Hello Internets, Herschell here! I’ve been requested to chronicle what goes on in and out of the kitchen at our newest restaurant: Seatown Sea Bar and Rotisserie! On a regular basis, I’ll go over what’s happening on your plate as well as PICTURES AND VIDEO of “behind the scenes” content like new produce that we’re excited to serve you, cooking techniques and all around randomness that goes along with being a cook 24/7.
If you don’t want to wait every week for new info, make sure to follow us on Twitter: @seatownROTO! HERE WE GO!
On the TO-GO side, we make several different vegetarian salads daily to go with your rotisseried meats! Last Tuesday, some of Roto’s salads were a fennel, sunchoke, Asian pear & lime salad, a Delicata squash, grilled scallion and toasted pistachio salad and a shaved carrot & daikon slaw with a peanut dressing.
We had the fattest spot prawns I’ve ever seen with an abundance of roe. They were pulled out of the water the night before! #Seatownhttp://flic.kr/p/8Pu2YK
A diner, @thursnightbites, took this AMAZING picture of our eggs benedict and had this to say: “@thursnightbites Amazing brunch! First time at Seatown Snackbar! http://twitpic.com/32q0b4.” He came back a week later, only to order it again! Thanks!
Construction continues on our space at Westlake and Harrison in South Lake Union where we’ll be moving the bread and pastry bakeries. Here’s a new wall going in. The floor will be poured soon and then it’s time for some real progress!
A beautiful day to have an incredibly delicious lunch at Seatown! The BLTC (bacon, lettuce, tomato, and crab, photo top right) was on a crusty loaf brimming with succulent crabmeat and crisp bacon, one of my favorites!
Also see photo, middle left, of the blini and smoked fish plate and the pan seared duck egg on rye toast. Delicious!!
Once a year, when the planets align themselves in just the right way- Tom Douglas Restaurants holds the annual Colander Cup Competition.
The competition goes a lil’ somethin’ like this:
Executive chef of all the restaurants, Eric Tanaka, makes a decree that all restaurants within the company are invited to compete for the glory of the Colander Cup- a beautiful trophy fashioned out of (you guessed it) a colander. ET determines the food theme for each competition, ( In this case it was terrines, galantines, and ballotines) and each restaurant delivers their own interpretation of the given food theme with a paired beverage. Then they are judged until one reigns supreme. Everyone in our company is invited to come and cheer on their team. Another benefit of being part of the audience: free tastes of the dishes, a snack table that was seemingly sponsored by Frito Lay, and beer and wine to wash it all down.
Tuesday night we had an impressive showing from each restaurant! The creative culinary juices were flowing as were the double entendres about “pressed meat.” But bawdy comments aside, the food was outstanding and ranged from kitch to classic.
Idaho trout terrine, wrapped in trout skin, stuffed with shrimp sausage, salmon and smoked egg yolk, served with sauce gribiche (photo upper left)
Turducken gallotine stuffed with pistachios, cranberries, and chanterelles, served with honey poached cranberries and butternut squash puree (photo middle left)
Apple and quince terrine with a granola streusel and vanilla ice cream (photo upper right)
It was a tight competition since everyone brought their A-game. Paté deep fried in corn dog batter, head cheese with a pig snout garnish, and on and on and on…
Everyone loves a dose of healthy competition, and it was clear after last night, our chefs were no exception.
On Sunday, Oct 24, we were headed out of Oxford, Mississippi, where we had been attending the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium, on the way to Memphis for our flight back to Seattle. We were pretty full from the last meal of the Symposium, a delicious Vietnamese “Tabasco Brunch” of Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese noodles with bbq pork) by Qui Ly of Les Givral’s and John Currence of City Grocery. But food writer and Southern BBQ expert, Leslie Kelly had given us the tip that there was a great little BBQ place just off the highway as you drive away from Oxford called Betty Davis, so, being professional eaters, we were determined to stop there at least for a quick look.
We almost missed the sign for the small road that took us off the highway to get to Betty Davis. Southern BBQ is always casual, at least in our experience, but this was not even a restaurant; it looked like a run-down shack. Inside, we found a rather dark grocery store with some unusual items like jars of pig lips, and a large, hospitable African American man behind the counter. We bought a few biscuits and admired the array of BBQ in a glass hot box, including BBQ bologna. When the counter guy (or owner? I assume he makes the BBQ; he was very proud of it) heard we had come all the way from Seattle but were too full to eat much, he made a bbq pork sandwich and cut it into quarters for us, gratis. It was soft, ultra tender, delicious. The biscuits were very good, too. Flat, golden, and warm with a nice layered texture inside. This was a beautiful farewell to Oxford. Sean, Julie, Coleen and I are all hoping to return to the SFA Symposium next year. We’ll save more room for Betty Davis BBQ next time.
Editor’s Note: The Colander Cup was an in-house competition for all of our restaurant teams and the catering team for the best terrine, galantine, or ballotine matched with a cocktail. The photo is courtesy of Bruce Miyahara.
Have you ever seen caul fat? This lacy net is taken from the belly lining of a pig and it’s used to wrap French style sausages. I caught Dahlia Sous Chef, Alex, making these braised lamb crepinettes for Dahlia’s dinner menu and had to take some photos because the caul fat is so beautiful.
Alex used lamb neck, and some mirepoix, and a braised lamb reduction to make these fresh sausages. Then he wrapped them in the caul fat. The crepinettes will be pan seared and served with glazed turnips, scotch ale mustard, and malted oats.
Introducing Maple Marie, the luscious little confection recently created by Molly (Dahlia Bakery Manager) and Garrett Melkonian (Pastry Chef extraordinaire and Dahlia Bakery Cookbook recipe developer)!
An exciting moment at the Southern Foodways Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi, that Operations Manager, Sean Hartley, and I attended a couple weeks ago, occurred Friday night while we were waiting for the buses to take us from the Powerhouse to Taylor Grocery for that evening’s catfish fry. We realized that fires were already lit for the next night’s barbecue! Well of course! This stuff has to cook 12 or 18 hours, so you gotta get those pits going overnight.
Saturday night’s Lodge Cast Iron Feed included Pit Cooked Barbacoa de Cabeza by Kelly English and Jonathan Magallenes of Memphis. Forty cows’ heads (photos of bones, above) were buried in the coals and cooked overnight. Then the tender and delicious meat was pulled, chopped and piled on tortillas. Drew Robinson of Jim’n Nick’s in Birmingham prepared equally delicious tacos of pork, beef, and goat.
We were happy to see some pickled vegetables on the taco plate, as vegetables had been in short supply at most of our meals, and happy also for the delicious corn on the cob slathered with cojita cheese.
I took a big swig of this innocent looking horchata (above left) before I realized it was full of Tennessee whiskey! The SFA really knows how to party!
Welcome to Family Meal, a blog that examines all things new and noteworthy in the world of food, wine, and dining.
At family meal, otherwise known as staff meal, there’s no hierarchy; you’re breaking bread with your friends. For those 30 minutes, everyone is equal- and hungry. Family meal is our version of the water cooler- but with better food.
I’ll be sharing my thoughts, tips, and observations, and, in the spirit of family meal, I’ve invited our creative, energetic staff- everyone from line cook to bartender to bookkeeper- to have a say. I hope you’ll add your own comments and join in the conversation.
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