Alderwood Meals: Elemental Pizza and BittyFish Sushi

For years, malls were shopping destinations that drew people from all over who would stay for hours, but their popularity slowly waned, with online shopping delivering a near-fatal blow. Faced with the option to evolve or remain empty, many malls reconfigured, bringing people in by moving rows of stores and restaurants to the perimeter, facing out. The huge fashion fortress is a relic and in its place, we get natural light and food options you can get to without having to make your way through the mall.

Long-time business partners and restaurateurs George Christothoulou and Steve Rosen are bringing their creative and successful restaurant Elemental Pizza to Alderwood's North end, where this updated mall concept is embraced. Appropriately, they're bucking current restaurant trends by opening a larger one in a time when smaller dining rooms are popular due to their availability and lower rents.

Christothoulou and Rosen also wanted to create their own style of pizza instead of joining the New York and Vera pizza trends. They wanted something firmer than New York to stand up to interesting toppings which can't be offered on a pizza and still called Vera, which is also served wetter than they like. With dough made from yeast-fermented for three days plus unique and high-quality ingredients, the Elemental pizza emerges from their blistering hot woodfire ovens crispy, chewy, and deliciously charred.

Maybe it's been a while since you went to the mall. Round out your next visit with a meal at BittyFish or Elemental Pizza and you may not wait as long before going again.

Customers can order from the specialty menu or get creative and build their own from the expected as well as unusual sauce, cheese, and toppings options. Elemental thrives on customer interaction and feedback, and they pay attention to what people order, so your creation could end up on the specialty menu one day.

Had pizza too many visits in a row? They also serve sandwiches, salads, pasta, and appetizers. Plus there's a kids' menu with a little of everything. Groups with no children will be able to choose seating in the lounge, which will surely be a hit among residents of the new residential buildings going up across the street. You read that correctly, Alderwood Mall is getting hundreds of apartments, bringing a completely new style of urban living to this changing area. There's already a Costco and the new Home Depot is nearly open.

Elemental Pizza's opening soon, but even with no target date set yet, you're safe to stop by because Christothoulou and Rosen already have another restaurant open next door, BittyFish Sushi. It's a bright, family-friendly restaurant where you can quickly assemble a meal from small plates off their conveyor belt and an impressive selection of larger rolls and kitchen creations made to order. Unlike most restaurants with a conveyor belt, all the plates from theirs are one price ($3.50) and tracked with RFID technology so any which aren't eaten in a reasonable amount of time are removed.

But don't limit yourself to the belt at BittyFish, there's more to explore on the menu that's also reasonably-priced, and attentive servers stop by frequently in case you'd like something from it. They can even bring dessert, plus specialty cocktails made by a sophisticated machine hidden in the back. Whether you're grabbing a quick bite before a movie, catching up with friends, or fueling up for another hour of trying on clothes, you'll love BittyFish's fresh flavors and high-quality ingredients.

Maybe it's been a while since you went to the mall. Round out your next visit with a meal at BittyFish or Elemental Pizza and you may not wait as long before going again.