, maybe A Tribe Called Quest soundtrack and the very happy vibe of the bustling, sleek, high-ceilinged space. Local Tide’s generous fish sandwiches are $16-$18.) It’s unprecious enough to order ahead online and take on a walk a few blocks to the banks of the Ship Canal, for an only-in-Seattle, unbelievably lovely urban waterside picnic. (For context, consider the now-commonplace $40-plus high-end fish entree, then the fact that an Ivar’s four-piece costs $14.49. Moreover, it comes at prices that feel extremely affordable. Local Tide serves locally sourced seafood - much out of Westport, Wash., and Oregon, but ranging from Northern California to Alaska - prepared with global flavors in wildly tasty ways. Carmelo’s Tacos is a delicious Mexican American success story.Seattle’s most expensive pie costs $55 - can it possibly be worth it?.Here’s your new favorite asparagus recipe.More from Seattle Times food critic B.J.C.

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