Olympia Provisions

It is no secret the restaurant formerly known as Olympic Provisions—the restaurant agreed to rename after some unfortunate trademark business courtesy of the money-grubbing Olympics committee—has the best cured meats in the Pacific Northwest. Elias Cairo's long-celebrated salumeria has been producing some of the most sublime saucisson, mortadella and chorizo this side of the Atlantic since 2009.

Photo: Lauren Kinkade Photo: Lauren Kinkade

What you may not know is that Cairo and company incorporate their handcrafted meats and homemade pickles into damn good brunches, lunches and dinners in two locations: a cozy bistro in the shadow of the Fremont Bridge in Northwest and a converted commercial building in industrial Southeast. Despite three handpicked European cheeses, a two-by-four-size charcuterie board (available in three regional varieties), and a hoagie roll piled high with buttery capicola and pepperoncini, I still felt remarkably light in the step. The chocolate pot de crème with honey-roasted peanuts and soft peanut butter cookies should've landed like a cinderblock, but it was as light as a feather.

Photo: Lauren Kinkade Photo: Lauren Kinkade

Pro tip: Olympia Provisions is one of the only American providers of several obscure, regional European sausages that are pretty much impossible to find outside of their homelands. If you see a salami you've never heard of, get one to go and impress your friends with your impeccable taste in obscure sausage.

GO: 107 SE Washington St., 954-3663; 1632 NW Thurman St., 894-8136; olympicprovisions.com. 11 am-10 pm Monday-Friday, 10 am-10 pm Saturday-Sunday. $$.

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