Parade magazine makes 13 Coins the king of Cobbs

A one-sentence salute in Parade Magazine has turned Seattle?s two 13 Coins restaurants into national epicenters for the hearty but humble Cobb salad.

Parade, a supplement distributed in Sunday newspapers including the Seattle Times, touted 13 Coins for its version of the venerable dish.

?Today there are a million variations, but you won?t find a better, fresher traditional version than the one served at the fine old 24/7/365 restaurant 13 Coins in Seattle,? said a May 28 article titled ?The Stories behind 12 All-American Foods.?

Employees at the 13 Coins say Parade discovered their Cobb without any help from them. Now plenty of folks want to know more about it.

?We?re getting lots of requests for recipes from around the country,? said Julie Dobbs, human resources and operations director.

The Cobb is believed to date back to Los Angeles in the late 1930s, its creation credited to Brown Derby owner Bob Cobb and his friend Sid Grauman (he of LA?s famed Chinese Theater). According to legend, they were hungry one night and assembled a meal from what was in Cobb?s refrigerator ? turkey, ham, avocado, tomato, hard-boiled egg, bacon and lettuce.

The 13 Coins version has those ingredients presented in what has become traditional fashion ? arranged in separate but touching piles on an oval ?racetrack? plate with a creamy vinaigrette. It?s a hefty mound of food that sells as an entr?e for $16.99.

The Seattle restaurant (on Boren Avenue North, just off Denny Way) opened in 1960 and has been serving its Cobb the same way for as long as staff can remember. A newer 13 Coins in SeaTac follows suit.

?I think ours is definitely more impressive than the photo of the one they (Parade) used,? said Ruby Nakao, general manager at the SeaTac restaurant.

Dobbs declined to give any details or proportions. ?We?re not going to give out the recipe,? she said flatly.

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