Friends with Class! Karen's Birthday Party

Our good friend Karen celebrated her 70th birthday in incredible style last week due to the efforts of her awesome husband Rick - and we were among the lucky 50 folks who got to enjoy it. It was a totally classy event from beginning to end. First, Rick was able to cajole super chef, one of Food and Wine Magazines Best 10 Chefs nationally, 2010 James Beard Best Chef Northwest semifinalist, and amazingly nice guy Matt Dillon of Sitka and Spruce
and The Corson Building
to cater an incredible dinner at The Quartermaster Inn on Vashon.

Then, he talked Jennifer and Andy Krikawa , founders and amazing talents of the Vashon Opera into putting on an hour of up close and personal opera performances throughout the evening. I am not an opera fan but I was entertained, amazed, and in awe of the talent and the music when enjoyed in this close up personal atmosphere.

The food and wine: Bar Ferd'inand supplied the wines for the evening. The white wine was a Vin de Pays L'heurault from Moulin de Gassac 2009; a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Clairette, and Grenache Blanc.
The red was a Cotes du Rhone Villages 2008 form Mas de Boislauzon; a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.
The Cremant was from Hubert de Verdereau and is a Blanc de Noirs (White wine made from Pinot Noir grapes). This sparkling wine accompanied the passed apps which included wonderful, salty, fresh Oysters, gougeres, and a crostini with pork rillettes.


Chef Dillon's dinner was served family style from large platters in the courses followed by a wonderful dessert.

The first course included a salt water brined King Salmon Lox with honey, huckleberries and pickled chantrelles. WOW!

Another platter was thin sliced Persimmon salad with dry cured Duck Breast and Hazelnuts. Double WOW!!

The final platter of this first course was a Smoked Trout brandade with Pickled Peppers, crackers and radish. YUM.

The second course also included three passed platters:

One platter included plump Penn Cove Mussels cooked in Cider & Bay with apples, fennel, and Brown Bread. Best Mussel dish I have ever had!

Another platter included large pieces Steamed Halibut with sorrell sauce and Japanese pumpkin that was just fabulous.

The third platter was a Vegetable Bagna Cauda which immediately on returning home sent me to Epicurious.com to figure out how to recreate it. I was drinking the oil bath!

The Third course consisted of a whole lamb, selected and slaughtered by Chef Dillon served two different ways with Chestnuts and Pears. this lamb did not die in vain.

The lamb was supported by a separate platter of Yellow Finn Potatoes cooked in cream. WOW again!

the final platter of this course was a perfect Salad of lettuces and chicories

The dessert consisted of huge fry pans of Apple Clafoutis served with a big passed bowl of whipped cream.

It really is great to have friends, both for birthday parties , and everyday who have the class of Karen and Rick. Happy Birthday and thank you!.

ShopHouse - Pop-Up Thai on Capital Hill

Super talented Lark Chef Wiley Frank is running a pop-up restaurant in Licorous 928 12th ave. location on Monday nights from 5pm to midnight. Six friends made the trek from Vashon Island last night to try it out. Word has already obviously spread because when we arrived at about 6:15 the place was almost full. Wiley has spent a couple of years cooking and eating in Thailand , most recently most of this last year.

The menu at Shophouse changes somewhat each week as Wiley presents the many gems of flavor delights he has discovered in Thailand. Last night we literally had everything on the menu - over a dozen items, some of them so good we ordered 2 or 3 times - the short ribs and the fish cakes most memorably.

We had a couple of folks who were a little worried about it being too highly spiced but that did not turn out to be a problem at all. The higher layers of spice for most dish's were achieved, if you wanted, by the condiments and side sauces presented with each dish. Most of the items are small plates with a few larger portioned items. Therefore it is easy to try many different items without breaking the bank. The drinks and beer are great as well.

This is really a great restaurant - nothing like the typical Thai restaurants that abound in the Seattle area. don't miss out = set your sites on a Monday night in the near future and visit Shophouse on Capital Hill

Brunch: Adventures in Hollandaise

Eggs Benedict, that most iconic of brunch dishes. But, without the rich, creamy Hollandaise poured atop the quivering egg, what would it be but eggs and toast with a bit of meat? Not much, if you ask me.

I've always loved Eggs Benedict but have been too intimidated to take on the task of preparing Hollandaise sauce. I mean, you hear these horror stories about broken, curdled messes sending chefs into fits of weeping and days of ennui. Who wants the heartache?

But, I also figured if I was really going to lay claim to the title of Kick Ass Home Cook, I'd better learn how to make Hollandaise. It was easy! I recount my experience here as a how-to guide for the equally trepidatious.

First off, I'd always thought of Hollandaise as an egg sauce. But, as I learned this morning, it is actually better described as a butter sauce. There is a truly sick amount of butter in Hollandaise, all of which is meant to absorb into the egg yolks. Julia Child recommends no more than 3 oz of butter per egg yolk, and sometimes less is more.

Each tablespoon of butter is equivalent to about 1/2 an ounce, so you want no more than 6 tablespoons of butter per egg yolk (and that is a maximum).

To serve about 4 people generously, I started with 3 egg yolks and 14 tablespoons of butter (well shy of of the maximum - and it still came out plenty rich).

You'll also need about 1 Tbs lemon juice (fresh squeezed), 1 Tbs of cold water, and salt to taste.



Here's what you do:

Melt 12 Tbs of unsalted butter over low heat. Then set it aside. Cut 2 Tbs of cold butter and have at the ready.

Set a pot with an opening large enough to accommodate your metal mixing bowl to a low simmer with 2-3 inches of water.



In a large, metal bowl, whisk 3 egg yolks until creamy and well-incorporated (about 1 minute). Then add 1 Tbs lemon juice, 1 Tbs water, and a pinch of salt. Whisk again, about 1 minute.

Place 1 Tbs of the cold butter in the egg mixture and then place the metal bowl over the lightly simmering water. Gently whisk the eggs until the butter melts and is incorporated. The idea here is to thicken the eggs very gently. If they seem to thicken too quickly or to start to curdle, you must take them off the heat immediately and plunge the bottom of the bowl in cold water. Once you can see the bottom of the bowl each time your whisk scrapes over it, the eggs are sufficiently thickened (this will take only 1-2 minutes). Take the bowl off the heat.

Set the bowl on a dishtowel to brace it and whisk in the remaining 1 cold Tbs of butter to temper the eggs and cool them slightly.

Then, whisking constantly, add a few drops of the melted butter. At this early stage, you must add only a very little butter and whisk vigorously. You are trying to force the thickened egg yolks to absorb the butter. You can graduate to drizzling in 1 Tbs of melted butter at a time, whisking and drizzling. If the butter seems to slow in its incorporation, stop drizzling and whisk vigorously. This process takes about 3-5 minutes and requires a strong whisking arm, but it's well-worth the effort. You can stop short of whisking in the pale milk solids that will have settled to the bottom of the butter pan.

Your Hollandise should now be thick and fabulous:


Once all the butter is incorporated, season with salt to taste. The Hollandaise can be set aside in a warm spot (near the stove) and will hold for at least 30 minutes. Don't try to reheat it; it's meant to be served only just warm.

Meanwhile, prepare the desired quantity of poached eggs. I like to cheat and cook mine in those little silicone cups. I season them with salt, olive oil, and hot sauce and poach them in a covered pan of simmering water for 4 minutes. You'll also want to have some nice English muffins toasted up to serve as a base. For the meat, you can use what you like - Canadian bacon is a classic, but I recommend a spicy chorizo or Cajun sausage to add kick and cut the richness of the sauce and poached eggs.

All that remains is to assemble the Eggs Benedict - muffin on the bottom, then the meat, eggs perched on top. And, at last, pour over that glorious yellow Hollandaise sauce. Believe me, one serving will earn you back all the calories you burned whipping the sauce...and then some!

Bon Appetit!

Maialino: Dishing on The Whole Hog

Restaurant Name: Maialino
Restaurant Location: 2 Lexington Avenue, New York

Located in a quiet and idyllic spot just off Gramercy Park (actually off the lobby of the Gramercy Park Hotel), Maialino is Danny Meyer's latest gift to New York City. For this outing, Meyer has chosen to focus his Italian restaurant around that most humble-yet-glorious of beasts: the pig.

For regular readers of this blog, it will come as little surprise that I'm yet again extolling the virtues of a meat-centric, pork-heavy eatery. Vegetarian I am not, and Maialino would indeed be a tough sell for a vegetarian. There is very little on the menu to serve the herbivorous among us (even the side vegetables have bacon, guanciale, and the like in them).

Like many of Meyer's restaurants, Maialino offers diners two approaches to their meal. If you've made a reservation (about 2 weeks in advance), you can eat in the dining room. If you want to walk in and take your chances, then there is a bar area in the front with smaller, more casual tables. The service seems equally friendly-yet-distracted in both parts of the restaurant, and the menus are also roughly the same...BUT with slightly different specials.

There's the rub. The special dish at Maialino is the whole roasted suckling pig (serves 3-4). You can order this any day of the week in the dining room, but only on occasion in the bar. So, if you want to ensure you can have the pig, you gotta make a reservation. It's well worth doing this once. The suckling pig is truly awesome.

The meat is roasted to a melty, tender sigh-inducing perfection. Every bite of meat remains moist while the skin (oh, the skin!!) is crispy and toothsome and so very flavorful. It is, quite literally, the most perfect pig skin I have ever eaten.

The whole roasted pig is, as you'd expect, a gigantic portion. Our waiter claimed that 2 people could wrestle it down, but we gorged ourselves and still had about half of the meat left over. This actually turned out to be a good problem to have. Maialino's pig makes for great sandwiches later in the week. Though, a tip to the wise, the skin does not reheat very well - so be sure to gobble as much of that down at the restaurant as possible.

Oh, and the pig comes with roasted rosemary potatoes...you know, just to make it look a bit less like you are ordered and are eating nothing but a whole pig.

The other offerings at Maialino are also excellent. The first time we ate there we dined in the bar and shared a bunch of delicious pastas, cheeses, cured meats, and wine.

The super-awesome Malfati pasta came with a ragu of (you guessed it) suckling pig and fresh arugula. It was gone before I even realized I'd eaten it, though we found the Carbonara pasta to be overwhelmingly peppery. They've got an impressive selection of cheeses and house-cured meats to munch on. If you feel compelled to eat a vegetable here, I recommend the Kale with Chickpeas and Pancetta.

We were so full by the time dessert rolled around that nothing really sound good, so we let our waiter chose the bread pudding for us. It came out looking a little unglamorous, but DAMN, it was good. It was a classic brioche pudding plated via a ring mold. Inside was a warm, melted reservoir of chocolate. Yes, please.

Overall, Maialino was a big win in my books. If you go, though, please be sure to save me some roast suckling pig.

Bon Appetit!

Recipe: Spicy Meatballs in Fiery Tomato Sauce

These are juicy, spicy, and work well as either a hot tapas dish or as a hearty sauce to put over couscous or pasta. The flavors are more Mediterranean than Italian.


Spicy Meatballs in Fiery Tomato Sauce
makes about 40 small meatballs

Ingredients (meatballs)
2/3 lb ground pork
2/3 lb ground sirloin
2/3 cup freshly dried breadcrumbs
2 Tbs milk
1/2 cup finely minced onion
3 large cloves finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin (ground)
1 tsp ground coriander
pinch of ground clove
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 fresh egg, lightly beaten

Instructions (meatballs)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Holding your fingers in the shape of a claw, loosely toss and mix the ground sirloin and ground pork together. Add the minced garlic and onion, the spices (cumin, coriander, clove, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt & pepper). Using the "claw" hand, mix gently.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and pour it over the meat mixture. In the same bowl, moisten the breadcrumbs with the milk. Add to the meat mixture. Use the "claw" hand again to loosely mix the ingredients (try avoid overmixing or tightly compacting the meat).

Lightly oil a large baking sheet with olive oil. Using a 1 TBS scoop, roll small meatballs and place them on the baking sheet (they may be close together, just not touching). Place the meatballs in the oven and cook for 10-12 min. Remove from oven and set aside.

Ingredients (Sauce)
1 28 oz can Italian plum tomatoes
1 Tbs salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2-4 dried hot chilies (torn into pieces), or 1 Tbs crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 cup finely diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp granulated onion/onion powder
3 Tbs olive oil

Instructions (Sauce)
In a large sauce pot, heat the olive oil over medium high. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the red peppers. Saute about 5 minutes.

In a blender, puree the canned tomatoes until smooth. Add to the pot (carefully, to avoid splattering from the hot oil). Add the vinegar, cover and let simmer on medium for about 15 minutes.

Uncover the sauce and stir. Add the salt, granulated onion and garlic - taste and adjust seasonings as needed as you continue to simmer the sauce for about 10 more minutes.

When the sauce tastes as desired, gently add the meatballs. Unless serving immediately, turn off the heat, cover, and let the sauce cool. Gently reheat to serve as desired.

Bon Appetit!

Noodle Boat -Great Thai in Issaquah

Noodle Boat may be the best Thai restaurant in the Seattle Area. We recently ate their with friends before going to a show at the Village Theatre in Issaquah. Fortunately, I called for reservations because the place was absolutely slammed when we arrived at 6 pm. It took us the full 2 hours before the play to get thru dinner as the kitchen was so busy - so plan in accordance if heading over to the Theatre.

We shared a variety of items , all unusual and all great. We started with the Fresh Thai Rolls which were actually steamed rolls stuffed with cilantro, green onion, tofu, bean sprouts, cucumber and topped with a great tamarind sauce. YUM!

We also had Larb Gai which is ground chicken, cilantro, mint all served as a salad atop a cabbage leaf. Unusual, highly recommended by others to us and very good.

We then had the Green Boat which is a noodle dish of steamed rice stick noodles with a stir fry of green curry, coconut milk, green beans, broccoli, bamboo shoots, and red bell pepper. Loved it.

Other dishes we thought were superior were the Red Curry, and a Phad Thai. They also had a very unusual brown rice which actually was RED and very tasty. One serving of the White or Brown rice easily feeds four as many of the items on the menu come as salads or noodles.

From Miranda's Kitchen: Carnitas Enchiladas

Carnitas Enchiladas
(serves 4)

Ingredients
2 lbs baby back pork ribs or country style pork ribs
1 lime (zest only)
1 orange (juice & zest)
3 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 red onion, finely diced
1 Tbs rice vinegar
salt to taste
Corn tortillas
2 cups canola oil
Cotija cheese, finely grated (about 4 cups) - this is a hard, slightly salty Central American cheese that can be found in most grocery store cheese sections.
2 jalapenos, minced
1 can spicy red enchilada sauce
1 can green enchilada sauce
accompaniments: hot sauce, sliced avocado, sour cream

Instructions:

For the filling -- rinse ribs under cold water and pat dry. Cut into 3-4 rib sections and place in a large, heavy duty pot. Try to use as wide a pot as possible and lay the ribs in a single layer. Cover the ribs with water (water should not come more than 1/4 inch above the ribs). Add half the lime and orange zest and one half of the orange juice. Add about 1 Tbs salt. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and reduce to simmer on low about 2-3 hours, until meat is falling off the bone. Check periodically to make sure the water does not dry up (though it should be reducing).

After a few hours, the water should have reduced down so that most of what remains is the grease and fat from the ribs (if it has not, continue to boil it down while you shred the meat). Remove the ribs from the pot and pull the meat off, using a fork to shred. Be sure to discard all the bones, cartilage, and membrane. Return the meat to the pot, bring heat up and fry in the remaining fat for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the zest, the rest of the orange juice, the apple cider vinegar, and more salt to taste.

Remove the meat from the pan, leaving behind as much fat as possible. Add the onion dice to the fat and fry until soft and caramelized, about 7 minutes. Deglaze with the rice vinegar. Then stir the onions into the meat mixture. Set aside or refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the enchiladas.

For assembly.
Mince the jalapenos and finely grate the cotija cheese. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a saute pan with straight sides. Fill a wide, shallow bowl with 1/4 cup of each type of enchilada sauce. Set the pan(s) you wish to bake the enchiladas in at the ready.

Briefly fry each corn tortilla until it just begins to puff (a few seconds only). Lift the tortilla out of the oil with a slotted spatula and place it in the sauce mixture. Moisten each side of the tortilla with sauce and then transfer to the baking dish. Fill with meat, jalapenos, and cheese, and then roll. Repeat this process until the pan(s) are full.

Drizzle the remainder of the enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas, paying careful attention to moisten the ends of each roll to prevent drying in the oven. Sprinkle a layer of grated cheese and any remaining jalapenos over the tops of the enchiladas. Also add a sprinkling of salt.

Bake in a 400 degree oven until the sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Serve hot with sliced avocados, hot sauce, and sour cream.

Bon Appetit!

Prime Meats, Cholesterol, and You

Restaurant Name: Prime Meats
Restaurant Location: 457 Court Street, Brooklyn

Getting past the starting gate at Prime Meats can be a pain. They don't take reservations and the wait is usually long, even if you show up early. But once you're in....it is *so* worth it.

The atmosphere is sort of rustic-meets-classy, with lots of dark wood and an old-school tavern feel. But the place somehow still appears bright and white-tablecloth-y, too.



The menu revolves around meat, much of which is cured or in sausage form, though there's a standout burger and a massive steak. Bottom line: you want to show up here hungry and carnivorous.

We were surprised, though, to find a lot of temptation beckoning from the first page of the menu - starters and salads. With more than six salads to choose from, we debated awhile before deciding to share the evening's special - a frisee salad tossed with smoked, thick-cut bacon and topped with a poached duck egg and a bacon vinaigrette. Honestly, it was obscene how good this salad was. Silky egg yolk, salty and greasy bacon, sharp and slightly bitter frisee. We ate it all with great relish, let me tell you.

The other starter we shared was the Roasted Beef Bone Marrow served with gremolata, radishes, roasted garlic, and toast. I've had a lot of bone marrow in my day. You might even call me a connoisseur. This one was the most awesomely fabulous I've had--by far. The lemon zest in the gremolata just woke all the other flavors up, its tartness playing off the rich marrow. And the roasted garlic - what a super idea! Smeared on the bread underneath the quivering marrow, it add depth and complexity.

At this point I was pretty much thinking that dinner could not possible get better, that perhaps we should just ask for the check and leave before things went downhill (I know, what a pessimist, right?). Well, I was both right and wrong.

I had ordered the burger. It came out all juicy and sloppy and dripping with cheese, served along a house-made dill pickle and plenty of fries. It was pink all the way through, toothsome, and all around one of the best burgers I have ever had anywhere.

My husband had ordered the Sukrut Garnie - a platter of pork belly, bratwurst, calf tongue, and knackworst. It was served with mustard, some potatoes, and sauerkraut. This was a bit hit and miss. Some of the sausages were a little dry. The calf's tongue (predictably, I suppose) was not very good. Overall, this dish was a little bit of a letdown. From what we've heard from friends (and what we witnessed other diners having), it looked like the Weisswurst might have been a better bet.

Did we have dessert? I honestly can't even remember. I think I must have been dazed from all the fat and cholesterol (and possibly still a little drunk off that glorious burger).

In sum: totally awesome.

Restaurant Zoe Revisited - Seattle

It has been a while since we last visited Restaurant Zoe - but it is still as much fun and as good as ever. Zoe is among only 7 traditional restaurants Zagat's rates 27 or above on food quality in greater Seattle- a very good sign of quality. Zoe has a really great atmosphere, fun but sophisticated. Their drinks menu is very good and somewhat unique to them. When you arrive you get prompt and friendly service and a nice plate of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

We started off with a shared appetiser, not on the regular menu, of a torchon of fole gras with figs. The torchon is pure, raw foie gras compressed into a roll, seasoned, lightly poached and, in this case, rolled in pistachio nuts and cut into rounds. The figs were lightly poached too. It was beautiful and delicious. The brioche was perfectly toasted. It went beautifully with a rose cremant from Burgundy.

We were then brought "spoons" of candied fennel bulb, onion, and peppers as a complimentary amuse bouche. Again, pretty and tasty.

Our next course was a dungeness crab salad for me and ricotta gnudi for Cindy. Again beautiful and of high quality.

Before our main courses we were given another complimentary course which was a small bowl of gazpacho that was creamy and light. Coincidentally I had just made this last weekend Thomas Keller's Sun gold Tomato Gazpacho from his Ad Hoc At Home cookbook. Zoes version was almost identical with the addition of a hint of melon and some creme fraiche on top. It is very refreshing - made with tomato's, onion, cucumber, and olive oil blended very, very smooth.

So far the meal was impeccable. Our mains we excellent but both suffered a bit from what I consider design flaws in the dish composition and presentation. We were debating between the Whole Hog which is not really described on the menu and the Poached Salmon with corn and Chantalle's. Our friendly waitperson described the Whole Hog accurately and Cindy ordered that. It is basically a shredded pork timbale - yummy parts of the pork braised to perfection, rolled in a breading, and stuffed into a mold. It is then unmolded and deep fried to give a crispy exterior and a shredded pork interior. The mold used was a basic rectangle so the timbale looks like a small brick. It was served on a flat plate atop a very nice complex, saucy endive salad. The design flaw, in my opinion was that there was no sauce on either the interior, or at presentation under the timable so it was a little too dry - though delicious. It's shape was very unfortunate as well and served as a "brick"atop the salad on a flat plate it was really extremely unappealing looking. A concave plate with a pool of sauce on the bottom and a meatball shape or else a rounded mold would have worked from a texture and presentation viewpoint much better. Or using a gelatinized sauce on the interior of the fried timbale would have provided the moist sauce without impacting the delicious and crunchy exterior.

I ordered the Poached Salmon which our server said would be served medium rare which was really not accurate missing the mark in both directions. the Salmon, possibly one of the best tasting and wonderfully textured and sesaoned I have ever had, was poached using a very low heat sous vide method I am almost certain. The result was that the fish was fully cooked through, not rare, and was firm and flakey with a mere touch of the fork. that is as good as it gets for anyone eating a fish. I have had many a rare salmon that had some inedible and tough raw interior parts which is the usual price paid for a perfectly cooked exterior portion. Sous Vide allows the fish to be exactly the same perfect texture all the way from surface to middle. Fortunately her diescription of rare would stop many folks squimish about raw fish from ordering the dish. This is good because using the sous vide method the fillet appears visually to be completely raw - as in totally uncooked. The long low heat ina vacum allows for this. It looked like a big thick piece of lox. Chefs like to provide drama and surprise with a meal but when that plate was put down the surprise was not appetite stimulating. As I said it was fabulous and fully cooked but I could not get Cindy to even take a bite. This dish needs to be described better so people know that are not about to be served raw fish. Or, it could have been lighly sauced to disguise the raw apperance - which would have been the better dish design appraoch in a mainstream restaurant.

We had to run to the theatre so were not able to fit dessert into our time frame.

Hopefully, my "complaints' won't disuade you from visiting Restaurant Zoe - it really is a great evening and a great meal.

Bisato - Seattle Restuarant - WOW!

I have been meaning for literally years to get to Lamperia, and then Bisato, Scott Carsberg's shrines to culinary perfection. I could kick myself! This is perhaps the most perfect cooking I have ever enjoyed - Including Thomas Keller's Per Se!

Cindy and I stopped in last night and had an unbelievable food experience at an incredible price. We each ordered 5 courses and then shared bites. The menu price per item was around $11 so for under $60 menu price each we had a 5 course meal that I will not soon forget. The total bill including wine, tax and tip was around $90 each - I have paid 4 to 5 times that for meals that were not as exquisite.

The restaurant/bar is very nice, Scott greeted us when we can in the door and was very present in the kitchen the whole time. Each menu item was both a presentation and flavor masterpiece. Each item was just 6-8 bites - very small but just right to get the maximum enjoyment and still have room to continue moving thru the menu. With 5 courses I left wanting more - which is so much better than leaving feeling ill for the rest of the night. Portion size is perfect.

We started with a glass of a nice prosecco which we enjoyed for the first few courses , then I moved to a barolo. The food courses included stuffed zucchini blossoms, a duck breast paired with a chantrelle mushroom dish, poached duck egg on a crispella, a fig stuffed with foie gras, lamb chops and potato puree, an artichoke heart stuffed with a ribiolina cheese, polenta with a meat ragu, and an amazing fresh truffle pasta. For dessert Cindy had orange confit and a caramel mousse, and I had figs stuff with marscapone. As I said each dish was so beautiful it was hard to ruin it by eating - but tasted so amazing that you literally wanted to order another of each dish.

I will be back soon - I am anxious to get 4 people and go to order literally everything on the menu and have it come in 6 or 7 courses where each person has a unique dish in each course. Cindy and I loved that approach last night and have really enjoyed it in the past at other high end tasting menu restaurants. It is really a great way to have a foodie evening.

The Lobster Shop - What a Difference a Decade Makes

Ten years ago The Lobster Shop was our "fancy destination restaurant" on the Tacoma waterfront. It hasn't changed at all in the last decade but we sure have. We received a gift card for the restaurant when we bought a new Pruis this Spring and thought we would use it last night. It was a beautiful evening, the restaurant was crowded, and we got perhaps the best table in the house with its great waterside corner view of the Sound.

The Lobster Shop has three distinct personalities depending on when you eat there. Sunday brunch is iconic, the early bird dinners are a great bargain and both of the above are jammed. We arrived as the early bird crowd was finishing their desserts. This crowd is mostly multi-generational families enjoying a "fancy 3 course dinner" out for less than $20 a head with a specific lower food cost menu offered prior to 6pm. We went to the "expensive" version of the Lobster Shop - around $160 including tax and tip for the 2 of us, including a shared app, mains, shared dessert and a bottle of wine ($21 for a 2007 Novelty Hill Sauvignon Blanc that retails for $14 - their wine markup is 10 years out of date which is great for the consumer - that bottle would be at least $28 and more likely somewhere nearer $42 at most restaurants - unfortunately, I found it totally lacking in varietal flavor - tasted more like a $6 grocery store wine). Their wine menu, as If have indicated is incredibly well priced but also extremely bland in varietals and quality - i.e. White Zinfandel as their entire rose choice.

The ingredient quality and quantity was good but not seasonal (pea pods and asparagus as veg in September). The mashed potato's we just that, so thick and dry you could stand a fork up in them, while the potato croquet Cindy had was watery and terrible. My halibut and Cindy's steak were served "Oscar style" i.e. low quality shreds of crab or lobster with an insipid version of Bearnaise for the steak and Hollandaise for the Halibut. There was apparently no seasoning of any kind used in any of the cooking. It was a large quantity of bland, boring food from another era.

I think The Lobster Shop is just fine for a fancy dinner out at a really nice location for probably a very high percentage of the population who value quantity and don't really care about great food. It's just not our place any more. I realize I sound like a "food snob" (or maybe just a snob depending on the reader) but if you are either a really good cook or have been exposed to really good seafood restaurants you are not going to be impressed. I would only recommend this restaurant for brunch or the early bird for a bring along grandma and the kids "treat" even though the food will not be very good. People, including us really seemed to enjoy themselves as it is a beautiful spot, good ambiance and the food is "safe" and "dependable". If you are going to spend $60 plus per person why would you eat here?

Casina Spinasse - Seattle

Cafe Juanita on Capital Hill!!

Last night Cindy and I had an early dinner, following her botanical painting class, at Cascina Spinasse on Capital Hill. Chef Jason Stratton was selected by Food and Wine magazine as one of the Best New Chefs of 2010 - well deserved based on our dinner. We were also lucky enough to have a good view of the kitchen and I spotted a "newcomer" in the kitchen Chef Stuart Lane - who along with Jason were mainstays of the great Cafe Juanita kitchen. Those two together again in the kitchen in Spinasse will be magic.

We were greeted with complimentary glasses of bubbly as Spinasse is celebrating their anniversary. We ordered their Anniversary Tasting Menu, for $65, began with several extra mini courses of toasted bread with anchovies, prosciutto, a salami with citrus peel and some very nice Columbia Bakery rustic bread. We also order a carafe of a nice 2007 Nebbiolo Roso.

Next we were served a stewed dish of eggplant, roasted peppers, anchovies that was very rustic and nice - not our favorite course but interesting none the less. The next dish was a beautifully prepared plate of 3 house made, stuffed fresh egg pasta that were rolled and filled to look like tootsie roll shaped candy. The filling was a lemon ricotta, and the pasta were served on a bed of walnut sauce. YUM!

Were were then served the house specialty which is a fresh house made angel hair pasta tossed with butter and marjoram and served with sauteed chantrelles and lots of finely shaved parmigiana. WOW! The courses kept getting better.

We then moved on to 2 large Rabbit Sausages shaped like meatballs served over a bed of fabulous Polenta which included fresh corn in the finish with a little broth and a sauteed green on top. This was the top course of the night for us - Beautiful in every way and assertively spiced which as great.

We then had dessert and Italian Espresso. Cindy had a Chocolate Semifreddo, and I enjoyed a Peach/Goat Cheese Mousse . All top notch.

Everything about the evening was great . I really recommend this place - not cheap though for 2 including tax, tip it was $225.