June 7, 2011
Seattle RW #3 – Crush
Stop 3 for Restaurant Week was at Jason Wilson’s Crush
Cheese Puffs
Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras “Steak”
Almond Rosemary Financier, Meyer Lemon Compote & Belgian Endiv
Snake River Farms Wagyu Beef Tartar
Fresh Horseradish, Roasted Beet Cous Cous & Truffled Crème Fraish
Warm Duck Confit Salad with Chicory Greens
Hazelnut Vinaigrette & Pickled Pears
Stinging Nettle Soup with Creme Fraiche
Spring Onion Noodles & Rosemary Croutons
Hand Rolled Potato Gnocchi with Gruyere Cream
Fiddleheads, Maitake Mushrooms & Savory Apples
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Smokey Cous Cous
Currants, Peppers & Mustard Greens
Crispy Skin Cod with Pee Wee Potatoes
Sherry, Bacon, Watercress & Celery
Chocolate Peanut Brownie Sundae
Salted Caramel
Artisan Cheese Tasting
Seasonal Garnish & House Made Crackers
Lemon Meringue Tart
Orange Blossom Curd, Tarragon & Mint
Seattle RW #2 – The Corson Building
The Corson Building was stop #2 for Seattle Restaurant Week. Located in an small unassuming house in Georgetown, this place puts out some quality food. They like to focus on family style seating and meals as well.
Sourdough with lovage butter, graisseron
Pork and chili rillettes with rye crackers, pickles and a six minute egg
Lamb shoulder braised with dried limes and cumin, yogurt, lentil pilaf, flatbread and condiments
Gateau Basque with hazelnut carmel and chocolate
May 10, 2011
Seattle RW #1 – Dahlia Lounge
Seattle Restaurant Week just happened again from April 10-21, 2011. Dahlia Lounge was the first stop for this series…
Chilled Astoria bay shrimp, grilled asparagus, buttermilk dressing, ficelle toast
Duck consomme, duck-green garlic meatball, spring onion, sesame
Hand-carved snake rivers farms pork leg, corn grits, mustard greens, wild ramps
Alaskan halibut, sour cream ‘n’ chives potatoes, snap peas, charred tomato vinaigrette, potato crisp
Tom’s world famous creme caramel
Coconut Cream Pie
Spring Hill Fried Chicken Dinner
Spring Hill is no longer offering their Fried Chicken Dinner but it is supposedly coming again sometime in the future
XL Meatball
Fried Chicken
Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream
December 26, 2010
“When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broke,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.”
~Howard Thurman
A good reminder that Christmas is not the end but only the beginning of what we need to do.
May 4, 2010
Seattle RW#3 – Dahlia Lounge
Tom Douglas’s Flagship restaurant Dahlia Lounge was #3 on the Seattle Restaurant Week Tour.
Mixed baby lettuce with fine herbs, garlic oil, goat cheese toast. Huge salad, almost a dinner sized salad. Tartness of the greens mixed with the other components went well together.
Asparagus and Spring Onion Soup, rustic house loaf, parmesan broth, stinging nettles. Very light and refreshing. Flavors worked well.
Char sui pork and gulf prawn, mushroom fried rice, gai lan. Pork was tender and moist. The fried rice had good flavor. The dish worked well together.
Pan seared alaskan halibut, fingerling potatoes, ham hock, broccoli rabe, ramp vinaigrette. The halibut had a nice sear and crispyness on the outside. Fish was moist and perfectly cooked. Flavors melded together. It may have been a tad bit heavy on the lemon for the tartness.
Tom’s world famous creme caramel. Similar to flan like consistency. Not overly sweet but light and refreshing.
Triple Coconut Cream Pie. Coconut evenly distributed without. Not overly sweet like some cream pies can be. The crust was buttery, flaky, delicious and pretty much made the pie.
Chocolate Orange ice cream, chocolate malt biscotti. Similar to one of those chocolate oranges. Very good.
Overall Rating: No real misses on the food. Dessert was probably the best aspect of the meal. 4 stars out of 5.
Seattle RW#2 – Tavolata
Stop #2 during Seattle Restaurant Week resulted in a visit to Tavolata with Chef Ethan Stowell.
Mortadella with Olive Oil and Parmigiano Reggiano. Good combination. Hard to mess up.
Steamed Manila Clams with Pancetta, Fennel, White Wine. Clams were nice and tender. The broth was delicious. Soaked up most of it with the bread.
Rigatoni with Spicy Italian Sausage, Majoram and Tomato. The spicyness gave it a nice kick. Good healthy sized portion of food as well.
Seared Halibut with English Peas, Fingerling Potatoes, Spring Garlic, Saba. Halibut nicely cooked and still moist. Potatoes cooked tender. English Peas still had a nice color and snap to them as well.
Chocolate Budino with Crema and Orange Florentine. Almost Flan like. Light but delicious. Good way to end the evening.
Zeppole: Lemon Doughnuts with Chocolate Dipping Sauce. Light and Soft. Fresh out of the fryer. Can’t beat a hot doughnut. Good with or without the chocolate dipping sauce.
Overall Rating: Solid meal. 4 out of 5 stars
April 27, 2010
Seattle RW#1 – Poppy
Here’s the first in a series of posts about my Seattle Restaurant Week adventures. I gotta say that Seattle RW is a pretty amazing deal. You get 3 courses for $25. It’s not to late to do it either since it goes through Thursday, April 29th.
The first stop on the Seattle RW tour was Poppy. Here’s some pictures and reviews of the food.
Created by Jerry Traunfeld, some items on the menu was reminiscent of his Top Chef Masters Appearance
Crater Lake blue, cherry, sage and walnut tart. Pretty tasty. Crust was light and buttery. The tartness of the cherry balanced out the other aspects and savory of the cheese, sage and walnut.
cumin-pork steamed buns. tasted like a steamed humbow. but a little heavy on the cumin depending on your taste buds.
lightly fried salt spring mussels with lovage. probably the best appetizer on the menu. nicely and lightly fried. crunchy but not to overcooked.
green-roasted halibut with saffron leeks, lemon thyme and chervil. halibut was very nicely cooked. the seasoning was light and delicate. very good, probably one of the best main dishes on the menu. as part of the thali, it also included an asparagus soup; swiss chard and oregano gratin; miner’s lettuce, endive, grapefruit, and olive salad; rhubarb pickle and onion-poppy naan.
i also was able to try the braised wagyu beef cheek with ginger and rosemary and the lavender duck leg with huckleberry sauce. i thought the braised beef cheek was good. nice and tender. heavy on the seasoning but savory. the lavender duck leg was similar to what Chef Traunfeld created on Top Chef Masters however the skin was nicely browned and crispy but came out a little dry.
dark chocolate terrine with ginger, cashew and sesame. pretty dense and rich. sweet but not overly sweet. pretty good as long as it was eaten slowly.
hot date cake with banana ice cream and butterscotch. all the flavors meshed well together. one of the best dishes of the evening. mmmm
can’t quite remember what this was exactly. refreshing however. i think it was a sorbet of some sort.
goat cheese pudding with cherry compote and pistachio. i’m pretty sure that the cherry compote was substituted with grapefruit and something else. i thought it was pretty good. the tartness of the grapefruit balanced out the creamyness of the pudding.
overall review, was that the food wasn’t too bad. there were some hits and misses. overall rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.
March 3, 2010
Procrastination
In my never ending quest to procrastinate..I’ve decided to start blogging again. I’m glad nothing has really changed since my Undergrad days…..
More to come….
January 17, 2010
Happy Hour List
Here’s my current list of Seattle Happy Hour places I’ve been to and the ones I want to try…
Happy Hour List
Places been:
Applebees
Barolo Ristorante
Brasa
Broadway Grill
Cascadia
Chandler’s Crabhouse
Claim Jumpers
Copper Cart
Cutter’s Bayhouse
Daniel’s Broiler – http://www.schwartzbros.com/daniels.cfm
Dragonfish
Duke’s Chowder house
Eastlake Bar & Grill
El Gaucho – http://elgaucho.com/elgaucho/images/menus_seattle/bar.pdf
Frontier Room
The Garage
Greenlake Bar & Grill
I Love Sushi
Ivar’s Acre of Clams
Ivar’s Salmon House
Joey’s
La Isla
List
The Matador
McCormicks and Schmicks – Harborside
Nijo’s
O’Asian
Ohana
Old Pequliar
Palamino’s
The Parlor
The Ram
Ray’s Boathouse
Red Fin
Romano Macaroni Grill
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse
Stanford’s
Tango
Tap House Grill
Thoa
Troiani
Umi’s
Wasabi Bistro
Places Still to Try:
Barrio
BOKA
The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak & Oyster House
Coastal Kitchen
Dahlia Lounge
Elliot’s Oyster House
Etta’s
Flying Fish
Hunt Club – http://www.hotelsorrento.com/media/docs/DiningMenus/Happy_Hour.pdf
Il Bistro
Il Fornaio
Jak’s
Lola
Maggiano’s
Maximilien – http://www.maximilienrestaurant.com/happyhour/index.html
Metropolitian Grill – http://www.themetropolitangrill.com/pdf/MetBar0630.pdf
Palisade
The People’s Pub
Sazerac
Serafina’s
Serious Pie
Taberna del Alabardero – http://www.alabardero.com/seattle/Tapas-Jul_2_09.pdf
TASTE
The Triple Door
Tutta Bella
Twisted Cork
Union
