Last Friday after work I met up with some of my favorite happy hour goers at little Sambar in Ballard. We were lucky enough to grab front row seats at the bar (there’s only one row!) where Jay, one of Seattle’s most talented bartenders, was meticulously stocking his bar for a very busy evening. Sambar houses many unique liquors to pair with specially infused syrups and freshly picked flower and herb garnishes that are plucked straight from the gardens that circle around Sambar and Le Gourmand. Jay is such a fabulous mixologist that all you have to do is tell him the liquor you prefer and then sit back and watch him carefully select each and every ingredient that he then shakes together to create your specialty cocktail. I spied a beautiful bottle that held a French ginger liqueur, and he concocted the gorgeous layered cocktail at the left (in the photo left). If I hadn’t ordered 2 more “Jay cocktails”, I might have been able to remember what was in that little elixer! But it was so good and refreshing I wasn’t about to stop at one. We also had incredible pommes frites (photo right), celery root soup sprinkled with crispy bacon, and a little souffle that melted in your mouth.
September 30th, 2009 | No Comments »
More kudos for the Pie!! Serious Pie makes the cut for Seattle Metropolitan’s list of 10 Best Restaurants 2009, and they put the guanciale, soft-cooked egg, and arugula pizza on the cover! We couldn’t be prouder!! Check out the article here. (Photo above is the cherry bomb pepper and sweet fennel sausage pie.)
September 30th, 2009 | No Comments »
Frank and I spent the weekend in beautiful Cannon Beach, Oregon (Haystack Rock, photo right). Before we left, Amy Richardson (Catering) mentioned that the last time she visited Cannon Beach, she conducted a personal fish and chips tasting, determined to find the best fish and chips in the area. I wanted to follow Amy’s lead, but as a middle-aged person, I only ate fish and chips at two places (that’s a lot of fried food!)
The Driftwood Inn has the old fashioned ambiance of a seaside town’s “fancy” restaurant, with a dark cocktail lounge and a pleasant outdoor patio with plastic chairs and tables where we were seated for lunch. The menu held several inviting options, like pan fried oyster sandwich or sauteed Dungeness crab on an English muffin with melted cheddar. But with my mission in mind, I chose the fish and chips, plus a cup of clam chowder. I ordered the $14.95 version “for small appetites.” This was a pretty big plateful with 3 big pieces of fried halibut plus french fries. (The $18.95 dinner version may have had more fish; it also came with more sides including soup and salad and garlic bread.)
The clam chowder, which came with a packet of oyster crackers, was very good- not too thick and with a nice clammy flavor. The halibut was beautifully moist, not at all overcooked. The fried batter coating however, got a big soggy after a few minutes. The fries were just ok. The tartar sauce was excellent- well balanced flavor with bits of pickle. All in all, pretty good.
The next fish and chips meal was at Lumberyard Rotisserie and Grill for dinner. Lumberyard has more of a modern, upscale feel to it than Driftwood Inn, though it’s very casual. Fish and Chips cost $18.95 here and you have a choice of halibut or salmon. I chose halibut and got 4 large chunks plus a mountain of fries and a side of coleslaw. (I know $18.95 is a lot for fish and chips- Cannon Beach isn’t cheap. But I must say given the quality and quantity of the fish, I didn’t think it was unfair.) Again, the fish was very moist and tasty. The coating was thin and very crisp- and stayed miraculously crisp throughout the meal. The fries were also crisp and good. The tartar sauce was too sweet and didn’t seem to have any diced pickle or onions. The coleslaw was exactly the kind that I grew up with in Chicagoland delis- the cabbage cut not too thick and not too thin and flecked with carrot. The coleslaw dressing was creamy, white, slightly sweet, not too thick, pooling in a white puddle in the bottom of the dish. The slaw was nostalgically familiar and therefore completely satisfying to me. So, overall, I have to give Lumberyard the edge on fish and chips.
If we’re just talking about the French fries though, the best were the ones I ate with a cheeseburger at the Spar in Olympia on the way to Oregon. The Spar, now owned by McMenamins, is a classic Olympia institution with no atmosphere except the display of antique cigar boxes. My burger was tasty and about what I expected but the fries- spectacular! Skin-on, hot and crisp, fried in clean oil, they tasted like potatoes. The McMenamins’ beer was really good too.
September 28th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It’s not so often that I eat something truly different than I’ve seen before. Breakfast in Brooklyn led me to the Roebling Tea Room and a delicious baked grapefruit with brown sugar bruleed on top. I would never have suspected the warm, sweet sections of grapefruit to be so spectacular. The dining room was fantastic, totally hip.
September 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
Reading the Sept/Oct issue of edible Seattle has convinced me that anyone who cares about the local food scene must get a subscription right away. Just a few of the articles in this issue that caught my attention:
“Hungry for Local Meat” by Heidi Broadhead- about the Puget Sound Meat Producer’s Cooperative and their very important USDA inspected mobile slaughtering units.
“Home Made, History in a Bowl of Soup” by Anna Thomas- In my 20’s I cooked my way through The Vegetarian Epicure, Books 1 and 2. Though I haven’t used either book in many years, and though her more recent book, The New Vegetarian Epicure never made it onto my radar, I believe Anna Thomas’ recipes are part of my DNA as a lifelong cook. Reading her article in edible Seattle was like listening to the voice of an old friend, someone you haven’t heard from in years. I plan to buy her newest book, Love Soup, as soon as I can.
“Averting a Seaweed Crisis” by Sumi Hahn- about gathering seaweed on Whidbey Island with her father and her less-than-enthusiastic kids.
“Lunch for a Monkey”- a charming interview with food writer Matthew Amster-Burton about how he cooks for his young daughter, Iris, and a peek into his refrigerator.
A recipe for “Heaven-Stuffed Zucchini” from Jess Thomson’s Cooking Fresh column sounds mighty delicious, and since my zucchini vine is still producing…
The article,”Renaissance Beef,” by Becky Selengut (Chef Reinvented) provides a textbook introduction to local beef including a glossary of terms, details a cheffy steak-tasting (surprisingly, there was no agreement on the best steak), and even includes Becky’s simple, mouthwatering recipe for Perfect Ribeye “serves 1(no sharing, back off!!).”
September 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
According to this article in the New York Times dining section, American cupcakes, as well as cheesecakes, chocolate chip cookies and brownies, appeal to “the region’s historic sweet tooth.”
September 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
Looking for another way to battle the upcoming cold and flu season besides waterless hand sanitizers and flu shots? Modern forager and blogger, Langdon Cook, offers his technique for making Vitamin C packed rosehip syrup. Quite appealing, now that my garden features more rosehips than rose blossoms.
Langdon Cook is the author of a new book, Fat of the Land, Adventures of a 21st Century Forager (Skipstone, 2009). You can meet Langdon at our annual Cookbook Social, scheduled for December. Keep your eyes on the events page.
September 22nd, 2009 | No Comments »
I love the back entrance to Poppy in Capitol Hill. To get to the entrance, I strolled past Jerry Traunfeld’s herb garden, overflowing with brilliant nasturtium blooms. Once inside, I sat at the bar and ordered a Papi-delicious cocktail made with tequila, red and jalapeño peppers, lime and mint. My cocktail smelled like a taqueria, but it was delicious! I also ordered the eggplant fries with sea salt and honey- so good!- and Dungeness crab and herb summer rolls. (Photo right, cocktail and eggplant fries).
When I was seated at my table, I ordered the “smali,” which is the smaller version of the thali. My smali (photo top left) had Walla Walla onion soup, minted melon and tomato salad, green beans, incredible goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms and delicious nigella naan. It was all sooo good, I wished I had ordered the larger version!
Poppy is a pleasant space. Bottom photo shows a bit of the interior and the kitchen.
September 21st, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Tom’s in New York as a featured chef for the Bon Appétit Supper Club and Café. If you weren’t tuned into the CBS Early Show this morning, here’s the link to a cool video plus recipes. In the video, Tom shows the Early Show anchors how to cook fish perfectly. (Our Rub with Lover Carol Baush was thrilled that he also showed them how to generously pat some Rub with Love Salmon Rub on the fish for that beautiful and tasty golden crust!)
September 21st, 2009 | No Comments »
Here’s an article by Melissa Allison in today’s Seattle Times about The Shepherd’s Grain, a group of farmers in the Pacific Northwest who practice environmentally responsible agriculture including direct-seeding instead of plowing, which is supposed to result in cleaner streams and a reduced carbon footprint. Our CE0, Pamela Hinckley, and our head bread baker, Gwen LeBlanc, happen to be off visiting some of The Shepherd’s Grain wheat farmers right now. Over the past few months, Gwen has been reworking our Dahlia Bakery bread recipes to include flour from The Shepherd’s Grain.
September 21st, 2009 | No Comments »
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