ScorchedPalate

2 new updates on the MadValley front: - Voila! is now open for business. We almost went in last night, but (despite the eG props we could have garnered) we didn't feel up to a full-on French meal. - Rue de Lyon (next to Essential) is definitely not looking like a food establishment. I'm voting for spa/salon, or perhaps euro-tchotchke shop. (Like we need more of those.) They were putting out tony gewgaws into console tables on Monday when we walked by. ~Anita

SeaCrotty and I are going to Union tonight, too, at 7:30. :) I'm pretty sure I remember there being valet parking there, but you can always park in the Pike Place Market garage (enter off Western and take the elevator up to the street level -- PM me if you need more detailed directions).

What was the consensus on last year's event for those who attended... was it worthwhile? $85 seems a bit nuts if the place is a mob scene, but I'm really interested in learning more about Washington wine. This year's version is April 18.

Sorry, I have been offline for a while. Can you add Cam (Seacrotty) and myself to the reservation? We'd love to join you. Thanks! ~Anita

Me too! SeaCrotty likes the peanut brittle, almost TOO much.

I agree! Jean and Susan (the women who run the front of the house at Lo Sichuan) were so sweet to us. I would love to give them more of my/our business. It was great fun seeing folks from last week's Salumi extravaganza, and meeting others we hadn't met before. Thanks, Ben, for posting the pix. Glad there were no visits from the supernatural in this batch. ~A

Hi all: We're leaving Redmond now, but the bridges are hosed. If you beat us there, the reservation is under my name. (That's Anita, not Scorched.) ~A

Ok, I just called and made reservations for 9 people at 6pm tomorrow (Tuesday). We'll see you all there! ~A <mmm.... dumplings and hotpot>

Nope, not too late. I haven't called yet. ~A

Hi all: Yes, I was talking about dinner. And 6-ish on Tueday works for both me and Cameron. And it will be a lot of fun to meet Iris (and her parents) after hearing so much about her. :) So, if my count is right we've got: me + SeaCrotty LaurieA-B + Mamster (+ Iris) MsRamsey Tighe (+ maybe Scrat) Schielke + Katie So we're defintely 8+baby, maybe 9; I think that's as big as we can get. I'll call tomorrow and see if we can get reserved for 6pm. ~Anita edited to add Ben + Katie, and change headcount

Actually, I think they switched to stemware... when the partnership broke up? She's there/he's gone, kind of. Whoa, we hadn't heard about that. What happened, and where did he (kind of) go? ~Anita (edited for an exceptionally lame typo)

I've got plans on Monday and Wednesday, but Cam and I are both free Tuesday. Let's plan for that...

Both! There are two restaurants across the street from one another, *AND* one of them is known by at least two different names. (Clarifying what MsRamsey and Mamster said, above.) Cam and I were talking about Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant, a.k.a. "Lo Sichuan". Though we used to live by the -old- Seven Stars Pepper on 85th, and we liked it both before and after it changed over to Szechuan Bistro. As if you weren't confused enough already... I'm 100% serious about going back and figuring out how the hotpot works, maybe sometime the middle of next week? It sounds like Laurel wants to come. Tighe, are you just being a smartass, or do you and Scrat want to come, too? ~Anita

Two things to add: The service was almost impossibly nice. The ladies who run the front of the house treated us like regulars. The standard order of dumplings and hotpot that all of the Chinese families were eating looked really yummy. I have no idea how you "do" hotpot, though... it looked like there was a definite order of meat (then eat a little) and then veggies (and then eat a little more) and then noodles (more still). Some tables would get extra meat, or more broth, or more everything. I have an (admittedly somewhat irrational) fear of looking too much like the ignorant white person in ethnic restaurants... Anyone want to get a group of 6 or 8 together, take over the big table in the middle, and show me how it's done? ~Anita ...drooling thinking about lunch leftovers.

The owner was murdered last year, though, so I wouldn't be too terribly surprised. Update: We went by Philly's Best tonight, and the place was dark-dark-dark at 7pm. There was a scary-looking notice of unpaid taxes taped to the window, and a couple of day's worth of mail bunched up by the door. The whole corner is now very dark and sad, what with the seimically freaky shell of Ms. Helen's Soul Food kitty-corner across the way.

¡Que lastima! Cameron and I ate there last year on a weekend jaunt, and although overall I thought it wasn't as good as the hype would warrant, parts of the experience were indeed excellent. Glad that we had the change to experience it before it was no more, in any case. ~Anita

I'll bring this back on topic. I wrote this originally almost a year ago, but never posted it. It was in response to a similar subthread of Herbfarm vs. French Laundry on [that other food site]. Since writing this, I have had the pleasure of dining at FL again last summer. The experience only reinforced my views. >>>>>>>>>>> I treated my husband to dinner at The Herbfarm for his birthday last month [01/03]. I saved the printed menu with the thought of writing a review for [that other site], but I find that I still haven't felt the spirit move me. Frankly, it just wasn’t stunning enough to warrant the narrative effort. It was a nice experience, perhaps even one of the better meals I have had in the Northwest. But it's certainly not the equal of The French Laundry or others in its price category. The food was very good, leaning toward excellent, but it didn't change my world. (And this from a menu whose signature ingredient was truffles, no less.) The ingredients were great, and they were prepared by people who I am sure were tops in their classes at culinary school. But there were no flashes of genius, no sparks of whimsy. It was good food -- don’t get me wrong -- but I didn’t eat anything at The Herbfarm that I haven’t eaten somewhere else. We spent about the same amount of money ($395.42, according to the "laundry ticket" that I keep here on my corkboard) at the French Laundry on my birthday last year. As at The Herbfarm, that amount included wines, but at the FL they were personalized by the sommelier not only to our meals but also to our tastes and budget -- a much more impressive feat than picking a flight of wines for the entire dining room and leaving it at that. As for the French Laundry’s food, it was the most sublime dining experience I have ever had, including meals at numerous 'star chef' restaurants in Europe. Not only were the ingredients and the preparation absolutely top drawer (beyond my imagining in some cases), but the dishes themselves utterly changed the way I thought about both individual ingredients and food as a class of experience. I eagerly ate a number of things on Keller's tasting menu that I wouldn't have dared to order in 'everyday' life, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. There were numerous "oh my god" moments at the French Laundry -- some of which I can recall vividly more than a year hence -- but there were few eye-openers at The Herbfarm... and not a single one that I can recall even now, just weeks later. As to the service: at the French Laundry, I expected to get stuffy waitering of the sort one normally encounters at culinary temples. I couldn't have been more surprised by the warm and gracious service that the staff provided us. Yes, it was decorous, and utterly professional. But it also was, well, quietly festive. The people working there took obvious pleasure in being part of a once-in-a-lifetime experience... and by this I mean both the dinner served at each table, and also the phenomenon that is the French Laundry. The Herbfarm staff (especially the Lady of the House) perched on the chilly side of professional. They never committed any gaffes, of course, but I felt as though they were standoffish and more than a little full of themselves. Whenever my husband or I would attempt to engage one of them in a bit of (brief) chat about an ingredient or a wine, they responded with various sniffy "yes-we-know-aren't-we-wonderful" remarks. Ugh. I also felt that the 'dog and pony show' was uncomfortable and mawkish. I found the pre-dinner speeches -- especially the fireside chat that had all of the spontaneity of a high school oral report -- and staff introductions (right down to the dishwasher!) that preceded the meal to be the height of presumption. Knowing where your intern goes to school does not enhance my enjoyment of my meal... sheesh. My husband [[that's Seacrotty]] summed it up well: At the French Laundry, they are content to let the food speak for itself. At The Herbfarm, they feel the need to tell you how wonderful their food is in order to justify the expense. I couldn't agree with him more.

We actually were heading to Cafe Lago last night, and ended up next door at Grady's Grillhouse instead. You're now the third person in a week to say how amazing the lasagne is... I am gonna have to get me some of that. ~Anita

More newcomers in Penelope's latest article.

Chicken-Fried Steak (as part of the County Breakfast) at St. Clouds. Man-oh-man... it's so much better than it deserves to be. <And now I am off to wrack my brain for something a little more highbrow, so y'all don't think I've lost it.>

Ah, Portland! I was wondering how I could have missed a great produce market in Seattle.

Hi Trillium: Where is New Seasons located? I'd love to have a source for Seville oranges (mmm! homemade marmelade) and kaffir limes, and just generally peruse oddball produce. ~Anita

Robert: Thanks for the URL and the info about store transfers. I already purchased a bottle online from BevMax. (Thanks to our monopoly prices and the fact that I avoided sales tax, it wasn't that much more expensive that it would have been here, even with shipping.) And yes, Halland, I will be sure to post a follow-up. :) ~Anita

I'm a bit embarassed to admit that I don't remember what specifically I liked about it (it's probably been 8 years, but something I read on another thread reminded me of it) other than it was spicy without being christmas-y, and dramatically different than any other liquor I'd had. I'll order a bottle from BevMax and see if I can jog my memory. Thanks! ~Anita

Hi all: I remember tasting a brand of aquavit back in the last decade called Jubileum, which I never could find again after my first bottle disappeared. I'm now living in Washington, which (unlike California) has state-controlled liquor stores. As such I can't just walk into Beverages & More and buy a bottle of a different brand of aquavit to see if I like it, and apparently I can't even special-order one unless I want a whole case. Most of the online liquor stores I've found have pretty bare-bones descriptions of their various offerings, so I am wondering if one aquavit is pretty much like another, or if there are perhaps national or regional variations that would help me choose before going to the trouble of having a bottle or two shipped across the country. (Something a long the lines of "Danish aquavit tastes more like savory herbs and Norwegian brands lean toward spicy flavors" or the like.) Or, alternately, if anyone knows of a not-too-outrageous source for Jubileum that I may have overlooked, that would be terrific. Thanks, ~Anita Crotty