Editor's Favorites: Whitney Ricketts

2238 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102 (map)

I'm drawn to bright colors, loud people and good food. Sitka is home to all three: lime green walls, communal tables full of friendly diners and a ricotta gnudi that melts in the mouth. No longer a hole-in-the-wall thanks to hunky owner Matt Dillon, this tiny Eastlake restaurant is overrun with diners. Get there super early or super late and bask in the glow of the best farm-to-table food Seattle's scene has to offer.

1117 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 (map)

You know you go to a restaurant too often when the chef walks out of his office, spots you in your "working corner," and yells "Happy new menu day!" when the summer menu is replaced by the fall one. Cafe Presse is my second home for three very solid reasons: cheap wine, a $4 salad and chef Jim Drohman's glasses. They remind me of my grandfather--if my grandfather was Ben Gibbard from the future.

332 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98103 (map)

There is comfort in the familiar. Smith is your grandfather's living room, your winter cabin, your childhood home on Thanksgiving Day; club queen Linda Derschang--proprietor of Linda's, Viceroy, King's Hardware and Smith--is that good. Adorned with taxidermy and salvaged benches, Smith has a homey rustic feel perfect for its menu of comfort food. I always run into at least three people I know here, all while enjoying bites like salted cod fritters and a can of PBR.

4437 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116 (map)

West Seattle has been my personal revelation this year. A neighborhood I used to jokingly call "the faraway western borough" is now one of my most frequented culinary havens in the city. Spring Hill is the cherry on top of the West Seattle Bridge, serving up sweetbreads with three dipping sauces, pork belly and a perfectly grilled halibut. It's fancy food done simply. The space itself borders on sterile, but the excellent service warms up the straight edges.

1600 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98122 (map)

Confession: I didn't own any cutlery until two days ago when I stocked up on $2 butcher?s knives at IKEA. That should give you an idea of how often I cook at home. However, the last time I was enticed by the pictures in a cookbook, which always seem to motivate me to make overly ambitious dishes, I stocked up at Madison Market. Mad Market is a co-op, which doubles as motivation for going there more often; members pay an annual fee and get a discount on certain days.

3518 Fremont Pl N, Seattle, WA 98103 (map)

In the center of the Fremont universe is this aptly named housewares store. Featuring every type of junk you would ever need, and priced affordably, this is a home shopper?s haven. I stock up on the same things I buy over and over at home stores: vintage mirrors, campy (or tacky?) prints, ironic mugs and costume jewelry. Having a personal favorite junk store is the key to a happily furnished existence.

251 Yale Ave N. , Seattle, WA 98109 (map)

Plates with unicorns? Check. Enough Tord Boontje to fill every house in Finland? Check. At Velocity in Belltown, and now also in South Lake Union, find something for everyone's inner yupster. From embracing salt and pepper shakers to tiger prints from Brooklyn artists' collectives, Velocity's the place to Park Slope-ify your life.

6315 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115 (map)

Derby shirks the foofy salon mold and has instead created an environment of kitschy comfort. Added bonus: happy hour brow waxing. Because sometimes I just want a glass of red wine and someone else to do my eyebrows.