ScorchedPalate

I don't think any of the PNW board regulars would contend that Seattle (or Portland) is the equal of NYC... or even of Vancouver or San Fran. Admittedly, we do have some amazing food here, and some stunning values: as Laurel rightly points out, our high-end is what most other cities would call moderately priced. Speaking of Seattle specifically, I contend that we lack the depth and breadth of food choices (not to mention the consistency of the things that we do offer) that would make us a true foodie city. Before you flame me, let me say that we've got it pretty good here, and I'm happy about the standout restaurants that we do have, from Mistral to Union through Palace and Harvest Vine and down through Salumi and Lago and Seven Stars Pepper. I would truly mourn the loss of all of these places if I were to move away. Most of them could hold their own in any big city, even NYC. But our food scene as a whole can't hold a candle to the great food cities of the world. (Not that I think it's really trying, mind you...) But back to Rooberu's post: I think it's possible to have a weekend of good eats in a second-tier food city, and entirely possible to have a terrible weekend in a top-tier destination. Cam and I had a bleh weekend in NYC recently (including a thoroughly lackluster visit to Gramercy Tavern), and we've had mind-altering weekends here at home. Some of it comes down to a city's innate quality of offerings, some of it is doing good research, and a great deal of it is the luck of the draw on any given visit. And Tsquare, you really do need to get yourself to Lago. ~A

Trolling around on the SF Chronicle website, I happened upon this article from May: Green-walnut wines are steeped in tradition It covers vin de noix, plus orahovac, nocino/nocello. ~A

Penelope has a scathing review in today's PI. I can't say as I am surprised, given my experiences at Gitano. ~A

Not having (yet) made the southern pilgimage to Muy Macho and El Rinconsito, my current in-city fave is Taqueria Pancho Villa at 8064 Lake City Way. Their carnitas taco is nothing more than homemade tortillas (two, like there should be) filled with perfect carnitas -- flavorful, tender pork shreds with occasional crispy exteriors, topped with onions and cilantro. The addition of a spoonful of salsa from the table bowl makes it absolutely perfect.

Cam and I had dinner at Union last night. Sprung for the tasting menu (including wine pairings, despite it being a school night... oof!) and were well glad we did. The restaurant was about half-full all night long, which isn't terribly bad for a weeknight during the summer. The staff told us that their summer business has been pretty steady and consistent, which we were pleased to hear. [i'm doing this all from memory, so bear with me!] Amuse 1: chilled cucumber puree/soup drizzled with fruity olive oil, served in a demitasse - tasty, a bit heavy on the salt Amuse 2: Smoked haddock over a stack of sliced baby golden beets and horseradish creme fraiche - this went down -way- too fast Starter: Smoked scottish salmon - big sashimi-style hunks of fish, lightly smoky and ever-so-slightly chewy Soup: Cauliflower and saffron soup with a seared scallop - easily the favorite of the night Fish: Softshell crab over oven-roasted tomatoes - never had a softshell crab this small, soft, and tasty before. Our waiter said they were maryland blue crabs. YUM! Extra course: Fried fresh smelt served over roasted red and rellow pepper dice - imagine the best fish sticks you've ever had Meat: Seared duck breast (perfect as usual) Cheese: Pierre Robert with frisse and raisin-walnut bread - as usual, perfectly ripe, perfectly kept, perfect temperature Sorbet lychee sorbet with (ummm...) syrup. Very subtle and refeshing. Dessert 2: chocolate espresso pot de creme with (unsweetened) vanilla whipped cream - cam said this was the best chocolate dessert ever; I think merely on this continent. (Having had a chocolate puddng pot at St John served with cream Alas, I can't remember any of the wines we had -- their names, that is... I do remember they were all fabulous, interesting, and perfectly matched, just as they always are. A steal at $40 for what were very generous pours, close to a full glass for each course -- we started giving up our glasses at the end of a course, empty or not. Still, we drank way more than we intended. Rainier said that Union was just named one of the 10 Best New Wine Lists by Food+Wine, and that Wine & Spirits also recently recognized them. I'm making a commitment to eat at Union at least once a month. I'd do it more often, but I am constitutionally incapable of ordering anything except the tasting menu. ~Anita

None of these are unique or even terribly interesting, but sometimes the simplest desserts are the best way to make use of great fruit. My last year's haul of Whidbey Island berries (picked from the dock) went into: - 1 blackberry cobbler, made with fresh berries ..and the following uses of frozen batches of berries: - 2 double-crust pies: 1 at thanksgiving, 1 for our copper river salmonfest last month - 1 batch of blackberry ice cream: seeds removed from puree before adding to vanilla base, then studded with more berries after removal from the gizmo. served with homemade caramel sauce I like the less-sweet, minty, funky taste of wild blackberries, which even the best farmers' market berries never touch. Let us know what you decide to do with them! ~Anita

Oh my gosh, we all have to get over there *right now* and support them. They're too good a place to go under. We were just saying last night (during a disappointing meal at the Capitol Club) that we want to go there more often, become regulars. Now I have an incentive. ~A

I used to work for a magazine that had offices around the corner from the Ciao Bella HQ in San Francisco. Our editor-in-chief's admin, bless her, would go down there and get cases of the stuff for us during big deadlines, and cram the freezer with it. When I noticed that they had Ciao Bella by the scoop (alongside the made-to-order crepe station!) at the new WF, I got terribly, awfully homesick. I keep meaning to stop by for a cup on my way home... ~A

Hmm, the coctel sounds like Cameron chow. I used to get one of each (chix/beef) taco, and then I realized that I always ate the chicken one first to save the beef for last. It's not like they're health-food anyway.. a little less cholesterol isn't going to save me! My other favorite there is the Tres Marias... three enchiladas with three different fillings/sauces (mole, red chile, and tomatillo). They have it as a special, off and on; it's not on the regular menu. Maybe we need a Burrito Loco thread... <she said guiltily>

Where exactly is this? Is it actually in U Village or on one of the side streets? It's in UVillage, across the street from Banana Republic and Restoration Hardware, next to the Hallmark store. mmm, Tacos Dorados with shredded beef <drool>

I find the Zao in UVillage really underwhelming. We used to live in San Francisco, where the chainlet is based, and we got spoiled. The food at the California locations is so much better than at their lone Seattle outpost. Their pad thai is tasty, if you like the sweet, americanized kind (sometimes that is what I am in the mood for), and their chicken satay salad with peanut dressing is yummy, but really bad-for-you. Their spicy edamame appetizer is good, as are their potstickers, but both are overpriced. Their pho-style items are reasonable riffs on the genre, but about 3 times the price of the real thing. Zao's biggest problems, though, are routinely terrible service and stunning lack of consistency. For every decent meal we've had there, there have been at least two that were downright gawdawful. We haven't been back there in months. (Of course, that may have more to do with my Burrito Loco addiction than disappointment in Zao, but...) ~Anita (Sorry for the near-duplicate posts. Thus we see the perils of having your spouse on eG. At least we're consistent.)

I had a mocha shake at the Eastgate Tully's last week, and I, too, found it super-sweet -- so cloying, in fact, that I was unable to finish it. (Until this recent spate of posts, I thought maybe I had gotten a bad example, hence my silence.) It also had a fake-smooth consistency, more like melted soft-serve ice cream (which, in essence, it is) than a real shake. And, as previously mentioned, the price was astronomical. I felt like Vincent Vega: ~Aedited for a typo

I also first thought of Zoe, and then Union.

Friends and I had an amazing goat-cheese cheesecake at Harvest Vine on Friday, served with fresh raspberries and raspberry coulis.

'Tis a puzzlement, indeed, thought I'm not complaining. (a) the 15th/John Safeway gives me the creeps (combination of the skeezy clientele and the odd assortment of people who work there) and (b) I can throw a pack of Lucerne cream cheese from my roof and hit the new Safeway, and it's always nice to have a big market within walking distance. When we lived in Phinney, they opened a new (smallish but nice) Safeway at 85th and Greenwood, despite the presence of not one but two large Safeways already nearby (Crown Hill at 85th and 15th NW and Ballard at 15th and 65th) -and- Greenwood Market (owned by the folks who own Ballard Market and Central Market) at 85th and NW 3rd -and- Ken's market on Greenwood. We needed another Safeway like a hole in the head; what we really needed up there were some more decent restarants. Of course, now I live in a neighborhood with plenty of great restaurants but no pubs/bars, so I guess there's always a trade-off.... Back to the cheese topic: I'll be over on the outskirts of downtown B'vue this afternoon, and I plan to stop by the new WF. I'll investigate how the cheese department stacks up. ~A

This one? Tom Douglas's Triple Coconut Cream Pie Recipe Who loves ya, baby. ~A

And if you happen to do 2 seatings, we'd prefer the later one (perhaps 7:30ish?) but we could get there any time after 6:00 on the 23rd, or 6:30 on the 16th. (There's an Ms game on the latter date, so getting across the bridges quickly will be tricky.) ~Anita + Cam

No, I don't think Larry's is better than Whole Foods, either in the realm of cheese or as a general-purpose, high-end grocery. That said, Larry's is more like a nice version of regular grocery store -- with regular-size crowds and regular-size prices -- than a foodie mecca like WF. It's more along the lines of a Metropolitan Market (nee Thriftway). Although you're paying a bit more than Safeway/QFC at Larry's, they've got real wine, real produce, real cheese, a Peet's coffee stand, and a nice assortment of gourmet items. It's a shame that their meat counter now has nothing more interesting than the usual supermarket cuts of chicken and beef, and the people who work there are decidedly not butchers anymore. I discovered Central Market about that same time they wrecked the meat counter, though, so they would have lost my meat business anyway. Speaking of Metropolitan Market, I keep hearing that the new Safeway going in on Madison and 23rd was going to be a MM until last-minute negotiations failed. Why nobody thinks it's worth placing an upscale market in the Madison Valley / Madrona / Mount Baker axis, I will never understand. ~Anita

We used our Troiani gift certificate last night and it appears they will honor it for drinks/wine. We mentioned that we had a gift certificate and he said we were well on our way to spending it with the drinks we had ordered. We ended up going over the $100 dollars with our food orders but it did seem like they don't care what you spend your certificate on. How was Troiani? I'm anxious to hear how they're faring without Walter Piasno, especially given that he grumbled to Penelope Corcoran last week that the other partners wanted to focus "more about the overall experience (and less about the food)." ~A

I have found the Whole Foods staff very willing to cut cheese to order. On a recent Good Eats episode, Alton Brown said "a reputable cheesemonger should be willing to cut you a piece from any wheel or wedge, right?", and the WF fromage-dude he was interviewing said "absolutely!" So I decided to call their corporate bluff during my next visit, and was surprised to find the local staff perfectly happy to do so. They've also offered adept suggestions on which cheeses are at a proper stage of ripeness, and sound ideas on rounding out a cheese board ("I've got x, y, and z... looking for a bleu to round out this selection.") Of course, the zoo-time of Saturday afternoon might not be the best time to attempt any of this... The Larry's on Aurora (in Oak Tree Center, at 100th) has a nice selection and a knowledgable crew of staff -- or at least did, 6 or 8 months ago when we used to live up thataway. I know that they've decimated their (previously quite nice) service butcher counter, though, so cheese may have met the same fate by now. It boggles my mind that Central Market doesn't have a nice cheese counter, given all the other fantastic things they've got. ~Anita

Despite the possibilities of introducing flavors this way, I'm not a fan of the textural changes that brining (even briefly) causes. I realize that this is heresy in the Good Eats / Cook's Illustrated axis-of-foodism, but there you have it. I guess I am out of the closet as a philistine now... I prefer starting with a fresh, flavorful cut of meat, or cooking via a moist method.

Found it! Real Simple August '04 issue, page 64: "A panel of 8 people -- wine experts and nonexperts alike -- convened to taste boxed wines produced by the most widely-distributed brands." Panel's picks, all 3-liter boxes. - '02 Banrock Station Cabernet Sauvignon ($16) "BEST" - '01 Black Box Sonoma County Merlot ($32) - '02 Delicato Chardonnay ($17.50) - '02 The Wine Cube (Target/Andrea Immer) Pinot Grigio ($16) The aforementioned bottle-to-box comparo was done with the Delicato, Banrock above, plus '02 Hardys Chard, '02 Delicato Merlot, '02 Hardys Cab, and '02 Banrock Shiraz. The quote was actually "I can say that these are different, but I can't say which one is better." (I was close, she said sheepishly...) It's an interesting read, with some basics on the history, technology, future trends, debunking of shelf-life guidelines, and a few well-tuned sidebars, including a sangria recipe. I do think it would be fun to have a taste-off of any of the boxes we can get our hands on locally. ~A

Cool, thanks all for the tips. We're out of town this weekend, so no farmers' market for us until 7/24. But maybe we can work in a Madison Market run (for Sara Joe's) before we leave. ~A

I haven't read Gourmet in months, but I know I saw this article. I think it was either Fine Cooking or Cook's Illustrated, but I can't find the article on either of their sites. If we're having a taste-off, I'm game. :) The article writers tried at least a few of the wines in both their box and bottle packages, and said there wasn't much quality difference. One quote was something like "I can tell these two wines are different, but neither is better." ~A

Anyone have a line on local producers who are raising pork that actually has taste? Cam and I had two dinners of the most amazing pork while we were in London: One a shoulder from a heritage-breed butcher at the Borough Market, which we turned into chile verde, and the other a slab of braised Middlewhite leg (with crackling attached) at St John on our last night. Having had the scales lifted from my eyes, I don't think I can eat insipid supermarket pork anymore. ~Anita