Katie O here!  This week we talked to Tom about his big win at the James Bear Awards, Copper River Salmon season and our opinions on where to get the best pizza in town.

Our social media guru, Herschell Taghap, normally posts these radio blogs for me, but he’s busy gallivanting around Europe (poor Herschell) so I’m left to my own devices… which means at this moment I don’t know how to embed audio.  So just click here to listen on KIRO’s site!

If you’re iTunes equipped, you can subscribe directly to the podcast here and get Tom and Thierry in your ear anytime, anywhere.

Again, if you want to continue the conversation “off the air” or have any questions on anything food-related, like us on our Facebook page or follow us @SeattleKitchen,@TomDouglasCo and @TheChefInTheHat!

(Read the Intro here.

Read Parts 2 and 3, what happened on Sunday, here and here.

Read Part 4, early Monday,  here.

To continue reading about the staff trip to NYC for the James Beard awards, Colleen’s story of the  pre-award eating on Monday, May 7, starts here:)

Well, my story definitely has to be the most challenging as we were all very full from our first four stops as described by Jonah (Part 4, see link above).  On another side note, Lauren and I were not told to order pastrami at Katz’s Deli or believe me we would have eaten it.  By the time we got to the table Jonah and ET had already devoured their food!

Needless to say, by the time we got to Momofuku Ssam Bar we were full but ready to eat what turned out to be an incredible lunch in a fabulous setting.  This restaurant was ultra-hip with food to match.  We were seated in the back and told that we had pre-ordered the bo ssam (translation: a lot of food!)  It was a whole pork butt, dozen raw oysters (at least), rice and lettuce along with many delicious sauces and sambals.  We made lettuce wraps and drank homemade ginger ale and marveled at the kitchen.  My favorite dish there was the broccoli salad with smoked bluefish vinaigrette.  You might think we would be done eating at least for awhile, but oh no we had another lunch to consume.  On our way we stopped at Momofuku Milk Bar and tasted a cereal soft serve ice cream cone.  Imagine the milk after you finished your corn flakes before running off to catch the school bus.  Yes, that’s what the ice cream tasted like.  Exactly like that!

We actually walked to try to whip up our hunger and ended up at John Dory, another New York establishment that reminded us of Seatown, our own restaurant in Seattle.  We arrived in the late afternoon.  We experienced what we’ve all had in restaurants, which was “who is waiting on you?”  It brought up a discussion on how to best serve our guests when it’s busy and clearly there isn’t enough help.  We all had our horror stories and we definitely empathized with the server.  As managers, we all just wanted to jump in and help, but we managed to remain seated and let the cocktails come to us.  Our drinks were super cool and included some favorites such as a Cucumber Rickey (cucumber, lime, sugar, gin, soda) and a Spring Forward (spring onion, blanco vermouth, gin).

The food here was understated and outstanding.  We ate raw whelps, clams and oysters which were all super fresh and delicious.  We devoured Vermont burrata with parsnip puree, black bass with spring radish and marjoram, and an oyster pan roast that despite what you might think the name means was a rich oyster stew that melted in your mouth.  I loved the feel of this place and although it was super casual it put out amazing food.

Well, onto the Beard Awards, but we still had a little over an hour so Devony and I did super power shopping and had a great time in a store called Uniqlo- a Japanese H&M if you will.  Check it out- the prices and clothes were great.  Back to the hotel just in time (and hopefully still fit into our fancy dress up clothes) for the Beard Awards.

We didn’t see Tom all day, but we knew he was out and about and even though he wasn’t going to the Awards, I KNEW that he would win the award for Outstanding Restaurateur.  I’ve worked for him and with him for over 20 years and no one deserved it more than he did…

The Photos:

Top: Bo Ssam at Momofuku Ssam Bar

Second from top, small photo to the left: Milk Bar menu board

Large photo in the middle: John Dory restaurant

Four small photos left to right: Gingerale at Momofuku; John Dory restaurant; oyster pan roast John Dory; flatbread with bottarga and Cucumber Rickey, John Dory

Small photo bottom right: Burrata with parsnip, John Dory

(Read Part 1, the intro to our trip here.

Read Part 2 and 3, Lauren McCullough’s story about what happened on Sunday, May 6, here and here.

To continue reading about the staff trip to NYC  for the James Beard Awards, read Jonah’s story, which starts on the morning of Monday, May 7, here:)

Throughout the entire trip there was one recurring impression I would get when talking to everyone we met: they were all very passionate about their profession.  This trait is a necessity to get to the level of the award nominees.  I don’t think that the commitment to excellence was any lesser for the places we went to lunch on Monday in the Lower East Side.

Katz’s, Russ and Daughters, and Yonah Schimmel’s are all around one hundred years old or older. They do a limited number of things and they do them well.  The carvers at Katz’s are fun to watch as they have each probably cut hundreds of thousands of pounds of brisket.  The pastrami was amazing and the matzo ball was extremely light.  I am not quite sure how Colleen and Lauren both managed not to order pastrami or corned beef.  This is one place where pacing was not an option.  ET finished a whole sandwich in minutes and all I could leave was a few ounces of broth from my matzo ball soup.

Russ and Daughters was a great experience: the quality of the fish was incredible and the staff very personable. The owner was wandering around the customers’ line chatting with people.  He will be publishing a book this summer and seemed eager to come out to the West Coast in the  fall on a promotional tour and to visit his niece who just had a child.  Hopefully, Seattle will be in his itinerary.  It would be great to talk to someone whose family has been selling the highest quality fish for four generations.

Yonah Schimmel’s and Sigmund’s were the last two breakfast stops.  Yonah Schimmel’s has made a variety of knishes for 100 years, and Sigmund’s is only a couple of years old and makes pretzels.  There were a few variations at each place, but each one took their particular items very seriously.  I kept thinking of different coworkers who would love each one for the specific items. The commitment of all four of these places reminded me of people we work with who are intensely enthusiastic about what they do.

In the multifaceted operation that we run, there are many opportunities for individuals to thrive at what they enjoy doing; there are resources to develop and occasions to display their talents.  Being surrounded by hard working passionate people is a great opportunity.  Tom has put together an incredible group of people and given them the tools to do what they do to the best of their abilities.  It was an amazing experience to be part of this trip and to have the rest of the country understand what quite a few of us have known for awhile.  Tom Douglas is the most Outstanding Restaurateur in the country!

(Editor’s note: the photos:

top: Jonah at Katz’s Deli

second from top: lox at Russ and Daughters

the small photos, left to right: a sign from Russ and Daughters, pretzels at Sigmund’s, the cool water dispenser at Katz’s, the knish case at Yonah Schimmel

Bottom photo: Tony eating a pretzel at Sigmund’s

Read Part 1, the intro to our trip,  here.

Read Part 2 about Standard Grill, here.

ET escorted us through the meatpacking district like it was his own backyard to our next stop: North End Grill. This restaurant is so visually pleasing– super slick decor, lots of pretty things to look at, and I’ve never seen such shiny heat lamps in the middle of a busy kitchen.

We had an easier time deciding what to order here since parties larger than nine are given a limited menu to choose from.  As we were settling in and talking about the menu in front of us, I hear ET say:  “Tom Douglas-the man of mystery.” Yay! Tom’s here!  Tom quickly explains that he wasn’t going to come to NYC for the James Beard Awards because it’s no fun to lose Outstanding Restaurateur  year after year (Editor’s Note: this is the day before the awards ceremony), but that his wife, Jackie, had reminded him how much fun it is to break bread with a handful of his managers, so he hopped a plane to join us.  Now our party feels complete!

Tom and ET proceeded to order delicious wine after delicious wine to be paired with all the yummy dishes that kept appearing. (Photo of our table with wine and food, top.) Whenever the servers were out of earshot, Tom would respectfully take the opportunity to open up the conversation about our thoughts on our experience.  (The best way to develop your palate is to talk about it with your friends, but it’s gracious to keep it there between friends.) Three courses later we realize we have another reservation to get to and now pile into three different cabs to make out way to Il Buco Alimentari.

Il Buco is a space (photo above) that used to be a lumber warehouse. They’ve left one of the exposed brick walls intact, and it still has the spray paint on it that used to label the different piles of lumber.  The whole restaurant is stylized with functional antique pieces, creating a super cozy old world feel for eating amazingly delicious treats. Even looking up was amazing since we were seated below a spectacular chandelier.  My favorite dishes here were simple ingredients prepared in a way I hadn’t seen before: sugar snap peas, housemade ricotta, pine nut granola, and mint as an example:

Here’s the dish, but it’s almost gone!

Although there was absolutely no space left in my tummy after wrapping it up at Il Buco, we were off to the last spot of the evening, Bar Jamon. Let’s be real- my memory of this place is the least clear, but I’ll tell you what I can. (Photo below) Mirrors line one wall opening up this tiny room with a few community seating bar tables.  Bar Jamon is Mario Batalli’s tiny little tapas spot just next door to his restaurant, Casa Mono.  I know it’s hard to believe but we did manage to enjoy little tastes of the beautiful tapas plates set before us.

Finally the evening came to an end and we slowly started peeling off and heading towards the hotel.  Some of us stayed to enjoy the nightlife, but that’s another story for a different blog.  Stay tuned to hear from our roving Sous Chef, Jonah Smith, about the kickoff to our big winning evening!

(Here’s Part 1.)

I woke up and checked my phone.  Six work emails already.  I like to read my work email right away so I can plan my day as soon as possible.  Usually I learn that one of our staff is trying to get a shift covered, that we have a group interested in a private cocktail class, or that my coworkers are looking for that one thing they can’t find that I put someplace. But April’s Friday the 13th was different.  I’m invited to join Tom and ET in NYC to attend the James Beard Awards!?!?  Incredible.  I don’t know whose life I managed to step into for a few days but it certainly didn’t feel like mine.  I figured writing about it might actually finally make it seem real.

Imagine you haven’t been to NYC since you were a teenager visiting the headquarters of your parents’ church, AND that you worked well into the night and you were on a plane a few hours later, AND  that your average night out is a movie and some cocktails.  Now you know how wide my eyes were.

I met up with the other lucky ducks at the airport.  Our group was comprised of a handful of managers from different areas of the company: HR Director, Chef/GM (Serious Pie Westlake), GM (Lola), Roving Sous Chef, Asst Mgr (Seatown) and Executive Chef/Partner (ET).  Although we see each other for an hour every month at our all-manager meetings, NEVER have we had the opportunity to spend such quality time together without the one or the other of us having to rush off to run our part of the Tom Douglas world.

At the airport I learned that Tom wasn’t joining up with us in NYC.  Let’s be honest, I was bummed.  Who wouldn’t want to hang out with Tom and pick his brain about the restaurant experience you’re sharing?  Believe me, I got over it pretty quickly since I was embarking on the weekend of my life with or without him (sorry, Tom, but it’s true!)

After dropping our things off at our hotel room, we met up with ET, hopped in a cab and headed to our first restaurant: The Standard Grill in the gritty-hip meatpacking district.  It felt a lot like the patio at Seatown (subtract the view of the water and mountains, add the view of the Highline in the background.)  Blankets keep you warm while you sip champagne and swallow oysters amidst a sea of other diners.  This place is huge!  There’s a seemingly endless patio, a large dining room, an entire beer garden, and a nightclub/bar area.  This is the stop where I heard the mantra that I would hear a LOT on this trip- “Pace yourself, Lauren!”  We LOVED the clams on the half shell here, not something you see a lot on the West Coast, but they were delicious!

This would usually be the point where I finish eating and go home, but we are now shuffling into a taxi and off to the second stop: North End Grill in Battery Park.

(Editor’s note: Lauren’s post will be continued with Our NYC Trip, Part 3… Stay tuned.)

The Photos:

Top: Patio of the Standard Grill- the Highline in the background- note rolled up blankets on top shelf

Second from Top: Champagne on patio of the Standard Grill

Third from Top: Jonah studying the seafood combo at Standard Grill- note clams on the half shell

Bottom: the gritty view from the patio of the Standard Grill

They’re prepping hot and heavy for tonight’s event at the Palace Ballroom: A cooking demo/dinner by Chefs Joseba de Jimenez and Tom Douglas featuring green papaya salad, sticky rice, Phad Thai, duck with oyster sauce, and agar candy.  There will be tastes of all the demo’d dishes and each dish will be paired with a beverage.

Joseba (a Spanish chef, formerly of Harvest Vine, where he was known for wearing his Basque beret) has spent the last three years living and cooking in Thailand and he’s an expert at this cuisine.  Tom is a Seattle chef who developed his cooking style thirty years ago with one foot firmly planted in the International District where he ate frequently, learning as much as he could about Asian ingredients and techniques.  So it all makes sense, and with these two in the demo kitchen it should be a blast!  There are still tickets available, so go ahead and get your ticket for 6pm tonight!

My first visit to La Carta de Oaxaca. We had the Cocktel de Camarones and Tacos Fritos.  Both were delicious.

And when you are there you have to have the chips, the salsa bar, and guacamole.

And if you LOVE good tequilas like I do; they have a great selection.  Their Cadillac margarita will knock your socks off!!

Katie O here!  This week we talked about where to get the best pho, what to do with this season’s bounty of Washington asparagus and I got a chance to sit down with my good friend Amy Pennington, author of “Urban Pantry” and host of the KCTS show “Check Please!”

Our social media guru, Herschell Taghap, normally posts these radio blogs for me, but he’s busy gallivanting around Europe (poor Herschell) so I’m left to my own devices… which means at this moment I don’t know how to embed audio.  So just click here to listen on KIRO’s site!

If you’re iTunes equipped, you can subscribe directly to the podcast here and get Tom and Thierry in your ear anytime, anywhere.

Again, if you want to continue the conversation “off the air” or have any questions on anything food-related, like us on our Facebook page or follow us @SeattleKitchen,@TomDouglasCo and @TheChefInTheHat!

Red Mill Totem House is being honored tonight by Historic Seattle, a group dedicated to preserving “Seattle and King County’s architectural identity,” for “preserving a unique Ballard community landmark” reports My Ballard Blog. Congrats on receiving this honor, Red Mill Totem House!!

At last Saturday’s event, School the Chefs, an event supported by Tom Douglas Restaurants as part of our work with the Seattle Public Schools, celebrity chefs teamed up with kids to create healthy, delicious, and cost conscious lunches.   School the Chefs got some press love from both the Seattle Times and the Nosh Pit.

Kudos to Cuoco and Seatown!  Cuoco’s luscious lasagna and Seatown’s English muffin egg sandwich with fried egg and Dungeness crab both made the 100 favorite dishes list at Voracious blog.

Joy of Cooking’s new blog (check out “Blog Buddies” to the right) has an excellent “Building a Better Pantry” series that demonstrates how to make your own fresh butter, creme fraiche, buttermilk, yogurt, ricotta, mozzarella, and, impressively,  even your own cheddar!

The most fun to read Food-in-the-News of the day is the New York Times T Magazine’s report on Foodieodicals.  This program, which was part of New York’s Food Book Fair, focused on indie food zines from around the country.  These quirky, arty, and cerebral magazines are extraordinary, and they’re not about pretty food photography. The food magazine, White Zinfandel, for example, is described this way:  “Imagine Marcel Duchamp guest-editing Bon Appetit.”

This year our annual Baconopolis- where all things bacon are celebrated- merged with our annual Colander Cup, where all the chefs of the Tom Douglas Restaurants compete on a particular culinary theme to take home the coveted Colander Cup Award.   So, last week all the Tom Douglas Restaurant chefs and their teams, representing all the TDR  joints, competed with each other to come up with  the most amazing bacon-y tastes and sips.  Because this was Baconopolis- the event was open to the public.  (Colander Cup, on the other hand,  is typically a staff event that takes place in the late evening when the joints are mostly closed.)

The pig was well represented in many forms, both artistic and culinary.  Such as the Catering Department’s bacon porchetta (photo above left).  And the Dahlia staff member (Sonia) dressed in a pig costume. (photo above right)

Among the many Tom Douglas staff spotted at Baconopolis: Pastry Chef Stacy with bacon eyebrows (photo left), Etta’s and Seatown Chef Adrienne knocking back  a beer (middle), and Palace Chef Desi serving Hangtown boilermakers (right).

Among the many baconlicious tastes: Brave Horse Tavern’s peanut butter stuffed pretzels with bacon jam (left), Lola’s bacon baklava with bacon ice cream and “smoked out dirty Greek pig” cocktail (middle), and “the Corner’s” (ie Etta’s, Seatown, and Rub with Love Shack) pork belly bahn mi with bacon cream puff (right).

The audience did the judging and the competition was tough with so much creativity and deliciousness on display.  But the verdict was: DAHLIA LOUNGE WINS BACONOPOLIS/ COLANDER CUP!!  Chef Brock Johnson was the Ringmaster (left) presiding over some amazing stagecraft (a porky circus tent from the darkside) servng bacon cotton candy, bacon “popcorn,” and an astonishingly delicious cone (right) of bacon caramel ice cream!  Well done team Dahlia and all the Tom Douglas teams!!