All-consuming

Bainbridge Island: Hitchcock

2011-07-11T07:00:00.002-05:00

Part of the magic of Hitchcock is taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island on a sunny summer evenings. I'm also a sucker for any place that lets you name a price and produces a corresponding tasting menu. We specified $50 each and received the following. Go here, and go now.

Oysters, with hibiscus flower gelee and citrus granite.

Cured anchovy on baguette.

Asparagus.

Mussels with chorizo.

Grilled hanger steak with fiddleheads.

Salad with sheep's milk cheese.

Profiterole.

Hitchcock
133 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge
www.hitchcockrestaurant.com

Lummi Island: The Willows Inn

2011-05-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

I apologize for the silence around here of late. I've had a busy couple weeks, and I'm still evaluating what role this site will play moving forward. I started writing here years ago, when I was stuck in a job I hated and needed a creative outlet. I feel very fortunate that I'm able to obsess about restaurants for a living these days. Hence I might limit these write-ups to truly momentous meals. And without a doubt, Seth's and my dinner up at Willows Inn on tiny Lummi island was momentous.

Dinner here qualifies more as an experience than a meal, a function of eating elegant, earthy food in a setting whose enjoyment requires a two-hour drive and six minutes on a tiny ferry. As the oft-repeated story goes, chef Blaine Wetzel left the kitchen of a little restaurant called Noma in Copenhagen, to head the kitchen at Willows. Wetzel, who is still young enough to encounter difficulty at most rental car counters, now has farmers and yes, reportedly even an urchin diver, working for him.

But if this same food were served in a sleek industrial setting, much of the magic would be lost. There's something about bunking down in an Anne of Green Gables-style bedroom under the eaves, or going for a walk and seeing Willows kitchen staff returning from the beach across the roadway with some seaweed for that night's dinner, that makes Willows feel otherworldly.

Our Sunday visit also happened to be a rare day of sun and jacket-free temperatures in an otherwise gray and soggy string of weeks. The dining room looks out on Puget Sound, dotted with islands and perhaps even a distant view of Canadian territory. Sitting there in the setting sun truly feels like being at the most outer edge of the country. That remoteness comes through on the plate as well.

A five-course dinner is $85, a remarkable value considering the parade of amuses that arrived before dinner technically began. The first thing we encountered upon sitting down was a cedar box containing an offering of two smoked salmon cubes, glowing like jewels and emitting a wisp of cedar-scented smoke from the wood chips below.

Next up some black cod atop a tiny nest of homemade sauerkraut. This is served on--let's just call it what it is--a housemade potato chip.

The next amuse is one of the more eye-catching things I've eaten of late. If almost any other restaurant in the world concocted this play on dirt and radishes on top of an actual stone, the result would be laughably cheesy.

But here, the crunchy little radishes popping out of a crumbly pile of hazelnut "dirt" and an emulsion of herbaceous angelica felt just right. We dragged our radishes through the hazelnut-dirt and the composition turned into a bit of a crudite plate.

When we arrived at Willows I didn't exactly know what to expect, except for some hyperlocal food and an experience that was a Very Big Deal. Starting dinner with a few playful plates helped me settle in and relax.

The next amuse was also visually stunning, an herb toast with brown butter, a splash of vinegar, and a carpeting of vividly colored wildflowers picked on the island

Next up, two Penn Cove oysters tarted up with pickled sauerkraut juice, as well as fresh sorrel and smooth tapioca pearls. The oysters were served on a bed of frozen rocks from the beach.

For our sixth and final amuse, a dish that could be a poster child for Northwest ingredients, Dungeness crab caught by members of the Lummi tribe with locally harvested seaweed and sea beans, a combination that seemed almost Japanese in character.

Only after this cavalcade did dinner venture onto the actual printed menu. And the first official course was one of the evening's most memorable, though you may not think so to look at the picture.

A sloppy disk of fresh cheese, a simple mixture of rennet and fresh milk churned up daily, is surrounded with stinging nettles and assorted "spring shoots" that include pickled fiddleheads and some tiny fronds of piney greens.

The cloud of mussel froth capping our next plate concealed some cabbage and two beautifully interlocking spot prawns, a local delicacy.

Next up, a comforting plate of russet potatoes from Nettles Farm, the restaurant's dedicated farm just a 10 minute walk up the hill. A liberal coating of havarti made these delicate potatoes seem rugged and hearty, along with some flavoring of buttermilk and whey.

From here, things got meaty. The juicy roasted pork shoulder entree was ringed with several kinds of grilled onions, as well as a green onion puree. Onions are so often an anonymous flavoring component; it's a nice change of pace to enjoy them as a focal point.

Dessert arrived in the form of a dubious combination of green apples, buttermilk and licorice. The green apple sorbet was flavorful enough to stand on its own, but the buttermilk foam and translucent discs of licorice root added up to a dessert I would welcome in a four-star fine dining room. .

One thing you'll notice instantly about Willows--the clientele isn't what you'd expect for a destination with such culinary credentials. Many of the patrons are older, European and not at all sceney. There are lots and lots of sensible sandals in the dining room. Sitting outside the downstairs cafe before dinner, we heard a server tell a nearby table that the dining room is booked through August.

We stayed at The Willows on a Sunday night, part of an off-season special that runs 'til Memorial Day. The $65 wine pairings flowed liberally throughout our dinner, and catching that 7 a.m. ferry back the next morning to face a new workweek was rather brutal. But I'd do it again this very minute if I could. Getting up to Lummi is a bit of a commitment, but we are so fortunate to have this sort of experience within a few hours' drive. Willows has already had its share of New York Times attention, and Frank Bruni was up a few weeks ago, meaning the ripples of buzz will only continue to grow. So go now.

The Willows Inn
2579 W. Shore Drive, Lummi Island
www.willows-inn.com

Seattle: Cascina Spinasse

2011-04-15T07:00:00.004-05:00

Back in early March, Seth and I had a little money set aside and a desire to do something celebratory. I called Cascina Spinasse and the very patient man on the other end of the line paged through their reservations until he hit upon a Saturday where the chef's counter wasn't booked. And so this past Saturday, our date with the chef's counter finally arrived.

Spinasse has hovered at or near the top of my to-eat list since arriving here, right around the time Chef Jason Stratton was announced as one of the Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2010. While the regular menu of pasta and Piedmontese fare is tempting, sitting at the chef's counter (which, methinks, is also used for pasta prep) means submitting yourself to the whims of Stratton, sous chef Carrie Mashaney, and the rest of the kitchen. The series of 10 small plates that come your way is a mix of items from the regular menu and off-menu bites.

For a food nerd like me, being served by the chef is an enormously cool thing. I was torn between the million stupid questions I wanted to ask, and my awareness that Stratton's pretty damn busy running a kitchen and a dining room, and doesn't exactly have hours of spare time to chat.

The first thing I noticed when we sat down--no chef coats on this crew. I'm curious how they keep their clothes from getting utterly wrecked.

A few observations from our dinner (besides the fact that it was fucking awesome)...first, our little plates were nicely composed. Each bite was wonderful, but take an extra second to gather up each and every component onto your fork and great dishes get even better. Second, we had a number of plates featuring oily fish, prepared in a way that made flavors pop and totally eradicated the fishiness (which goes back to the balance and composition, I guess).

Case in point, our amuse. It's nothing complicated, just a crostini topped with a small sliver of anchovy and a generous--very generous--spreading of butter. But the combination of rich butter and that bit of tart, salty fish was a surprise...a good surprise. Even Seth, an avowed skeptic of anchovies and their ilk, enjoyed this mightily.

I, uh, was so excited about the goat cheese crespelle that arrived next that I dove into it with nary a thought of taking a picture. Whoops. And I hadn't even begun drinking yet.

Next up a beautiful plate of prosciutto, with slivers of Braeburn apple.

One of my favorite plates of the night paired two items that I love--cauliflower and geoduck, sliced thin. Both roasted and raw cauliflower share the plate, leaving you with the roasted flavor and the satisfying crunch of a raw vegetable.

I've had a series of unfortunate sardine dishes in recent months. I'm all for fishy, but not to the point where it kicks the ass of whatever lovely, delicate flavors are layered on top. Breaking my streak of bad luck was this sardine in carpione, fried then marinated in white wine and vinegar.

Next in the parade of superb oily fish dishes, a bagna cauda flan with sunchoke puree.

This is what bagna cauda should be--tangy and subtle, a nice match with the smooth, creamy texture.

A grilled spring onion with fonduta came with a thumb-sized pitcher of hazlenut oil, good for drizzling over the top or just sniffing all on its own because it was so fragrant.

Seth finished his dish and made a quick visit to the restroom, instructing me under penalty of divorce or death to hold on to his plate, which had just a bit of fonduta left, so he could return and polish it off with bread. But not too much bread--we still had plenty of plates ahead.

Next up, a seared foie gras over chickpeas and...tripe? It's a mix of highbrow and lowbrow, says Stratton. Connecting the two was a domino-sized slice of 24-month aged parmesan.

Earlier in the meal, a man took the remaining seat next to me. I gathered he was a bit of a regular (lucky bastard) and he seemed to strike up a conversation with some other people sitting at the bar. At this point I was fairly focused on my meal, but after his dish arrived I couldn't help but overhear him inform is new friends that "this is fucking amazing."

He was eating the tajarin.

Our chef's counter version comes peppered with bits of local black truffle, a delicate (and traditionally appropriate) flavor for a delicate yolk-rich Piedmontese pasta. I can't even fathom the process of making a noodle so fine by hand.

Finally, the pasta part of the evening has kicked in. The dainty tajarin was followed by two good-sized ravioli, filled with rapini and sprinkled with pine nuts and marjoram.

The bright, bitter rapini was another reminder that spring is here, and we are finally past all those months of root vegetables.

Our final pasta course was agnolotti dal plin. Typically made with a mixture of meats (like pork, rabbit and veal) the "pinched" agnolotti at Spinasse instead draws from three different parts of the pig--legs, snout and kidney.

And my god the pasta was impossibly tiny. How can something so delicate taste so rich? At this point I was pushing my stomach's outer limits, but there was no way I wasn't finishing these.

Stratton was kind enough to introduce us to a favorite on the Spinasse menu, the rabbit meatball wrapped in caul fat. It may have ruined me for other meatballs, and the accompanying farro porridge was lovely as well.

Again, in my eagerness to dive into the duck with beans and tiny brunoised citrus, I didn't even think to use my camera. But I enjoyed it mightily, both that night and the next morning when I cracked open my dainty box of leftovers.

Aaaand dessert. Home stretch. I was full. I was a little drunk. I certainly wasn't passing these up.

Sweet cheese almighty...

At $100 a person, the chef's counter, sadly, won't be a regular thing for us. Though the additional elbow room it afforded was a luxury unto itself. Looking back on our meal the next day, I had a tough time finding any negatives to carp on.

I throttled back on the wine consumption that night (no need for repeat of Mistral Kitchen, after all) but after four-plus hours of eating and drinking, Seth and I emerged back out onto the streets of Capitol Hill all glowy and giddy. Which is, I suppose, the real reason you spend the money for dinners like these.

Cascina Spinasse
1531 14th Ave.
www.spinasse.com

Seattle: Brave Horse Tavern

2011-04-08T12:00:00.000-05:00

This certainly isn't a review and it's not even really a writeup. It's just a picture of a pretzel, and a damn good one at that. Brave Horse Tavern, part of Tom Douglas's trio of new restaurants on Amazon's South Lake Union campus, opened at 4 p.m. yesterday. I walked in the door at 3:59, figuring I'd try the pretzels I'd been hearing about before heading down the street for a meeting.

They are the size of a bagel, boiled then baked in a brick oven, brown and firm on the outside but softly spongy when you pull them apart. A slight coating of slick clings to each one; one napkin simply won't be enough to ride herd on everything.

A single pretzel runs you $4, and you can apply your choice of mustard (apple-honey, spicy and one made with Stone Brewing's smoked porter), or pony up for some dip and topping action. C'mon guys--no fancy molten cheese dip?

By far the best option is the trio of spreads--cheddar-pimento spread; sour cream and crispy onion and an intriguing smoky peanut butter and bacon--for $8. Sampling the dips is fun, and most effective when you heap them on bits of pretzel with your fork. This bevy of dips means you'll want to spring for a second pretzel.The rest of the food menu is meaty, but heavy on the snack-ish, small plates.

I tend to be wary of slick beer joints. I associate good beer with surly characters and tap rooms that pull off that industrial vibe without any help from an interior designer. But I give major props to the beer list, which includes some favorites like Chuckanut's Vienna lager and Elliott Bay Brewing Co.'s B-Town Brown.

The house ale bills itself simply as a pale, but I'd say it ventures into IPA territory. Douglas beer czar Warren Peterson developed it with Schooner Exact; the result is hop-forward, but light and obviously made to pair well with food. I don't usually care for IPAs but this one is easy drinkin'. The bar has cider on tap, as well as wine. I am, however, highly skeptical of the Irish car bomb on the drink menu, made with Bailey's ice cream, stout and a Jameson jello shot.

The interior (sorry I didn't take pics) reminds me a bit of the Olive Way Starbucks--a studied effort to look rough-hewn, but absolutely beautiful nonetheless. This place will be reliably packed with Amazon employees from lunchtime 'til close and I can't wait to return with Seth and get after some of the entrees. And more drinks, of course.

My server told me Ting Momo, the Tibetan dumpling spot that rounds out the building, will open "within the next month," making me think it's not exactly the any-day-now scenario I'd envisioned.

Brave Horse Tavern
www.bravehorsetavern.com
310 Terry Ave. N

Seattle: Pike Street Fish Fry

2011-04-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

Recently I wrote about Seth's and my Seattleversary at Dahlia Lounge. However we could have just as easily sought our quintessential Seattle dining experience at Pike Street Fish Fry and saved ourselves about $90 in the process.

This tiny walk-up tucked away between Neumos and Moe Bar is as committed to local, sustainable sourcing as any upscale restaurant. And, like Dahlia, it offers a classically Seattle ambiance, albeit a grittier one more in line with what Singles was trying to recreate back in the 90s. Pike Street even gets some of its seafood from Mutual Fish, which has had a close relationship with Tom Douglas's restaurants for years.

More importantly, each time I go to Pike Street Fish Fry, I walk out positively giddy (also full...very, very full). We live just a few blocks away and I waited nearly a year to go. I almost didn't want to know that this sizzling font of fried delights exists so close to my house.

Pike Street made a splash when it opened in 2008 with the idea of giving the fish-and-chips treatment to high-quality seafood, serving only what's in season and largely broken down in-house. You don't hear much about it these days, and as I understand things have changed a bit. The menu has contracted some and the beloved batter-fried lemon slices are nowhere to be found, and the guys at the counter looked at me blankly when I asked whether Michael Hebb, Portland restaurateur-turned-One Pot impresario, is still involved.

But that doesn't mean the counter and its handful of stools isn't reliably jammed come lunchtime and nighttime. And yet the kitchen still feels like a hole-in-the-wall secret, with its low wood-slatted ceiling and the shaggy, skinny guys working the grill in their faded T-shirts. Most seafood options cost $8 or $10, and come on a bed of fries. Ask the guys what's good, and expect some favorites to run out before close.

As another nod to the fish-and-chips tradition, orders come nestled in cut-up bits of The Stranger, or papers from its neighbor/sibling Caffe Vita.

I've yet to eat anything with a fry job that's less than impeccable. I've had fish and chips a few times in the UK, where pieces of fish are generally much larger, making for a soggier half-life after the fryer. Here at Pike Street the fry guys pull off a coating so crisp and substantial it can stand up by itself.

However they also know when to get out of the way, and let fist-sized calamari steal the show.

Coated though they are, the fish's characteristics still shine through, whether it's delicate rockfish or a hearty catfish. However if you're not in an oceanic mood, the pulled pork sandwich is so well-executed it could probably sustain a shop--or at least a food truck--all on its own.

The pork is lightly dressed with sauce, and the crunchy purple cabbage slaw and vivid salsa verde liven things up visually and on the palate. The Macrina bun is also a thing of beauty, sporting the world's most perfect and photogenic toast job.

But it's the fish tacos that I remember, that I adore, and that I want to eat this very minute. Ling cod gets that flawless fry job before settling in to a griddled tortilla, framed by that same cabbage and salsa verde and a creamy sauce with just the right bit of kick.

At $3 apiece, they are also a relative bargain for the quality of what you're getting.

Also, is that a Simpsons reference I see?

As for the fries, the other half of the fish-and-chip equation, I wish they were a bit crisper. But they're the perfect finger-width, with bits of potato skin still clinging to the ends. I always promise myself I won't finish them, a feat of willpower that has yet to actually happen.

This address has a history with fries, previously housing Belgian fry shop Frites. If only Pike Street Fish Fry offered that same staggering list of dipping sauces; patrons here have just a few to choose from. I admit, I'm a condiment purist, so the curry ketchup wasn't my thing. The aioli was totally overpowered by lemon flavor, crowding out the garlic and making the smoky chili mayo is my favorite thus far. The tartar sauce is solid and ketchup and vinegar bottles dot the counter for my fellow purists.

You're not getting any vegetables here, or if you do, they'll be battered and fried asparagus, green beans or similar.

As far as authentic Seattle dining experiences go, this one is a little rougher and rowdier than that idealized Pike Place Market version. But that mash-up of indie rock, thoughtful seafood and a decidedly downscale setting beats the pants off watching people throw fish around.

Pike Street Fish Fry
925 E Pike
www.pikestreetfishfry.net

Seattle: Dahlia Lounge

2011-03-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

Seth and I ended up celebrating our one-year Seattleversary at Dahlia Lounge largely out of necessity, but it turned out to be the perfect place to ruminate on our first year in the city and Seattle's dining heritage in general.

We had other plans: the lounge at Canlis; Joule; perhaps Matt's in the Market. But life got in the way. Seth began the day with a 6 a.m. flight to San Diego for work, and didn't touch down in Seattle until 10 p.m. that same night. The mainstays of the Tom Douglas empire are part of a handful of suitable restaurants that stay open late.

Dahlia Lounge was the obvious choice among his restaurants because it's the one that started it all. In fact, the first thing I ate when Seth and I came up here for our house-hunting trip was a salami sandwich next door at Dahlia bakery.

In a December 8 1989 Seattle Times piece, Dahlia had been open just a few weeks (see, even then food writers were jumping the gun on the formal reviews) when John Hintenberger wrote that the place had "an innovative menu too uncommon to ignore, and an expertise too exquisite to require further maturation or evaluation."

He concluded, "I expect it to prosper for years to come."

At the time, this idea of Asian and European food traditions reimagined with local ingredients helped establish culinary bona fides for both Douglas and Seattle. I can see how Dahlia felt exciting...exotic...eclectic in the days before we all started caring about seasonality and making stir fry at home.

When I think of Tom Douglas, I think of his ever-growing brand and the Seattle food personality he has become. I've had his pizza, his breakfast sandwiches, some items at Seatown Snack Bar and the small plates the Palace Ballroom serves for events. But Dahlia, though its menu has evolved over the years, is a window into how this much-loved Seattle icon made a name for himself as a chef.

Dahlia seems to have survived on a mix of some updated fare and a roster of tried-and-true crowdpleasers, like the coconut cream pie, bread salad, lobster potstickers and Douglas's crab cakes. The menu might seem a bit tired to trend-seekers and food snobs (ok, yes I'm a food snob), but at this point it's fair to consider it Pacific Northwest comfort food.

On first glance the cocktail list had a discouraging amount of fruity middle aged lady drinks, but Seth's martini was made from a pleasantly floral Crater Lake Vodka from a small-batch distillery in Bend.

By far the highlight of the evening was the sea bar sampler, a $24 array of bites that included cool kampachi with grapefruit, avocado and yuzu. It's a combo that's been done a zillion different ways, but it works and I'm partial to it. My favorite dish was the slices of scallop with the lightest bit of black bean chili sauce, peeking out from a mound of thinly sliced snap peas.

The peas added a nice crunch and a note of springtime and the light hand on the black bean sauce meant its heavier flavors didn't overwhelm the scallops.

The platter also included Dungeness crab with a slight heat from spicy kewpie mayo, and some albacore tuna with a Thai-inspired coconut and lime preparation. The rau ram sprinkled on this overwhelmed the other flavors; a finer chop on these highly herbal leaves would have helped.

The cold-smoked salmon with hot mustard and sesame has been on the menu in some incarnation for most of the restaurant's nearly 22-year history. It's essentially the finale of this plate after all the delicate seafood and won raves from Seth for its deep flavors. It's fish for the carnivore, and reminds me of the smoked salmon my stepdad would produce on a small back porch smoker growing up.

The duck noodle soup ($9) is another dish that I can imagine blowing people's minds in the days when pho shops were tough to find outside the International District. Pho hounds might find the five-spice broth a little thin, but all the flavors are there, and nicely balanced. The duck egg on top was perfectly poached.

I ended up having two starters in lieu of a main; my other choice being the ricotta tortoloni ($12), given the springtime treatment with green garlic, parmesan, mint and radish.

The dainty tortoloni, named for Douglas pasta maven Martha Francis, were beautiful and once again well-cooked. However the dish was way too oily, overwhelming the delicate green garlic. I yearned for some mushrooms, some wine in the broth--something to add more verve or pungency.

The kitchen does seem to work with precision; Seth's beef brisket ($25) was also marinated and cooked beautifully, though overly large chunks of yu choy and kimchee threw off an otherwise harmonious mushroom fried rice with bean sprouts and shards of honeycrisp apples.

I salute Dahlia Lounge as a touchstone of our culinary heritage, though I probably won't return for dinner. However this would be a great place to bring visiting parents with limited food bandwith; it's a safe and comfortable exploration of Pacific Northwest cuisine. The crowd of diners skewed older, and by the time we paid our check, the dining room was growing silent, rather than the energized hum that builds in the later hours of trendier establishments.

The key to Dahlia seems to be stopping in for dessert, particularly the doughnuts with jam and the triple coconut cream pie, another Dahlia original.

In some ways, Dahlia's food wouldn't seem so safe if it hadn't been so successful. The genre-bending seasonality Douglas adopted so early has now made its way into even the tamest restaurants and our home kitchens. But sitting in a comfortable booth, beneath the strings of lights as the glow from Dahlia's signature neon sign warded off the gloom of a rainy night, our meal felt like a perfect celebration of Seattle.

Dahlia Lounge
2001 4th Ave.
www.tomdouglas.com

Mill Creek: Frost Doughnuts

2011-03-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

A recent Saturday morning came together perfectly--a visit to see Matt and Malaika in Mill Creek was my long-awaited chance to sample the storied Frost Doughnuts.

It's kind of incredible that a doughnut shop in a shopping center of a somewhat far-flung suburb can attract so much acclaim among Seattle food nerds. This is in part because the owners have been quite savvy about social media since opening the store in 2009. There's also the fact that these doughnuts are incredible.

The menu touts that this place is "created by your neighbors in Mill Creek...not a chain or a franchise, but an original!" However the owners do have plans to open a second location somewhere within Seattle city limits.

The flavors change constantly and it's difficult to see the case until you reach the front of the (usually long) line. I felt some intense pressure when it came time to make my selections, but now I know to do my homework on Facebook before arriving--the day's flavors get posted each morning.

Just looking at the doughnuts and reading their descriptions can cause a sugar rush. The idea of a banana split fritter or a malted milk chocolate mousse bismarck was a little much to contemplate at 9 in the morning. However most of these doughnuts unquestionably live up to their accolades. The texture is light and cake-like; people who like their doughnuts dense and sticky might think them too dry. Unlike the waxy chocolate and vanilla flavors in doughnuts of my youth, the ingredients are genuine enough to pull off such elaborate flavors without making your stomach churn and your teeth ache.

Whipped cream and cream-based fillings are part of a handful of foods/ingredients that I just don't care for. So when I say that the cream-pouffed key lime and mocha supreme were a bit overwhelming, take my opinion with the proverbial grain of salt.

These days a doughnut shop is all but required to have some sort of bacon-maple variety on the menu. You can see Frost's bacon maple bars lurking in the lower shelf in the photo below.

This version rivals the marvels sold at Dynamo Donuts in San Francisco. Frost's bars are topped with loads more bacon, which tastes fresh, crunches nicely, and doesn't overgrease the doughnut.

Individual doughnut pics would have been overkill, plus it seemed cruel to keep three adults and one opinionated toddler waiting for doughnut gratification while I held some giant photo session. Some box shots will have to suffice.

The flavors we sampled included blueberry pancake; a marcona almond and tart cherry bismark; a banana split fritter; Butterfinger blast cake doughnut; and a chocolate caramel turtle cake doughnut. By far my favorite was the surprisingly restrained salted caramel, pictured in the center of this photo, though it could have used an extra sprinkle or two of the coarse salt.

Unquestionably the best way to visit Frost is to buy a dozen (or half-dozen) slice 'em up and pass them around to share.

The doughnuts are especially impressive considering Frost's owners had no formal baking or culinary experience before opening the shop. Owner Daniel Sterling told me the team consulted with some experts to learn the basics, then did a considerable amount of experimenting until they felt they had it right.

Service at Frost boasts more niceties than one would expect. Staff is incredibly patient and a box of books and crayons is on hand to entertain squealers. The man preparing my mint tea asked if I wanted an ice cube or two to cool down the scalding water (note: ice cubes are OK with tea; never with white wine) and put a little stopper in the top of the cup to spare me a hot splash of tea in the car.

No surprise--these elaborate doughnuts cost a little more than the sad supermarket varieties. Prices start at $0.99 for "classics" and go up to $1.69 for "evolved" varieties like red velvet and salted caramel. Frost is definitely worth the occasional trip out of town, and will surely be mobbed when it finally does open a Seattle location.

Frost Doughnuts
15421 Main Street, Suite 102, Mill Creek
www.frostology.com

Seattle: Sushi Kappo Tamura

2011-03-16T12:00:00.001-05:00

Come to Sushi Kappo Tamura and sit anywhere in the restaurant and you'll have an amazing meal of pristine sushi, memorable cooked plates or other Japanese fare.

But the experience I can't get out of my mind, the one that makes this a truly special place to eat and has you giddy as walk out the door and return to your car, is available at only a handful of seats at the bar of this sleek Eastlake spot.

Naree was up from Portland recently so I conspired with the reservationist on how to finagle a bar seat. Fortunately the dining gods were on our side that busy Saturday night; we walked in just as two bar seats opened up. And not just any seats--the two directly in front of where chef Taichi Kitamura reigns over the seafood case, and the restaurant in general.

Kitamura is ridiculously charming, mixing good-natured banter with tidbits about his wares that make it clear he takes his food very seriously. He's a dedicated sourcer of whatever is in season and looks good that week; follow him on Facebook and he'll provide updates on the hairy crabs just in from Hokkaido, or the yellowtail that looks especially good right now.

The naked geoduck or decadent tuna belly alone makes this place a destination. But I love that Sushi Kappo Tamura's ippins, or small plate menu, exhibits just as much care.

We began with some cold ippins. A blend of grilled king oyster and shimeji mushrooms on a bed of mizuna greens was dressed with yuzu juice and umadashi ($6).

Though dainty in size, the mushrooms packed some complex, earthy flavors that were a nice match with the faintly peppery greens. But, oh, the sesame almond dressing on the string bean salad ($6) paired layer upon layer of flavor with the satisfying crunch of a chilled bean.

From then on we put ourselves in Kitamura's capable hands, and were rewarded with a dizzying array of sashimi, including meaty octopus, maguro belly, hamachi, rich orange-hued sockeye and escolar from Kyushu so buttery and fatty you'd swear it was a distant relative of a porterhouse or pork belly.

It's rare to eat unadorned geoduck. These thin slices of the penile clam trunk were chewy in a way that's completely different from octopus or squid. I'm a fan of all things chewy; Naree took a few minutes to think about it, but we agreed the texture isn't off-putting. If anything it commands your attention more than its pliant sashimi companions.

Another rarity on the plate--the hollowed-out lime filled with shirako, or the sperm sacks of true cod. Garnished with some lime and tomato, these had a smooth, slippery texture like an oyster that yielded to an, um, creamy finish. Though slightly sweet in flavor, their richness is akin to a seafood version of sweetbreads. The true cod, Kitamura told us, would be unavailable as of the following week. I'm going to start a new paragraph before I go off on a tangent of gross and immature jokes.

Our next plate of uni and some grilled items was just something to snack on, he told us. The unagi comes in a sweet, dark sauce; Kitamura said he can't seem to stop adding seasoning to it.

After devouring all this, Naree and I put our heads together to discuss whether we were full, or had room for something else. That question was answered for us when a petrale sole arrived, heavy with eggs and flavorful in a yuzu soy marinade. Our previous plate was apparently merely a snack while we waited for this. Kitamura may have a bit of the Italian grandma in him.

Our bill for this whole adventure--about $150, including two drinks apiece.

A few weeks prior, Seth and I dined here with Amy and Justin, going the table route since we were a party of four. We told our server we wanted to spend approximately $50 apiece and let the kitchen call the shots. Wherever and however you eat at Sushi Kappo Tamura, it's wise to simply submit to the judgment of Kitamura and his kitchen. And again, the cooked items commanded as much admiration as the impeccable seafood.

The chawan mushi starter was a welcome surprise, especially to Justin, who developed an affinity while living in Japan.

As an amuse, especially on a cold and rainy night, this steamed egg custard punctuated with crab was incredibly pleasant.

Next we shared a plate of short ribs, easily rended apart with chopsticks, along with mushrooms and greens.

And tender duck breast shio-ni, simmered in a salt bath, flavored with yuzu and a sauce of scallions.

We all dove into a head and collar portion of ling cod from British Columbia, cooked aradaki, meaning simmered whole with some greens and starchy burdock root. Our chopsticks picked through every last delicious eyeball and firm piece of flesh clinging to the bones.

At last the sushi, featuring geoduck, scallop and flying fish roe.

The rolls and ngiri were stellar, but I still say your best bet here is a mix of ippins and sashimi.

Dinner concluded with individual petite chestnut creme brulees, which challenged my general dislike of desserts at Asian restaurants.

Sushi Kappo Tamura's dining room is sleek, understated and to me something of a surprise compared with the personality of the food. And make no mistake--dinner here isn't cheap. Those little $6 bites and sashimi plates add up mighty fast. If you are a picky eater, or like your rolls deep-fried and stuffed with shrimp, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese and Froot Loops, this place will undoubtedly piss you off.

However I confess I am fully enamored with Kitamura-san and his food. I also can't wait to get a cheaper fix over at Showa, the izakaya now open in Kitamura's former Chiso Kappo space in Fremont.

Sushi Kappo Tamura
2968 Eastlake Ave. E.
www.sushikappotamura.com

Seattle: Cuoco Preview Dinner

2011-03-14T07:00:00.004-05:00

I'm of two minds about writing up my evening at Tom Douglas's preview dinner for Cuoco, one of the three restaurants he has planned for the Terry Avenue building.

If it's unfair to judge a restaurant by its first few days, then it's colossally unjust to do so before it's even opened. Plus the purpose of this event is ostensibly for Team Douglas to get feedback on its menu and concept, so I can only assume the majority of courses are still works in progress.

That said, anyone who cares enough to read this blog should understand all that, and Douglas is far too savvy a businessman to put anything forward that's truly unfit for evaluation. So I aim to reflect the purpose of the evening--give interested would-be diners a peek into what Cuoco has in store. The Italian restaurant, by the way, is slated to open the week of April 4, with Tibetan spot Ting Momo and Brave Horse Tavern following one week later.

Upon arriving at the Palace Ballroom, a server was on hand to offer up a bite of 24-hour cured rosemary beef, sitting on top a crunchy well-oiled crouton. Douglas said he felt the crouton was too smoky, but most people at my table disagreed.

I figured the night would be a pleasant blend of chatting with friends and analyzing some items from the future menu. The reality was more like a seminar--Douglas narrated the entire event, discussing each course in depth, asking for audience, er, diner feedback and offering random tidbits about his staff, company history, and insights into opening a restaurant (he says restaurants that don't take reservations rake in twice the profits). At one point he even introducing us to the landlord at Terry Avenue...yikes. It seemed that the kitchen was in the weeds a bit, and the excessive loquaciousness was his attempt to keep the evening moving. I don't think this will happen at this week's Ting Momo and Brave Horse Tavern previews.

Cuoco chef Stuart Lane looks like Spiderman/Peter Parker-era Tobey Maguire, concealing his crime-fighting identity behind some hipster glasses and a chef's coat. Thank goodness I'm already happily married to a Maguire lookalike with a knack for pasta, or I would have been hovering at Palace Ballroom's back door like some sort of groupie.

Lane is the rare chef who didn't come up in a Douglas kitchen; he has spent time in Italy's Piedmont region, as well as Spinasse and Cafe Juanita, where he reportedly kicked up the already fearsome pasta program a notch or two. His dishes went head-to-head with Team Douglas versions in most courses of the dinner, and Tom asked the audience to judge which one was superior.

Our first dish of side-by-side tuna bombolinis was just such a comparison.

One of these savory doughnuts had a whisper of tuna and green olives tucked away in its center; it took me three tentative bites to locate it. The other amped up the flavor by exchanging the filling for a bold, and much more fiery smear of tuna and olive. To my taste, the best option would be a happy medium.

Giving the public a glimpse of a menu in progress is a bit risky, but also a brilliant marketing tactic. However I don't know how much value can truly be gleaned from the feedback of such a self-selecting group. The tables were heavy on Douglas friends and avid dining nerds, who will have a sharply different perspective than, say, a middle-aged couple that wants to go to dinner, knows the Douglas name, but is skeeved out by the idea of tuna inside a doughnut.

Another such dish--grilled duck gizzard spiedini. The gizard is confited in green garlic, thyme and lemon zest, skewered with a dab of bagna cauda and served atop a rhubarb bruschetta.

This was a promising dish, though the rhubarb's sweetness overpowered and the bagna cauda was nowhere to be found. I'm interested to try the finished version when the restaurant opens.

I'm eager to sample Lane's pasta chops, though longtime Douglas pasta-maker Martha Francis will be in effect in Cuoco's kitchen as well. The evening's lone pasta dish was another side-by-side affair, pitting her smaller agnolotti dal plin against Lane's larger version of the Piedmont pasta.

The Douglas house version is filled with swiss chard, pork shoulder braised in garlic and milk, and a bracing bit of emmenthaler; there's a similar one on the menu at Palace Kitchen. Lane filled his with a mix of pork loin, rabbit and veal shoulder with spinach and rice. My vote--her filling; his larger-sized version.

Our last savory dish was a tagliata, or slice, of cotechino sausage, served on a bed of polenta from Douglas favorite Bob's Red Mill.

The sausage was a standout, juicy and well-seasoned. The polenta was rather dry, but that's an easy fix.

Two vanilla rice puddings squared off for dessert supremacy. Sadly, Lane's simpler version paled in comparison to the Team Douglas recipe, topped with apple compote.

Standard-issue tweaks aside, it seems like Cuoco, Douglas's first dedicated Italian restaurant, is in good shape. While pasta will be at the top of my dining agenda, the antipasti, and secondis seem reasonably adventurous. Woe to any vegetarians who shelled out $25 for this event; I'm curious to see whether the contornis will get some care, or be an afterthought on the menu. I guess we'll find out in a few short weeks.

One more bit of news from the night: On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, Tibetan dumpling spot Ting Momo will do just one dinner seating a night, and it will be a traditional Tibetan supper. You can bet I'm curious to see that concept get the Douglas treatment.

Cuoco (Opening in April)
320 Terry Ave. N
www.cuoco-seattle.com

Seattle: Where Ya At

2011-03-08T12:00:00.000-06:00

Fat Tuesday seems like an appropriate day to discuss New Orleans-inspired food truck Where Ya At. Proprietor Matthew Lewis has been on Seattle's streets for the better part of a year, and I'm embarrassed to say I recently paid my first visit.

While food trucks continue to proliferate, Where Ya At is perhaps the only newer truck that has earned a place in the pantheon of the city's greats, like Maximus/Minimus, Marination Mobile and Skillet. Where Ya At got there, in part, because the food produced in that truck could hold its own in a bricks-and-mortar restaurant.

While my interactions with Lewis have been limited to a phone interview when he first launched and some idle chat while waiting for my beignets, he is also a very cool guy and a good ambassador for his food. The New Orleans native has worked in spots around town like Canlis, Restaurant Zoe and Toulouse Petit.

But on board that burgundy truck, his crew does some impressive things with a fryer. Namely, Where Ya At fries up non-greasy beignets ($4 for 3) the size of a dinner biscuit. I ate one standing there in the parking lot near the Interbay QFC, and another after a short ride in the car. Both times--light and spongy on the inside, with a hint of crisp on the exterior. And extremely hot at first.

The beignets are also coated with so much powdered sugar that eating them makes you look as if you've developed a nasty cocaine habit. "Make sure you stand downwind," the fry guy called out to me as he passed my steaming paper bag of beignets out the window. I finished them at Chelsea's house and probably owe her a return visit with a Dustbuster.

I've heard raves about the gumbo, and the shrimp and grits look damn tasty too. But due to the confines of the human stomach, I ordered only the beignets and the shrimp po'boy ($9), which Lewis said was a good introduction to his menu.

I think of po'boys as greasy, overly mayonnaised affairs. The Where Ya At version comes fully dressed, but doesn't overwhelm you with drippiness. There is, rather, a surprising amount of shredded lettuce.

The shrimp were plentiful with a substantial--if not incredibly crispy--fried coating. This sandwich is, as one might expect, a little messy to eat, but completely worth the pile of balled up napkins it left in its wake.

Where Ya At was also one of the few places around down serving king cake this week. I confess, it's not really my thing (especially with no baby inside)so I'll save my words and let the picture speak for itself.

As someone who works from home and lives in a notoriously dense, food truck-averse neighborhood, I seldom motivate to drive across the city to lunch at a truck. But this one is undoubtedly worth the trip.

Where Ya At
Various Locations
whereyaatmatt.com

Monday News Roundup (March 7)

2011-03-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Hello, hello. My weekend was filled with doughnuts, cake, lasagna and all sorts of things I can't wait to write about. But before we get down to business, I wanted to let you know this will be my last Monday news roundup for the foreseeable future. I have some new projects coming up and want to unplug (somewhat) for a few weeks before diving back into the realm of restaurants. I look forward to rededicating my Sunday nights to good beer and the couch.

This week was a reasonably sane one when it comes to openings, closings and assorted news. And yes, the Modernist Cuisine fervor continues, presumably 'til its March 14 release date.

Here we go...

What's open/what's closed/who's where:

The space that housed tiny but popular Rizzo's French Dip is now Ballard Bistro, says My Ballard. You can still get a French dip here, but the menu seems a little scattershot, including barbecue, curry and...a pancake sandwich.

Lisa Nakamura's Lily will be an ice cream shop with carryout food like clam chowder and sushi, and some local merchandise.

Fife favorite Pick-Quick Drive In will open its second Americana burger location in Auburn on Tuesday, says Sheehan.

New spots are constantly opening on Capitol Hill, but you don't see a lot of Irish pubs 'round these parts. The Chieftan, from the owners of Finn MacCool's and McGilvra's, is opening in the 12th Avenue address once home to Doc Hamilton's, a real-life speakeasy. The pub will cater to both Seattle U students and grown-ups, says Jess Voelker. The menu: pizza-centric. The space: open (hopefully) within three months.

The Kolstrand Building's plan for total world (or at least Seattle dining) domination is complete. My Ballard reports the building's final component, a wine storage facility, is open and offers a sweet setup for private dinners catered by Walrus & the Carpenter or Staple & Fancy.

Marination Mobile is staying admirably on schedule with its bricks-and-mortar spot on Capitol Hill. The targeted opening is mid-April, says Christopher Werner.

Cafe Bonjour has moved out of its Queen Anne address, consolidating to the Green Lake location that opened just a few months ago. Queen Anne View says the new owners are turning it into Cafe di Lion.

Madison Park Starbucks, reportedly the neighborhood Starbucks of one Howard Schultz, is undergoing a remodel similar to its Olive Way sibling, and will be offering beer and wine

Modernist Cuisine:

We're home stretch, here people. And while my eyes might glaze over if I see another wok shot, Helen Rosner's Saveur piece is a lovely account of her preview dinner that declares Modernist Cuisine "might be the most important culinary book ever." It's also a great piece of food writing.

Chris Young, Modernist Cuisine co-author and Myhrvold's culinary number two, will soon be sitting down with Seattle-area chef-farmer Kurt Timmermeister for an as-yet unscheduled debate with the same line drawn in the sand between them.

Reviews & writeups:

With no formal review from the Seattle Times this week, and Tan Vinh's Happy Hour space devoted to Pliny the Younger, we're left with biz reporter Sanjay Bhatt finding some Dining Deals at newish Magnolia spot Wheeler Street Kitchen. He finds it shocking that local "social-networking foodies" haven't yet caught on to this soup-and-sandwich gem in a former glassblowing studio. [Seattle Times]

Sheehan's at his best in this review of Wild Ginger--his opening rambles with purpose, and he explores exactly why this unchanging local staple remains at the top of some best-of lists. [Seattle Weekly]

Holy shit. The Stranger takes a break from the whirl of fancy openings to visit Fuji Bakery, whose head baker spent three years doing pastry at Joël Robuchon's Michelin three-starred restaurant in Tokyo. The butter is a special cultured variety from Europe, and the yeast is a house strain. This might explain why this random spot in the ID does French pastries better than most French bakeries in town. [The Stranger]

Can Hugo Kugiya please be Seattle Weekly's new critic? He moves beyond his Din Tai Fung debacle to re-examine the humble hamburger, "transformed from working-class commodity to boutique luxury" at Uneeda Burger. He finds that "Fancy toppings make for a nice floor show, but if you take care of the meat you do not need much more than tomato and pickles." [Crosscut]

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitters):

Sheehan chronicles the first, but probably not the last, restaurant social media/scavenger hunt type contest cropping up in the wake of the Canlis brothers' crazy adventures.

Nancy Leson keeps fanning the flames of bahn mi debate with a list of readers' local favorites.

The pilot program to allow food trucks on city curbsides is looking more and more like a reality. The Stranger has the latest.

I'm sure y'all already know this, but Dine Around Seattle began last week and lasts for the month of March. Check out the participating restaurants here.

Seattle: Hearth & Home

2011-03-03T07:00:00.002-06:00

I tend to be a skeptic of pop-up dinners. Unfamiliar kitchens and haphazard conditions make for a good episode of Top Chef, but a stellar meal, notsomuch.

However the brothers Canlis don't do things carelessly. And so when the clock struck noon last Thursday, I found myself sitting at my desk, cell in one hand and land line in the other, dialing repeatedly until the busy signal gave way to a human voice and, eventually, two of the 45-odd seats at the second of Canlis chef Jason Franey's two $45 Hearth & Home pop-up meals.

Seth and I ended up at a communal six-top table and had a marvelous experience with our dining companions, marking another dining exception--this one to my distaste for sharing a table.

The Queen Anne Macrina location had the lights down low and votive candles scattered around. Back in the kitchen, the ruddy-complected Franey calmly directed his team as they sent out plate after plate of food that gave no hint that the night was a one-off (well, really two-off) experience.

I felt a little silly taking pictures after Lorraine procured this lovely set of photos (and indeed my seat was across the room from the scattering of candles so my lights isn't as pretty). But I had to have a set of my own to capture the alchemy of the night.

Though service was stripped down and casual, water and wine glasses remained full, fresh flatware escorted each course and questions about the menu were answered with ease. It helps when David Kim, Canlis's service director, is pouring your wine and taking your order. He confessed it's been a number of years since he actually waited on a table, but apparently it's like riding a bicycle.

The five-course menu (not counting our stellar sourdough starter) began with a pâté en croûte, the pate mild but delicious enough that I would have enjoyed it even without its most buttery crust.

It's neighbor on the plate was a dainty herb salad, dressed with a "broken" sauce gribiche. Three dots of venison gelée added still more richness.

I confess, viewing the photo of the winter salad earlier that day, the dish struck me as lovely but dull. What I failed to notice was the ribbon of rich braised wild hare beneath the greens.

The pickled buttons of carrot and onion were a dainty twist on two wintry root vegetables, but the so-called mustard seed "caviar" stands out in my memory for its layers of sweet flavor.

The ravioli is the one menu item that has also appeared at Canlis, and was indisputably the hit of the night (and, I hear, the previous night's dinner).

Franey employs a filling of black trumpet mushrooms and a rich celery root puree to give this vegetable dish a richness akin to foie gras.

I've never eaten at Eleven Madison Park, but from what I understand of its food, this plate seems to recall Franey's time in the celebrated Manhattan kitchen.

The other pasta course, a cocoa pappardelle served alongside a venison crepinette, was no less decadent.

A healthy shaving of Oregon truffles courtesy of Brian Canlis and a rustic wooden shaver didn't hurt either.

Since I called dibs on the ravioli, Seth staked his entree claim on the Gleason Ranch corned beef. I admit, I was envious his dish came with a latke.

The salt-cured flavor was there, but this beef preparation was far removed from the slices doled out at Jewish delis.

On my plate was the loveliest piece of roasted pork tenderloin you've ever seen. The inside was still tender and juicy, but with a standout crust of fennel, coriander, cumin, and a bit of dijon.

For dessert, a poached pear with an indent of pear compote. The vanilla bean ice cream and crunchy granola streusel were decadent in their simplicity but the attendant pear and goat cheese puree had me scraping the plate.

This is the season for hearty fare, and Hearth & Home's menu pulled off the dueling feats of being both wintry and delicate. The wine flowed readily (at $25 the pairings were a great value) and both the food and the experience were hands down the best I've had at the (admittedly scant half-dozen or so) pop-up meals I've attended.

Rumor has it Team Canlis may plan more pop-up restaurants in the coming months, when they can find time amidst their busy social media-dominating schedules. The combination of Franey's talent and the brothers' formidable hospitality maneuvers makes these occasions a rare gem of an experience.

Hearth & Home
February 27 & 28
Macrina Bakery on McGraw, by way of Canlis

Monday News Roundup (February 28)

2011-02-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

So...who skipped the Oscars to dine at Jason Franey's pop-up dinner at Macrina last night? Seth and I are going this evening, and despite my usual low expectations of these sorts of events, I can't help but be giddy as a schoolgirl. Lorraine was gracious enough to share last night's menu:

This week the world continues obsessing about Modernist Cuisine and track some new, relocating and expanding spots blessedly spread around the city (ie not all in Capitol Hill). Let's get to it.

What's open/what's closed/who's where:

Potbelly tells me the sandwich chain has three Seattle-area locations in the works: one at 4th & Pike, another at 2nd & Seneca and a third in Bellevue. Opening time frame forthcoming.

A new spot called Dot's Delicatessen is opening in Fremont, right next door to Uneeda Burger. And since this place is from Miles James of Seattle Sausage Company (and plenty of other great restaurants), you can bet this deli will be heavy on the pork. Seattle Met has details on the eatery-cum-butcher shop; I wouldn't recommend reading it while hungry.

OK, this one is no longer news, but it's (exciting) news to me--Flying Squirrel Pizza Company is expanding to Maple Leaf, namely the former home of A New York Pizza Place.

Mioposto is expanding to Phinney Ridge with a similar menu, but adding a full-service bar. Seattle Met says doors open in April.

Christopher Werner can also tell you what's up with Claudio Corallo changing its name to Marie & Freres.

A restaurant and lounge called The Sexton is moving into the former Madame K's, says My Ballard. The owners' names don't ring a bell, though commenters say the chef is a Ballard resident.

Additional rumormongering from My Ballard commenters: The apparently not-the-best Ballard Best BBQ on Leary may be turning into an "upscale Brazilian seafood bar" this spring.

Still more rumormongering, this time from the unlikely source of @Hhlodesign's mom: Ma's Islamic, a popular Halal Chinese restaurant in Anaheim, is planning a Seattle location.

Mike Seely finds a newsy tidbit at the bottom of a Seattle Times piece about the shuttering of a longtime Lake City hobby shop: Elliott Bay Brewing Company is opening its third pub at the Lake City address.

Capitol Hill is getting another distillery, creating what CHS dubs "an entire craft spirits community." Black Label Spirits, a distillery and tasting room showcasing vodka and apple brandy, will open early this summer on Pike/Pine.

Speaking of distilleries, Jess Voelker's got a peek at the upcoming Sun Liquor Distillery, whose awesome neon sign presides over Pike Street.

Also, CHS's weekly food update included the news that Volunteer Park Cafe's Heather Earnhardt is helping Dani Cone tweak some things at High 5 Pie and my beloved round-the-corner beer store is no more.

Also, courtesy of Nancy Leson's Twitter, there's this.

From the neighborhood blogs, Zippy's will close its West Seattle location April 16, and hopefully reopen in White Center April 25. The Bridge is also open in West Seattle. Maple Leaf's La Bera Cafe has closed and "international cuisine" spot The Fine Diner is moving in.

Lest we get too excited about all these openings, The Stranger has this comprehensive bummer of a list, recapping all the closures of recent weeks.

Modernist Cuisine:

The lovely Rebekah Denn scored a seat at last weekend's preview dinner and writes it up for a little publication called the Washington Post. And now I'm craving caramels wrapped in a gel of salty cheese water.

Scott Heimendinger recaps the book launch party, where he reportedly refrained from screaming, squealing or throwing underwear at Mr. Myhrvold.

Over at Serious Eats, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has worked himself into a frenzy that rivals Seattle Food Geek. He breaks down the numbers of the book, and discusses the photography and the "wok shot," which is like a money shot but with more noodles.

Team Douglas got to tour the lab as well.

Reviews and writeups:

Seattle Met takes its turn reviewing the "sprawling and swish" Lecosho. Kathryn Robinson found the porchetta the stunner amidst the porkophile menu. [Seattle Met]

Providence Cicero says South Lake Union's re:public could become the "default destination" for a neighborhood in transition. Two Bastille alums run the kitchen, which means the fries are good all day, but they "really show off at dinner" with pastas and proteins like agnolotti in lobster cream sauce and grilled quail. [Seattle Times]

Tan Vinh goes old school at the new Vito's, with a "so-so" bar food and a drink menu heavy on "three-ingredient cocktails that are dry and bitter." The storied space sounds a little Sharks v. Jets--blue-hairs keep to one part of the room, and cocktail nerds to the other. [Seattle Times]

Up on Phinney Ridge, Dining Deals visits In the Red wine bar (making the obligatory "won't leave you in the red" joke). The $5 soup/sandwich combos are a steal but small plates like bacon-wrapped dates and pear and goat cheese bruschetta are more intricate. Also, since it's Phinney, this wine bar has a kids menu. [Seattle Times]

Sheehan discovers perhaps the best way to experience Din Tai Fung--in takeout form. Sure, your xiao long bao won't be hot, but they usually arrive at your table lukewarm anyway. Takeout allows him to make peace with the Bellevue phenom, and focus on the shu mai, pork buns and other worthy menu items without the hourslong wait. [Seattle Weekly]

By now I've read a half-dozen reviews of Revel, but Bethany Jean Clement's description of the brunchtime Kalbi burger had me scanning my weekend calendar, plotting how to fit in (another) brunch here. The duck meatballs are on their way to being a signature dish, she says, though they weren't quite her bag. [The Stranger]

In his week's Grillaxin series, Leslie Kelly continues Seattle Weekly's love of BuiltBurger. [Seattle Weekly]

Hooray! I love when the Wrights hold their taste-offs, and this bahn mi showdown became incredibly timely given the controversial New York Times piece crowning Saigon Deli the best in town. I won't spoil the victor in this endeavor. [Wright Eats]

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitters):

Seattle Met's Kathryn Robinson examines the ever-evolving question of whether restaurant critics can--or should--be anonymous. Not surprisingly, a few Seattle chefs are vehemently in favor of public-facing critics.

I like when Sheehan puts his food brain to use, like in this handicapping of our local James Beard long-listers. He also adds his $0.02 on Canlis's latest project, though of course he has to compare the veteran restaurant's social media savvy to a sexting grandpa.

The Modernist Cuisine dinners draw media from around the country, creating a nice ripple effect of coverage for some notable Seattle spots. Saveur's Helen Rosner wrote this ode to Mistral Kitchen's Andrew Bohrer and his amazing Courting Rachel. And as a presidential history nerd, I totally dig the origin of the cocktail's name.

Here in Seattle we're all caught up in Myhrvold & co., but it's not the only modernist cuisine news out there. Grant Achatz will be here next month to promote his new memoir, so get thee a ticket to the Kim Ricketts/Tom Douglas event...if there are any left. Achatz will also be at FHCRC's chefs dinner event in May.

The foodie culture does contain some fertile ground for mockery, so let's see if this upcoming web series gets in some clever digs and commentary, or just falls back on the easy and obvious tropes.

We've got a few Cochon555 recaps floating around, including this one from Leslie Kelly and another from Seattle Met.

Monday News Roundup (February 21)

2011-02-21T07:00:00.001-06:00

It's been a big week for awards. To be honest, when Food & Wine announced its new People's Best New Chef category, it felt mostly like a ploy for restaurants to promote the magazine via social media (editor Dana Cowin explains details here). But damn it all, Canlis took that game and kicked things up to another level. The brothers Canlis donned some sandwich boards to take some beautiful photos (by Josh Longbrake) in support of chef Jason Franey. But according to this Eater post, each pic contains a clue--in Morse code, no less--about a pop-up restaurant Franey is planning. Decipher the code, win free dinner (though it looks like Jamie Boudreau already did).

Photo courtesy of Canlis

An even more elusive mystery--who the hell does Canlis's social media strategy? I certainly applaud Canlis for its creativity (and I'm giddy at the idea of a Franey pop-up) but most restaurants don't have the luxury of putting so much time and money into a campaign like this. It makes me want to root for the underdogs, if you can consider Blaine Wetzel, Shaun McCrain and Brian McCracken and Dana Tough underdogs.

If that isn't enough to make your head spin, the James Beard Foundation announced its semifinalists for this year's culinary awards. I like Nancy Leson's phrasing of "long-listed" to describe this pre-nominee phase. Some highlights: right here (and summarized here) but the biggies are Staple & Fancy Mercantile in the running for Best New Restaurant, Cafe Juanita for Outstanding Restaurant, and Jerry Traunfeld and Holly Smith up for Outstanding Chef. And, of course, Wetzel at Willows Inn for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

Finally, in the department of accolades, Jonathan Sundstrom and Team Lark emerged once again as the victors in last night's Cochon555 thanks to some bacon-y ice cream and one excellent sausage.

But let's be honest, if you care enough to read this site, all of this is probably old news for you. So let's get to the other events of the week.

What's open/what's closed/who's where:

Golden Beetle is open (with Tilth vet Forrest Brunton installed as chef de cuisine), and as one might expect, a new restaurant from one of the city's most acclaimed chefs is kindofabigdeal, and the wait for a weekend table is stacking up. Seattle Food Geek went on Friday night and proclaims there is "no recognizable trace of Tilth, other than the excellent execution."

The rest of the week's opening/closing news is quite neighborhoody. The former site of Charlie's Flame Broiled Burgers is now comfort food spot Judkins Street Cafe, reports CDN. Thrillist has the menu.

Also from the neighborhood blogs, a new CD food truck, Caffe Vita is open on Phinney Ridge, and Chao Bistro is changing itself to sake bar Ban Chan. You can get bitters, salts and more at SugarPill, a new Capitol Hill apothecary.

Tom Yum Koong is closed in West Seattle but will soon reopen as Bang Bar Thai (hee). West Seattleites can also find drinks and casual American bar food at Bridge, opening this week from two friends with a background at Talarico's and the Feedback Lounge.

Modernist Cuisine:

I give up--let's just create a special section until this manifesto gets released.

The hype surrounding this thing seems pretty intense from where I'm sitting, and I'm certainly no Scott Heimendinger. Upon receiving the five-volume manifesto, Seattle Food Geek confesses to a bit of an existential crisis and subsequent reconciliation.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, who flew out for the recent preview dinner, has one of the best writeups I've seen of the process that led to this tome, and why exactly it's a big deal.

Reviews & writeups:

In some ways Book Bindery has found its groove since opening last year, says Providence Cicero, but lackluster dishes on recent visits leave her wondering if the kitchen has grown complacent, or lost its groove since the sous chef apparently departed. Still, Shaun McCrain's kitchen mostly meets diners' high expectations, and is on the road to being a "pacesetter" for other Seattle restaurants. [Seattle Times]

Dining Deals departs from its usual mundanity to issue a clarion call--if there's a better cheap ramen in Seattle than what's being dished up at Pioneer Square's Okinawa Teriyaki, A&E editor Lynn Jacobson wants to know about it. [Seattle Times]

Tan Vinh sings Urbane's usually unsung praises for a just-swanky-enough downtown happy hour. But really the most fascinating tidbit to glean from his Dining Deals writeup is that he gets a lot of emails from sorority girls. [Seattle Times]

This week's Walrus & the Carpenter review is classic Sheehan: take one worthy observation (oysters are a primal food) and obscure it with a nonsensical rambly introduction and an extended observation of someone sitting nearby him in the restaurant. You have to wade through a great many paragraphs to get to any actual insight into the restaurant, which unfortunately didn't seem to put its best food forward on Sheehan's visits. [Seattle Weekly]

Bethany Jean Clement visits one of my favorite spots, Madison Park's The Independent Pizzeria, and captures exactly the charming "1957 modernist oddity" of a room, its thoroughly satisfying pizza and why you'd never expect to find this place in Madison Park. [The Stranger]

Leslie Kelly grillaxes with Martha Francis, Tom Douglas's longtime "pasta queen," readying herself to move over to his new Italian spot, Cuoco. [Seattle Weekly]

The Independent gets even more love, this time on Serious Eats' Slice blog, where Adam Lindsley declares it "excellent, well-executed, and highly addictive" but not as good as Delancey's. Now I'm never again going to get a table in this tiny spot. [Slice]

Lindsley's other Serious Eats piece takes on Uneeda Burger, where he strongly disagrees with Lindy West's fervent recommendation that you make the $3 upgrade to a Wagyu beef patty and explains why Kobe/wagyu is "a terrible idea for hamburgers." [AHT]

There's more. Lopez-Alt was quite productive on his Seattle visit, penning a thoughtful, and hunger-inducing writeup of Gourmet Dog Japon. [Serious Eats]

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitters):

Huzzah! How to Cook a Wolf is now taking reservations.

The city is re-considering the idea of designated street food areas, says CHS blog.

Chipotle has trademarked the name ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen for its long-rumored Asian spinoff concept. We're betting Lark sous chef Wiley Frank isn't thrilled the chain chose the same name as his Monday night pop-ups.

Great idea. Jess Voelker catches up with the current whereabouts of various bartender's she's profiled (mental note--get to Il Bistro. Now.)

Whether or not you're interested in Chicago's Alinea and Grant Achatz, this duo of profiles by the Tribune and the New York Times contains some great food writing, even if Achatz & co. parceled out some of the same anecdotes and recollections to each reporter. Julia Moskin's piece may win for best lede, but Trib reporter Christopher Borrelli take a more personal look, even sitting down for taco night at Alinea (the rice was dry).

Graffiti is becoming a trend in Seattle restaurants. We mean the on-purpose mural kind.

Here's a video of Team Douglas cranking out giant English muffins in the new Dahlia Workshop. Apparently they supply these for Spring Hill's brunch too.

Seattle: Mistral Kitchen

2011-02-18T16:00:00.001-06:00

Readers, let this post be a cautionary tale about drinking. Not the "suck down booze when you're by yourself, lie to other people, compromise your job and relationships" type of drinking. Rather the "consume copious amounts of champagne before heading out to a wine-drenched eight-course meal" variety of imbibement.

On Saturday Seth took me to a Valentine's Day dinner that I was sure was at La Bete. Instead he surprised me with a table at Mistral Kitchen's Jewel Box, a spot I've wanted to visit since literally the week we moved to Seattle and I read my first-ever Jason Sheehan review.

Meals this luxurious don't happen that frequently at our house. And chef William Belickis's kitchen produces such beautiful, nuanced food that you want all your senses firing at full capacity. You do not want to be so drunk that you need to look at your camera the next morning to remember what you've eaten.

So I've made a solemn vow to go easy on the sauce before heading out for grand tasting-type meals from here on out. Plus when bar manager Andrew Bohrer is creating show-stopping cocktails to accompany your dinner, there's no reason to drink anywhere else.

Elsewhere in the space, tthe decor tends toward industrial. Belickis's crew uses a fleet of different ovens, an immersion circulator and plenty of other tools to produce food teetering between rustic and modernist.

The Jewel Box is a dining room-within-a-restaurant with a separate tasting menu that lets the kitchen rev the horsepower reminiscent of the original Mistral.

It also has, I discovered, its own shockingly expensive cocktail list. If there is one person in Seattle whose drinks are worth $25, even $50, it's Bohrer (even though the smoking gun was out of commission on our visit). But I was relieved to learn we could order from the regular house drink menu.

We opted for the eight-course tasting menu ($90). The whole affair began with an appropriately Valentinsian duo of oysters, one with a white wine gelee, the other finely dusted with Claudio Corallo chocolate from just down the street.

Belickis, or someone in his kitchen, must love crudo (and the lunch version, might I add, is a truly decadent experience). Our firm ribbons of kampachi came with some equally delicate cucumber and a sprinkling of pomegranate and bull's blood microgreens, all served over a flourish of squid ink.

Next up, a domino-sized piece of crispy-skinned branzino with an orange-hued puree and the carrot foam that has been appearing on plates since the original Mistral days. Tiny fingerling potato chips were a crunchy, salty luxury.

The foie gras had the markings of a well-grilled steak, and a rich flavor that eclipses even the best steak. The foie is grilled alongside the accompanying slice of pear in an apple maple syrup, sharing the plate with the most sophisticated waffle I've ever experienced.

A perfectly seared single scallop somehow demands more focus and more enjoyment than a cluster of them might. Mine was resting on top of a mushroom risotto with just a hint of truffle.

The lamb is where things get fuzzy--both my memories and my lenswork. It's served with potatoes and some Brussels sprouts that have ditched their conventional hearty, wintry reputation and transformed into a delicate scattering of leaves. A whole grain mustard demi glace brought everything together.

And then there was the cheese plate. Just don't ask me which cheeses.

Right about then Seth decided it was time for me to go. And that was probably a good idea, even though I can't believe I missed out on Neil Robertson's desserts.

Even before the recession stomped all over fine dining, most of Seattle's formidable food talents ply their trade in settings that range from industrial to neighborly to downright basic. But there's a certain thrill that comes with honest-to-god fine dining. Not everything has to be rustic in this damn town.

Inside the Jewel Box I can still revel in niceties like the end-of-night macaroons and splashes of wine that appeared in between the drinks we ordered (hmmm, that might have been part of my problem). The service too, pulls off that trifecta of insanely knowledgeable and consummately professional, while still leaving you with the impression Mistral's front of house staff would be a lot of fun to out with after dinner.

My regretful behavior aside, I'm still reveling in this meal. And I can't wait for Seth to surprise me with reservations for the chef's table for my birthday...right, honey?

Mistral Kitchen
2020 Westlake Ave.
www.mistral-kitchen.com

Seattle: Celebrating Our First Year...But Where?

2011-02-16T15:00:00.000-06:00

Next month, Seth and I celebrate an anniversary. Not of our marriage, but of our time in Seattle. On March 14, 2010 we rolled into town with an inflatable mattress, two suitcases and the Seattle Zagat guide my newsroom coworkers gave me at my San Francisco sendoff (all the boxes came later and yes, all the tall ones were full of my clothes).

In some ways it feels as if we've been here forever, and yet I'm constantly reminded of how much I have to learn, even though I grew up just three hours south.

In our household, we celebrate anniversaries (as we do birthdays, professional achievements and any unexpected check that comes in the mail) by eating. But the question is...where?

We discussed Tom Douglas spots, Maneki because it's old, and a hole-in-the-wall fish and chips spot recommended to us by our server at Tilth, the lovely Niki Parrish, on our first fancy night out as Seattle residents.

Ultimately, however, I realized I'd like your input on an appropriately Seattle restaurant at which to mark the occasion. It doesn't have to be really fancy, or even really old. But it should be, somehow, quintessentially Seattle.

Suggestions? Let's hear 'em. Comment, tweet, email--your call. My life here has been enriched beyond belief by the kindness and knowledge of Seattle's food community, and I'm not about to stop drawing on your expertise now.

Seattle: Sea Garden

2011-02-15T07:00:00.004-06:00

I admit--I don't devote as much time as I should to the International District. Really, it's practically walking distance from my house, but most of my visits there are of the furtive takeout variety.

Hence it's nice to make a friend who actually lives down that way. And it's even better when everyone is game for some Dungeness crab and squid at Sea Garden, a longtime ID staple. I'm not about to get into the generalities of Chinese restaurants, but I will say that every dish we ordered was one of the better incarnations I've had...though I'm still on the hunt for a go-to place for salt and pepper squid.

But on this particular night, Sea Garden was our destination primarily for the crab. I jotted down the name after reading Tom Douglas's Kindle city guide thingie, remembering the amazing crab to be had in San Francisco's Outer Sunset neighborhood.

It's no surprise that the tank is the first thing you see as you walk in the door of this place, but it's definitely one of the cleanest and least depressing tanks in recent memory. Alas, I didn't have my camera ready when our server dropped by to display the crustacean we would soon be eating. But of course we made a few Colin the Chicken jokes.

The crab came out first, already dismembered and sitting atop a pool of black bean sauce just as memorable as the fresh seafood. Really, by the time you get at the crab leg, hack through the shell and extract the meat, very little of that sauce ever makes it to your bite of crab. But no way in hell were we not going to finish every drop of the sauce, the consistency of a thick gravy, sweetly complex with bursts of ginger in every third bite. We asked to have our rice brought out post-haste, and sopped up as much sauce as we could.

This was our first time out with Clay and Jen, and nothing increases the comfort factor like watching everyone get sticky-handed and wrestle with ungainly crab legs and sauce-slicked cracking devices.

My love of squid should be apparent to anyone reading this site for any length of time. And alas, since departing Chicago, I have yet to find a restaurant that offers a version that remotely compares with Ed's Potsticker House (and Ed's has xiao long bao...hold me, Julio).

The salt and pepper squid at Sea Garden comes the closest, though falling short due to a sad lack of pepper in the proceedings. The squid comes with its mantle filleted into gently curling strips, slightly more than an inch wide and perfectly fried. There is plenty of batter encasing the outside, but it's pleasantly crisp and without excessive oil. The pile of garlic, onions and chili peppers gives just the right amount of kick and the salt is there, just no, alas, the pepper.

Hardly ever do I order honey walnut prawns; I've experienced some pretty terrible, mayonnaise-slicked versions. Sea Garden's version comes, like the squid, fried with a discernible crunch, even through the honey-mayo sauce.

The pea tendrils were the lone vegetable on the table. A few online recommendations prompted us to order them, despite the fact that the $11 price tag was a good $5 more than most of the other vegetable sides. Who knew? These delicate greens apparently become downright addictive when you give them a quick saute with a shocking amount of chopped up garlic.

While crab is the showcase dish here, I noticed plenty of tables didn't order any Dungeness, which speaks highly of the rest of the menu. Prices may be friendlier down the street at Jade Garden, but you'll find me back here before too long to sample the beef with soft egg, spot prawns and the beef chow fun dry.

Sea Garden
509 7th Avenue S

Monday News Roundup (February 14)

2011-02-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day, folks. Reports are rolling in from last weekend's Modernist Cuisine preview dinner, mentioned last week in this space. Here's the slideshow from the jaw-dropping 30-course affair, as well as Michael Laiskonis's account of the meal. I've heard more dinners are coming up, so keep an eye on the Twitters as we count down to the release of what the Wall Street Journal has dubbed a "game-changing cookbook."

But this week has its fair share of news--and a few controversial pieces. Let's get to it.

What's open/what's closed/who's where:

Those teasing tweets from Maria Hines have given way to an actual opening date for her second restaurant, Golden Beetle. This Friday, February 18. And per Jess Voelker, the bar program looks just as alluring as the food.

The owners of Belltown's Branzino are taking over the former Dulces Latin Bistro space in Madrona, turning into Pritty Boys' Family Pizzeria, says Central District News. Targeted open--April 1.

Our sandwich extravaganza continues...Potbelly Sandwich Works is expanding to Seattle. The Chicago-based chain makes some solid toasted sandwiches, and milkshakes with itty bitty cookies on the straw. The Craigslist ad says its recruiting for a location in downtown Seattle; I'm working on getting more information from corporate.

Tan Vinh tweeted that Flame on Queen Anne had shuttered, but Queen Anne View poked around and discovered the burger joint has merged with nearby Elliott Bay Pizza Co. Allegedly the pizzas and flame-broiled burgers will coexist peaceably.

Here's something I completely missed, so thank you to Chelsea Lin for keeping me up to date: Allium on Orcas chef Lisa Nakamura tweeted her plans to open a sibling storefront, named Lily. the catch--it's not a restaurant. Lisa's tweeting clues and offering a prize for correct guesses. She spills the answer March 1, and opens in April.

CHS tells us Pho Le is now dispensing pho in the former home of Maharaja and that Monsoon guy Eric Bahn is naming his upcoming noodle bar Ba Bar.

We've mentioned this before but Full Tilt Ice Cream is planning to open in Ballard at Market and Leary, hopefully by May 1.

In the "about damn time" category, Jess Voelker says Marjorie now has a happy hour (yes, there are plantain chips).

From the neighborhood blogs, Del Rey in Belltown (home of a mean trivia night) has closed, as has Ballard Best BBQ, just two months after opening. The White Rabbit is open in Fremont with tater tots and coffee cocktails.

A Craigslist post seeking staff for Spinasse and sister project Artusi says the new space will be "an independent bar space focusing on aperitivo culture with a menu culled from modern and historical Italian cuisine."

Reviews & writeups:

Allison Scheff's review of Lecosho celebrates its meat, certainly, but she reports,"I got my hair blown back by a terrific tuna melt." Yow. [Seattle Magazine]

Despite early reports of subpar soup dumplings, Providence Cicero has nary a complaint about Bellevue phenom Din Tai Fung, where off-peak waits have dwindled to 10 minutes. Doughy items like dumplings, wontons and fried noodles win raves, but so does everything else she eats. [Seattle Times]

Does Jak's Grill have a hardcore new PR team or something? Two weeks after Sheehan's review, Tan Vinh hits up two different locations and finds the happy hour and the burger have achieved cult status. Also, some above-and-beyond customer service. [Seattle Times]

This week's Dining Deals feature goes to the Blue Vanilla Bakery in Des Moines, where you can linger (and linger...and linger) over coffee and have some decent soups and sandwiches and stuff.. [Seattle Times]

Sheehan's review does double duty, comparing two new burger spots. This is Sheehan at his best--observant, knowledgeable in the ways of food prep and unafraid to dish out a cringe-inducing smackdown of Dope Burger, where the fried avocado is nasty, and patties "have the texture of inexpertly made leftover meatloaf," and taste "like a memory on the tongue of a burger eaten hours before." BuiltBurger on the other hand "breaks every single common law of burger-making, yet still comes off looking like revolutionary brilliance rather than avocado-breading fuck-uppery." [Seattle Weekly]

Burgers are also on the brain over at The Stranger, where Lindy West's expletive and all-caps recount of Uneeda Burger makes me regret not shelling out the extra $3 for the Whidbey Island Wagyu patty. She, like others, finds the onion rings over-battered, and bags on the cobb salad, but she cares not a whit because the Wagyu burger is THAT FUCKING GOOD. [The Stranger]

Surly Gourmand takes on Revel (and your mom, of course) and would waterboard a nun for another bowl of five spice duck meatball noodles. [Seattle Weekly]

Hugo Kugiya's recent piece on Din Tai Fung offended a good many readers with some generalities about Chinese restaurants. Also, the Bellevue dumpling mecca employs a woman to do nothing but clean the bathrooms over and over. [Crosscut]

Serious Eats is all over Seattle, with posts about Cupcake Royale's chocolate Deathcake and the burger at Spur.

Over at The SunBreak, Jay Friedman gets all spreadsheety and crunches the numbers on Sushi Kappo Tamura versus Kisaku and Shiro's.

Cornichon checks out Local 360 and breaks down the family tree behind the "no Campari, no Coke, all local" spot.

Leslie Kelly's Grillaxin' trio hits up chef Tyler Hefford-Anderson of Salish Lodge for a recipe that's a harbinger of spring.

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitters):

Perhaps you saw the New York Times' T magazine piece on the bahn mi, naming Saigon Deli tops in Seattle. Kenji Alt at Serious Eats offers up a systematic takedown of the author's definition of a bahn mi, and top picks around the country.

Nancy Leson pays tribute to Joe McDonnal, a longtime Seattle restaurateur best known for The Ruins dining club, who passed away last month in Palm Springs.

I'm constantly debating where to draw the line on including the font of content that comes from Seattle Weekly's Voracious blog. But I must say, I got a kick out of Siiri Sampson's account of an awesome (and cheap) cafe hidden in the back of a Ford dealership in Kirkland. [Seattle Weekly]

Local 360's mercantile portion is finally up and running. Check out a few pics here.

Thanks to my father-in-law for passing along this Sun-Times piece about the art of photographing food.

The Wall Street Journal interviews local wine guy Michael Teer against the backdrop of his new Soul Wines shop (next to Serious Pie II).

Seattle: Lecosho

2011-02-09T07:00:00.003-06:00

Judging from a few recent reviews and blogger accounts, Matt Janke has some sort of lentil master hunkered down in Lecosho's open kitchen. However when Seth and I stopped in on Saturday night, there was nary a lentil on the menu.

No matter, we found plenty of other things to enjoy. These days walking into Lecosho's Harbor Steps dining room on a Saturday night without a reservation is a huge gamble--favorable reviews have been pouring in, and there's something about the pig logo and the motto "food we like" that draws in the crowds.

However we arrived just before 9, hitting that sweet spot after the regular dinner crowd, but before the late-nighters show up for the 11 p.m. happy hour (10 p.m. on weeknights). Seats at the bar were ample, and we split a few plates rather than do up a full meal.

Matt Janke will perhaps always be known as the founder of Matt's in the Market, but Lecosho is in its own way very emblematic of the Northwest, both in ingredients and sensibilities. This region abounds with vegans, but damn do we love our meat. And it's not technically a Washington reference, but the menu is the rustically elegant culinary equivalent to a governor wearing jeans to his swearing in.

Lentils or no, the housemade sausage ($9) is destined to be a Lecosho classic. That night, piled on top of mustardy braised cabbage with shards of apple, the grilled link had a German air about it, crisp with gill marks and a nice snappy casing that doesn't immediately comply with the commands of your teeth.

If you've read any review of Lecosho anywhere, you probably know that the word means "pig" in Chinook. And by god, the menu is porky. But it's also firmly rooted in the Pacific Northwest, and that means the same sure hand is applied to oceanic fare.

Seth and I scoffed at last week's Top Chef win because, after all, how damn hard is it to cook mussels? They literally announce to you when they are ready. But thinking back on our mussel dish at Lecosho, I do appreciate how a thoughtful broth can make a reliably good dish great.

It should shock nobody that our modest starter of Penn Cove mussels ($10) came topped with chorizo, but the mollusks were also steamed with cava and fennel tops for a spicy, sparkly broth complex enough to stand on its own. You could sell this to me as a fancy dipping sauce and I'd be inordinately pleased and none the wiser.

But the touch I appreciated most of all was the generous hunk of baguette from Columbia City Bakery that came out alongside the mussels. Why even pretend like diners won't want to sop up every drop of that broth?

We shared just one entree, a special that night of rabbit braised in a housemade rabbit stock, sitting on top of rustic triangular ravioli, each about the size of a triangle of French toast and filled with mascarpone. The tender rabbit, soft filling and drapey pasta didn't offer a huge variety of texture, but the flavors were fantastic.

The one flop of the evening was the cauliflower with bagna cauda ($6). I adore anchovies, but eating this was like getting smacked in the face with the business end of a warm fish. I will say, the bartender who was serving us noticed the uneaten cauliflower, asked if we didn't like the dish and removed it from our bill.

I'm eager to return to Lecosho for a full-on dinner, but it also holds tremendous potential as a stop-in sort of place. Janke serves lunch and is known for his happy hour proclivities, offering two of 'em each day.

Lecosho
89 University St.
www.lecosho.com

Monday News Roundup (February 7)

2011-02-07T07:00:00.006-06:00

Over the weekend, Frank pointed out that a surprising number of nationally known chefs and food writers were tweeting about their visits to Seattle this weekend...and not just David Chang, in town for his Tom Douglas dinner. Food & Wine editor Dana Cowin was here, tasting honeydew vinegar at Chef Shop and dining at Revel. Michael Voltaggio flew in, as did Animal duo Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, Tim and Nina Zagat, Le Bernadin pastry impresario Michael Laiskonis, and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt from Serious Eats.

This convergence was no coincidence. Everyone was here for a 30-course preview dinner showcasing the upcoming five-volume Modernist Cuisine cookbook, and a tour of the lab from whence it came.

Voltaggio (who brunched at Spring Hill on Sunday) tweeted this (upside down) photo of the menu. Alt, who visited Zig Zag during his Seattle stay, tweeted some details, and promises a slide show later in the week. I wouldn't be surprised if some Seattle spots get mentioned in various online media this week, since guests no doubt spent the remainder of the weekend exploring.

I'm wondering if any local food folks attended--I have to think Seattle Food Geek scored an invite. We're likely to see all sorts of buzz on Modernist Cuisine in the weeks leading up to its March 7 release.

Celebrity drop-ins aside, Seattle had plenty going on this past week on the food front. Let's get to it.

What's open/what's closed/who's where:

Nancy Leson kicked things off Monday morning with an intriguing possibility of Red Mill moving into the shuttered Totem House. Red Mill's sibling owners would like to take over the longtime fish and chip landmark, restore the totem pole and balance out the halibut with some burgers and onion rings. Fingers crossed this all pans out.

Allison Scheff joined in the news-breaking, setting the Twitters a-quiver with details on Delancey's plans to open The Pantry at Delancey in a space behind the pizzeria. The collective will host classes, events, family style dinners and seems the very embodiment of Delancey's Brandon Pettit and Molly Wizenberg's approach to food and life.

CHS blog's weekly food and drink update has a handy list of target openings for various bars and restaurants on the Hill. Tamara Murphy says her lawsuit-plagued Terra Plata hopes to open in the Melrose Market building in "early summer," though judging from the build-out schedule, that seems a bit optimistic. At least Samurai Noodle admitted that these opening estimates always go awry.

Zippy's Giant Burger has a new home! The beloved West Seattle spot is departing from its current drama-riddled digs and reopening in White Center. The proximity to Big Al Brewing is a synergistic bonus.

Jess Voelker is tracking Frost Doughnut's expansion plans; the Mill Creek doughnut shop is planning two new locations--one somewhere within Seattle city limits.

The Pike/Pine corridor is getting another Mexican joint, this one from Bastille owners Deming Maclise and James Weimann. CHS blog cobbles together permit filings and tweets into a handy little synopsis of the spot, which will be called Poquitos.

As mentioned earlier, the Dahlia workshop opened for business last Monday. It was a big news week for Team Douglas, with word getting out about some heretofore unnamed restaurants within his new Terry Avenue project.

The Dray is opening a second spot, a restaurant and full bar across from the Greenwood Post Office. It will be called "The Yard"...get it? Dray spelled backwards is Yard? Eh? Eh? Estimated opening is March, says Phinneywood.

Whoa, is that a lady straddling a wine bottle? Cafe Kanape is open at Broadway and Roy, serving crepes and a randomly international menu of salads.

Chainlet Pel'meni is now serving up its Russian-style dumplings (aka pelmenis) from its new storefront in Fremont, says The SunBreak.

After a long, cold, cubano-less January, Paseo has reopened from its annual monthlong break.

Alki Cafe is taking over the former Alki Bakery space; it will be called Beachside Cafe on Alki.

Events & such:

Tickets are on sale again for the Voracious Tasting event. The food on offer is solid, if you can tolerate the pressing crowds. Hopefully this year's event will have a little more access to the victuals. Get your tickets here.

Reviews & writeups:

Tan Vinh says wine is on the docket, and romance is on the mind during happy hour at Kirkland's bin on the lake (come on guys, this all lower case business is just lame). Food seems burger-oriented, with mini burgers and scallop sliders, but the view of Lake Washington and the Olympics is the big draw here. [Seattle Times]

Reporter Susan Kelleher's on Dining Deals duty, waxing nostalgic about the New York Italian food of her youth at Hey Paison! in Burien. The menu names look a little cheesy (in my opinion, at least), but just one bite of a "volcanic mess of a hoagie" and Kelleher's confident this place lives up to her youthful memories. [Seattle Times]

He waits five paragraphs to do it, but Sheehan makes a provoking point in his review of Japonessa Sushi Cocina: we'll one day reach a point where food will be "unburdened by style or tradition." Though the joint totally fails at being a Japanese-Spanish hybrid, he does enjoy its mishmash of food. My favorite line is Sheehan's description of an octopus dish as "some failed midnight notion written down in José Andrés' dream journal and abandoned in the light of day." [Seattle Weekly]

Nancy Leson pays a visit to two new outposts of the pie-trumps-cupcake revolution.[Seattle Times]

OK, OK, we get it. Pie is trendy. Though as The Stranger points out in its roundup of favorite local pies, this beloved pastry was never gone in the first place. [The Stranger]

Kate of Pat My Butter dines at Local 360 and finds that the 360-mile radius around Seattle can yield a vinegary bratwurst, decadent fried peanut butter, buffalo rabbit saddle bites, a pretty damn good steak and fried chicken filled with bacon and topped with a mousse of confit chicken thighs. Despite her experience, she promises "it is possible to have a meal here and not take years off your life."

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitters):

Modernist Cuisine is everywhere, and we can expect much more in the coming weeks as we count down to the manifesto's release. Popular Science gets breakfast served by Modernist Cuisine guru Dr. Nathan Myhrvold--I think pea butter on toast sounds quite fabulous (and it apparently made an appearance at this weekend's dinner).

Serious Eats' "A Hamburger Today" blog breaks down Modernist Cuisine's stunningly labor-intense burger, featuring a made-from-scratch bun toasted in rendered beef suet and romaine "sliced into a medallion and infused under pressure with condensed hickory smoke."

Sheehan's got details on Top Chef's upcoming casting call in Seattle, and one mother of an application, that calls for a psych evaluation and a pledge to not hold public office for one year after the season airs.

Just what you've always wanted. Starbucks wine glasses: officially for sale at the Olive Way, 15th Avenue and Roy Street Fakebucks locations.

I'm not going to spend too much time on Valentine's Day, but you can scout for dinner ideas here and here.

Bellevue woman won a three-day novel writing contest with a manuscript about a family-run teriyaki shop in Seattle, forced to compete with a haunted teriyaki truck. The title--Terroryaki!

Seattle: Serious Pie South Lake Union

2011-02-02T07:00:00.002-06:00

By now you certainly don't need me to tell you about the pizza at Serious Pie, about its burnt, yet chewy crust, unusual oval shape or even the fine sprinkling of grains that brings the dough to the brink of just salty enough.

However the new outpost in South Lake Union offers a completely new experience--obtaining this pizza without a two-hour wait.

As I mentioned yesterday, I hit up the Westlake Serious Pie on Monday for a biscuit sandwich at the newly christened Dahlia Workshop. But Seth and I also visited over the weekend for a lunchtime pizza date with Ian and Danielle.

The new space is a welcome contrast the original Serious Pie, which always felt somehow secret and tucked away (even though half the city wanted to dine there at the same time you did). The South Lake Union space feels open and airy.

The downstairs has a small bar space and the counter that serves biscuits by day and prosciutto by night.

Across from the bar is Soul Wine, the shop from Michael Teer of Pike & Western Wine Shop (his wife is the CEO of Tom Douglas Restaurants).

Though the shop closes at 6, I'm guessing the small tasting bar does a brisk business when patrons are waiting for early evening tables at Serious Pie.

The actual dining room is upstairs...

...as is the pizza prep kitchen and oven.

I dig the flames on the wood-burning oven.

Sitting under the low-hanging eaves, my first thought was that the dining room resembles a sort of pizza-eating aerie or treehouse. My second was, "how did the fire department ever approve the permits for this?"

Watching the kitchen at work is a great way to pass the time while your pizza bakes. I know you could see the action at the other Serious Pie, but again, this space feels so much less cramped and crammed. Though perhaps I'd feel differently during the dinner hour when I hear tables still fill up quickly.

Another favorite activity of diners waiting for their pizzas is wandering over to the railing on the far end of the dining area to look down at the Dahlia Workshop's baking operations.

In the Seattle city guide Douglas recently released on Amazon, he says his favorite selection from Serious Pie is the potato, rosemary and pecorino pie ($15) customized with some strips of guanciale. Our server was glad to recreate this for us (I think the jowls cost an extra $3).

The guanciale was a positive addition, but as Seth noted, it would have been nice to have it be rendered a tiny bit to make it crisp and bring out the flavor. However there's no way you can make that request and not sound like a pretentious tool.

I'm guessing the sweet fennel sausage on top of this pizza ($17) is the same one gracing one of the morning biscuit sandwiches on offer downstairs. If so, I can't wait to sample this flavorful crumbly sausage again in breakfast form.

We rounded out lunch with the yellowfoot chanterelles pie with truffle cheese ($16).

Finally, a birthday dessert for Danielle (and, really, everyone else at the table: a beautiful chocolate budino sprinkled with sea salt and dainty droplets of olive oil ($8)

On the way home from our pizza outing, Seth requested we drive by the new Lunchbox Laboratory location just a few blocks away. The amount of haute comfort food available in South Lake Union at this point is absolutely insane. And Douglas himself has even more in the works for later this spring.

Serious Pie
401 Westlake Ave. N

Seattle: Dahlia Workshop

2011-02-01T07:00:00.001-06:00

Monday was the launch of Dahlia Workshop, a new "biscuit bar," serving serious biscuit sandwiches from a counter on the ground floor of Tom Douglas's new Serious Pie location. When this tweet went out, announcing the list of biscuit sandwiches, I was already suited up in my gym clothes, ready for some exercise. Instead I found myself standing at the counter here, placing an order for this sandwich...

I was still in full workout gear, including the heart rate monitor Seth got me for my birthday that tracks how many calories you've burned. Thank god it doesn't tell you how many you are consuming.

The building at Westlake and Harrison now houses the centralized baking operations for the ever-growing Douglas empire, the same operations that used to be tucked behind the dining room at the original Serious Pie. When I heard Douglas was opening a bakery counter called Dahlia Workshop, I envisioned a little walk-up window on the side of the building.

In reality, the baked goods action happens inside Serious Pie, at the downstairs counter that turns into a prosciutto bar at night.

Amazon employees and anyone else who works in the neighborhood should be genuflecting to the heavens that this facility is here to service their breakfast and lunchtime cravings (especially if you're ever coming into work with a hangover). The biscuit sandwiches are available from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends.

My selection, the fried chicken ($8/$9 with an egg), was unwieldy as hell, but an absolute triumph of gravy. Tabasco and plenty of black pepper gave it more punch than you expect from your standard cream gravy. The biscuits are square and tend toward the dense side--and do I really need to tell you that they're buttery?

My main complaint is, admittedly, a ridiculous one. The fried chicken had a beautiful crisp, coated outside, but the exterior gets consumed quickly. I was left with a thick piece of skinless chicken in the middle of my biscuit. It was gorgeous white meat, thick and juicy, but that seasoned crunch helped keep the sandwich in balance.

I have a feeling Seth and I will be venturing down here on a weekend morning for the fennel sausage and fontina sandwich, or perhaps just a simple biscuit and jam.

If by chance you don't feel like gorging yourself on decadent biscuit sandwiches, Dahlia Workshop serves a brief lunch menu of minestrone, a chop salad and a meatball grinder. An assortment of baked goods is available all day.

Dahlia Workshop
401 Westlake Ave. N

Monday News Roundup (January 31)

2011-01-31T07:00:00.003-06:00

Restaurant openings seem to happen in geographical flurries. This week's microburst is happening in South Lake Union, with Lunchbox Laboratory reopening and Tom Douglas still ramping up at his Westlake building (and continuing work on his Terry Avenue project around the corner).

With talk of baseball concessions and slow season renovations at Pike Place Market tapering off, it's easy to imagine winter is easing up, despite this week's chilly forecast (can we be done with the year-in-review pieces now, please?).

Here we go...

What's open/what's closed/who's where:

Lunchbox Laboratory is slinging burgers in its giant new South Lake Union digs. Prolific local food photographer @suomynona (that's "anonymous" backwards) has some great interior shots.

Seattle Met sorts through the temporary shutterings due to Pike Place Market's renovation. The good news--Place Pigalle and Pike Place Fish are due to reopen this week.

Allison Scheff has more details on RN74 and raises the money question--who's going to be in the kitchen? Sounds like someone local.

RIP 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea: 7/18/09-1/31/11. Today it turns back into a Starbucks, says blogger extraordinaire Starbucks Melody.

The Elysian is opening a new brewery in Georgetown, but it's all business down there--no taproom or pub.

Safeco Field is getting some new concessions from none other than Ethan Stowell, though my dreams of ballpark geoduck will have to wait for another season. The Bullpen Market area is adding "Hamburg + Frites with Chef Ethan Stowell" and "La Crêperie, Authentic Parisian Crêpes with Chef Ethan Stowell." Also coming to the concessions, a pizza spot from New Haven-based pizza maestro Bill Pustari and a taco spot from chef Roberto Santibañez.

West Seattle Blog has good news for burger fans--Zippy's looks to be locking down a new location.

Also from the neighborhood blogs, Meander's cafe is open in the old Jade West Cafe space in West Seattle and upcoming Admiral Junction wood-fired pizza spot Pizzeria22/Ventidue has an update construction. Cafe Reiki, an organic, raw food cafe, is moving into the former Nervous Nellie's space in Ballard, and plans to open in February.

Events and such:

Joule chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi are doing a little soup-based globetrotting. Seattle Met's Nosh Pit blog has details on its new series of weekly soup-based menus that includes goulash, posole, cioppino and pork and kimchi stew (details on FB as well)

Cochon 555 is happening on February 20, a bit earlier than last year. The five-way heritage pork throwdown has a top-notch list of cheftestants this year: John Sundstrom; Holly Smith; Rachel Yang; Ethan Stowell and Jason Stratton. Organizers say the pigs will be larger to avoid previous long line/starvation scenarios and tickets are bound to sell out. Get yours here.

Reviews & writeups:

Walrus & the Carpenter gets the formal review treatment from the Seattle Times (and some surprisingly successful references to the restaurant's namesake poem). Providence Cicero finds the oysters "so cold and so fresh you almost expect them to shiver." But don't order so many that you don't have room for the "collection of haute bar cuisine," particularly the fried Brussels sprouts, fried oysters and tartines. [Seattle Times]

Extended hours, views of Elliott Bay and a huge half-off menu that includes fancy locally raised pork and beef? Tan Vinh's Happy Hour writeup makes Belltown spot Ventana sound like a must-try. [Seattle Times]

Arts writer Michael Upchurch is back on the Dining Deals beat, promoting Bernu's Indian Restaurant in Ravenna as a budget dining experience that manages to be elegant as well. No tandoor grill, but the curries, biryanis, meat and seafood dishes should keep you busy for a while. [Seattle Times]

Those lentils at Lecosho are getting a lot of press lately. Sheehan uses the phrase "master of lentils" in his review to describe "whoever prepped the bowl of sharply flavored, wine-dark, savory little buggers." Elsewhere on the menu he finds "too many little mistakes," but that's not preventing the dining room from filling to capacity every night. [Seattle Weekly]

Surly Gourmand brings his "your mom" jokes to Elemental, where diners relinquish control and submit entirely to the pre-determined menu. Not every dish is flawless, says Surly, but "fuck it"--Elemental is a hell of a bargain with some awesome food and enough wine that some diners complain about getting "too drunk," a sad situation comparable to having too much money to fit in your wallet. [Seattle Weekly]

Leslie Kelly's weekly trio of Grillaxin features heads to West Seattle's brand new "rustic Northwest" spot Avalon to interview chef Deb Breuler, a veteran of Maggiano's and [Seattle Weekly]

The city seems to have soup on the brain of late--no surprise given the lousy weather. The Stranger staff has compiled its favorite bowls from around the city, including Revel's hangover soup, the wild rice and cheddar at Zayda Buddy's and lots of at-home and specialty grocery store picks. [The Stranger]

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitters):

Wade through the groan-inducing wordplay and Nancy Leson takes on a topic I find highly interesting--whether restaurants should charge for bread and butter. For my money, the best free bread service in town is still at Blackboard Bistro.

I love this--Skillet's Josh Henderson is planning decorate his upcoming diner with a wall of funky old skillets. He's offering $40 gift certificates to anyone willing to donate a funky, well-used skillet. Does your kitchen have anything that will pass muster? He's a bit of a skillet brand snob. Details in his newsletter, and thanks to Seattle Met for bringing this to light.

Another teasing Tweet from Maria Hines--Golden Beetle looks soooo close to ready.

Perhaps you've heard that the Eater blog is going to be expanding into the Seattle market. Eater Natinoal ran an entertaining post last week on navigating awkward dining moments, like which seat to take at the table, and what to do if you're the only one who wants dessert.

CNN's Eatocracy blog takes on another of my favorite food topics, the awfulness of the word "foodie". And, bonus! The writer interviews our own Jason Sheehan, whose 61-word sound byte pretty much encapsulates his entire writing style.

I won't even pretend to be unbiased here. One of my dear friends, Chelsea Lin, has a new column over at Voracious. It's called "Counter Intel" and explores the tiny food counters at ethnic groceries around Seattle. Check out her first piece, a trip to Salvadorean Bakery and its waddle-inducing pupusas and pollo en crema de loroco.

While I'm dealing in shameless plugs, I wrote a profile over at Seattlest last week of Rich Coffey, the only certified Cicerone in the entire state of Washington, as well as executive chef at Madison Park Cafe.

Jess Voelker's happy hour of the week: Kaname Izakaya in the ID, a no-frills affair with small plates of fried goodness for $4.50 or less and 16-ounce Sapporos are $3.

Capitol Hill Seattle blog has the police report from a small booze burglary that occurred at Marjorie.

Serious Eats profiles Wenatchee-based Snowdrift Cider, just another bit of proof that Washington dominates our national rediscovery of hard cider.

Don Ward tracks the sometimes-scandalous, sometimes-sad history of Olympia beer in this Voracious piece. It was also a nice surprise to see a friend from Chicago quoted on page 3 (hi, Sanjiv).

The 5 Point Cafe's request for expanded outdoor seating has brought out the NIMBYs in force, reports TheSunbreak's Jeremy Barker.

I've walked by the Walgreens on Pine Street several times lately and wondered what was up with the stacks of unfamiliar beer cans piled high in the windows. While the cans look like prop brews for use in a sitcom, it's actually the drugstore's new private-label beer. Yikes. Maybe it will become one of those "so lame it's cool" trends like this was back in my college days.

Voracious looks back on 12 months of openings and closings in 2010, from the opening of Emmer & Rye in January to the December klosure of Kurrent.

Seattle: Uneeda Burger

2011-01-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

First-time visitors to Uneeda Burger would do well to execute a careful study of the menu, particularly the burger list and sides, approaching the counter. Otherwise the large chalkboard, the bevy of toppings, the row of beers and the immediacy of having to place an order right that second is bound to overwhelm.

Owner Scott Staples is the man behind Restaurant Zoe and Quinn's, which means he's also the man behind my favorite burger in town. At Quinn's the burger-to-bun ratio is just right and the bacon asserts itself, standing up to the cheese and juicy beef.

Here, burgers are piled high with toppings like roasted chili relish, charred peppers, assorted special sauces--even tempura-fried lemon slices. By the time my eyes finished with the burgers and made it to the sandwich and salad menu, they started to glaze over and I somehow missed the poutine on my first visit--a Saturday lunch with Seth, Chelsea and David. Good thing I came back for a subsequent meal.

Truthfully the "beef gravy and cheese sauce" doesn't taste too different from the demi glace and fonduta on Quinn's memorable version.

Being overwhelmed by food is not a bad problem to have. And, in my defense, there are lots of fun things to look at.

The building housed a nursery before Staples moved on, but began life as Uneeda Auto & Boat Rebuild (the original sign is built into the bar and order counter.

The inside keeps that industrial vibe, which is also practical for mopping up the fries and crumbles of ground beef dropped on the floor by the many kids who come through here--Uneeda Burger is already a huge hit with families.

And in the summer months, it's going to have one of the best patios in town.

I decided to start with a burger baseline, ordering the classic #1 but adding cheddar and bacon ($6.25). And the bacon strips on this beef patty certainly assert themselves as well. In fact, if you're not careful they might actually poke your eye out as you take a bite.

The lettuce lends a satisfying crunch to each bite, and the "special sauce" has that comforting thousand island tang.

The Quinn's burger feels like something to be eaten after dark, licking the juice off your fingers beneath the glow of Edison bulbs. It's somehow in keeping with the rest of the pub's savory, meaty menu. Uneeda Burger, by contrast, has an industrial diner feel. This is a place for people who like their burgers piled high with toppings. Writeups of the restaurant have referenced Danny Meyers' Shake Shack, and Taylor's Automatic Refresher (now renamed Gott's) in San Francisco and Napa. The comparison of gourmet burgers in a no-frills setting is apt, but I found the list of topped burgers more reminiscent of Red Robin--albeit with a tremendous upgrade in both quality and flavor.

The beef is from Painted Hills, though for $3 or $4 you can upgrade to a grass-fed Wagyu beef from Whidbey Island. When I spoke to Staples for Seattlest last fall, he said he was experimenting with this "unbelievable" beef he found, but using it would mean either a smaller burger or a steeper price. The upgrade seems like a nice compromise and I'll definitely explore it on my next visit. This time around I was too overwhelmed by the menu choices (and, let's face it, a little hung over).

Seth went with the #3 BBQ Smash ($9) piled with charred onions, cheddar, bacon and a splatter of barbecue sauce.

Overly tangy sauce can throw a burger's composition out of whack, but this was nicely in harmony. Lunchbox Laboratory is still the champ when it comes to Jenga-style burgers towering with toppings, but Uneeda Burger can hold its own on this front.

David's #8 mushroom burger ($8) with crimini, porcini, shallots, black truffle salt and gruyere, looked just as impressive on the front end, but compacted neatly in his hands.

Chelsea is a fan of the elaborately composed burger, but she found her lamb version ($12) extremely salty. The Mediterranean assortment of onions, peppers, arugula, cilantro and manchego was a bit overwhelming. The tempura lemons were a cool touch in theory, but there was just too much going on in this dense burger.

As in most french fry situations, you're a fool if you don't get the waffle fries.

Burgers come on metal trays, and Staples eschews fancy in-house buns for an assortment purchased from Franz. The assembly line is quick; your table before you can return from gathering up your napkins and utensils. A beer and burger lover, he knows when to go all out and when to play to our nostalgia for the malt shops that most of us never visited in our youth.

Uneeda Burger
4302 Fremont Ave. NW
uneedaburger.com (still under construction)

Monday News Roundup (January 24)

2011-01-24T10:00:00.003-06:00

Hello all,
A Craigslist posting seeking staff for the Seattle outpost of Michael Mina's RN74 caught my eye last week--a happy reminder that one of 2011's major openings is just a few months away.

The restaurant gets its name from the major highway that runs through France's Burgundy region, but the Seattle location will also focus on Oregon and Washington wines. Since Mina grew up in Ellensburg, and Burgundy is at the same latitude as Oregon, the restaurant slated to open this spring at 4th and Pike feels like kismet.

RN74 wine board courtesy of Stephen Hahn

I've only sampled the wine at the San Francisco RN74; the by-the-glass list is enormous and the lounge was always bustling. Let's see if those San Francisco prices fly in Seattle.

Meanwhile, it seems like half the food spots in town are either closed for renovation (or a January break) or launching brunch service. Let's get rolling...

What's open/what's closed/who's where:

Pike Place staple The Crumpet Shop is closed for earthquake retrofitting. Estimated reopen: April 1.

On a sweeter note, another Pike Place Market shop, The Confectional, is planning a dessert spot on Broadway next to Poppy, says CHS blog. Farther down the street they've got news of a place called Saizen Sushi going into the Joule building, and a place called Pho Le is moving into the former Maharaja on Pike Street. Read about all this and a ton more in last week's food + drink notes.

Also from CHS: first Dulces Latin Bistro closed in Madrona. Then it was moving to the Joule building. Now it's going into the building at 14th and Union that's housing Oola craft distillery and tasting room (distilleries are popping up all over the place).

Sleek Las Vegas joint Munchbar debuts its Bellevue Square location on Friday. Voracious says the menu includes grilled cheese dipping sticks.

The Blue Glass, a lovely little bar with great food has started brunch service. They promise an amazing monte cristo. Brunch has also begun at Madison Park Conservatory.

Jess Voelker is a veritable font of happy hour news, both good and bad. Luc's late-night happy hour is on hold 'til summer (damn, damn, damn) and she's got details on happy hours from Octo Sushi, Rock Box and Kirkland's Bin on the Lake.

On the neighborhood blogs, Phinney Mexican spot El Chupacabra is opening a West Seattle branch, Shop Agora market is planning a larger second location in (where else) Capitol Hill, and Maple Leaf's A New York Pizza Place has closed.

Reviews & writeups:

Providence Cicero heads to Edmonds to review late-blooming strip mall spot Five Bistro. Based on the "flickers of excitement in the cooking," she suggests giving chef and Argentina native Facundo Defraia a little more creative license. The menu skips around from carne asada to a pizza crust that "closely rivals Seattle's Serious Pie." [Seattle Times]

Despite its $1 happy hour drink menu, Spanish-Italian Tidbit Bistro on Capitol Hill is not a "let's-get-smashed kinda place," warns Tan Vinh. As for food, stick to the "simple, crunchy bar bites," many priced between $2 and $4. A dollar bill buys you well drinks and surprisingly good table wines. [Seattle Times]

Vinh's doing double duty this week, using the Dining Deals feature to highlight Pho Lily in Burien. While Seattle is rife with good pho joints, this kitschy hole in the wall next to a gas station has one of the best beef broths in the area, says he. [Seattle Times]

Sheehan's review of Jak's Grill in West Seattle provides a stunning example of both his capacity to meander and the fact that deep down he really does know something about food. Jak's has been around for 15 years, serving dry- and wet-aged steaks that are treated with care and significantly cheaper than an upscale steakhouse. [Seattle Weekly]

The Stranger this week re-reviews Primo pizzeria on First Hill; the owners purchased this week's article in the Strangercrombie charity auction. It's a lovely idea, but for the sake of variety let's turn to Bethany Jean Clement's writeup of Showa, the "booze-filled treehouse" Fremont izakaya in the former Chiso Kappo space. There's plenty of sake and Asahi to drink, but the brief menu sounds disappointing. Clement describes a pork belly skewer as "a tragic end for the belly of the pig." Stick to the yakitori and mac and cheese (an unlikely combination to be sure). [The Stranger]

The masterful Hugo Kugiya tells the story of the cultural and romantic forces that hath wrought the delicous doner kebab at downtown spot The Berliner (the owner is planning a South Lake Union shop as well). [Crosscut]

Nancy Leson loves Madison Park Conservatory just as much as I do...though I think her deviled egg got some special extra-Dungeness treatment. Sunday night suppers are in the works.

Praise continues to pile up for Revel, but this time it comes with the usual lovely pictures courtesy of Dawn and Eric Wright.

Did I mention people like Revel? Getting a pancake here is mandatory, says Pat My Butter.

I have a gift certificate to Art of the Table sitting on my desk and Jay Friedman's "Happy Monday" writeup has me questioning whether I can wait 'til chef Dustin Ronspies concludes his January break.

Ripped from the headlines (and the Twitters):

Maria Hines is back from her travels and tweeted this pic of the space that will soon be Golden Beetle.

Who wants to start a club solely dedicated to Allium on Orcas chef Lisa Nakamura being awesome?

Serious Eats has been all over Seattle this week, thanks to local blogger Adam Lindsley, with profiles of Dick's and West Seattle pizza spot Phoenicia (a profile of Red Mill is coming soon).

A rundown of candy-inspired desserts in the February Bon Appétit gives some love to Mistral Kitchen pastry chef Neil Robertson and his ultra brownie with peanut butter ice cream.

Dining at the bar is a great way to gain insight into a restaurant; hence I am bookmarking Christopher Werner's list of "15 Restaurants Where its Better to Sit at the Bar."

If you enjoy Rebekah Denn's writing as much as I do, you can catch up on all her recent pieces here. Rebekah, when exactly do you sleep?

Beveridge Place Pub, Naked City Taphouse, Stumbling Monk and Über Tavern all made Draft Magazine's 2011 list of America's Best Beer Bars.