tighe

Has anyone checked this place out yet? I drove by it the other night and thought it looked kind of interesting. Their menu is appealing to me and seems very reasonably priced. I think I'll try to go for lunch sometime next week.

I was looking it up for myself, so here's a link to the page for Le Clos des Gourmets on the Cityvox site that has all the necessary details.

No, I think they open for regular business on the 31st.

On a whim I tried cooking Black Cod (aka Sablefish) with pesto recently and was extremely pleased with the results. Pan seared flesh side down on high for several minutes, flip it, cover with pesto and then put in the oven on broil for a few more minutes. The flavors and textures blend really nicely. Black cod seems to be reasonably priced and of great quality in Seattle recently.

I just LOVE quoting myself.... Went to a preview party at Cayenne tonight. Very tasty Mexican-ish food, primarily seafood focused. I appreciate that they're not afraid to make stuff truly hot and they serve very tasty margaritas. The duck flautas with pumpkin seed sauce, the grilled salmon in corn husk and the spicy crab cakes were all very good. They also had a nice buffet platter of chilled seafood, the scallops with chile powder were the highlight. To their credit, they're not pretending to be "authentic", just trying to be good...

The couple times I've done trips to the area I've really liked the Dundee Bistro. Nothing earth-shattering, but good, interesting food. The other place I've had lunch, that I liked, was 24 Brix. Good sandwiches and soups. It's in Gaston though, so probably too much out of the way if you're going to the Dundee area.

My understanding is that its basically the same story with the starlings that are such a nuisance. Don't think I could bring myself to eat a starling, too greasy looking.

We actually have our own feral pig problem here in Washington State too. They were introduced by Russian traders back in the day and now do a lot of damage to the landscape in the Olympic National Park. I heard on the radio last year that the Park Service was paying a bounty on pigs. They're also trying to get rid of non-native Mountain Goats in the park too.... I think there's good reason people don't eat the Candian geese that are commonly found in urbanized area. They have so much funky stuff and pollutants in their diet that I would guess they neither taste good nor would they be very good for you.

It depends on how you feel about this kind of thing. My first time it was fine, but on my two subsequent visits it has gotten progressively more excruciating. There are reports that before the fire and subsequent relocation, a puppet was involved in the whole schtick. Thank God that's no longer the case at least.

It usually goes something like this.... 1) A recitation of the Herbfarm 'story', beginning with the owner's mother putting a few pots of herbs out in front of her house with a change jars.....the restaurant....the fire....the move....the second move.....up to the present... 2) The introduction and resumes of every member of the kitchen and service team along with the owners and the guitar player (he IS from the Royal Conservatory in Madrid you know!).... 3) A prolonged back and forth between Jerry Traunfeld and the owner on the details of ingredient sourcing, preparation and accompanying wines for each course.... Recent reports indicate that this may have been pared down some, but this is what I remember....

I'm not familiar with the brand, but I did a search on the Liquor Control Board's Product Search web page and came up with nothing.

I could maybe see using coffee on a roast that was going to cook for some time and soften up the coffee, but doesn't it seem like with the fast cooking time of a steak that you would just get burnt coffee grounds on your meat? Nasty. I had never heard of this place, but did go once when it was Chez Gus. Nasty.

tighe, I'm familiar with this restaurant but haven't been there. Glad to see you think it's worthy. Two dishes really stood out as exceptional when I ate there. One was a piquillo pepper stuffed with brandade of cod and the other was pigs feet andouillette. I can't adequately express how good the andouillette was without resorting to profanity.... On the same trip, I had lunch at La Cave a L'Os a Moelle and absolutely loved it. It's a unique experience with joiner tables and serve-yourself food. I believe lunch was 25Eur/pp, which may seem like a lot for lunch, but the quality is exceptional and if you made it your main meal of the day, no question it's an extrememly good value.

Uhh, so you're more OK with restaurants that you don't know about that you HAVE eaten at then??....

No one has talked much about brands, but if you're a beginner and want a moderately priced intro to cognac and armagnac, I really like Chalfonte VSOP (~$20) and Janneau (~$30) respectively. If money isn't an issue and you can jump straight to the $100 stuff, by all means do so....

Vickie, thanks so much for doing this Q&A with us.... I know that NASA has run different experiments to prepare for long-term stays in space and to prepare for supporting colonies on other planets. What kind, if any, experiments with cooking have been performed and were there any interesting results? Thanks.

Yes, it's one seating and everyone is served at the same time. One disadvatage of their larger space is that it takes long enough to serve everyone that by the time the last people are served, those served first are often almost finished with the course. Overall, the pacing is...uhhh....leisurely....probably too much so for my taste.

Approximately how long was it on the night you were there? When I've gone, it's taken as much as 30 or 40 minutes. If they've pared it down significantly, that would be a positive step.

When/if I go back to Herbfarm, my plan is to sneak out during the D&P show and go for a walk. I've seen others do it. I think its generally a mistake to compare the 'farm with any urban dining destination. It's simply a different kettle of fish, so to speak. Their whole aesethetic is affected by their self-image, which is definitively not urban. A more apt comparison might be a place like The Inn at Little Washington, although I've never been.

Based on my visit in September, I'd add three places to the list: Chez l'ami Jean, a Basque restaurant in the 7th, not far from rue Cler. Sud Ouest Monceau in the 17th, as the name says, southwestern French food. La Ferme des Gourmets in the 16th, best foie gras terrine I had in Paris and for a pittance.

We had a pretty thorough throw-down about the Herbfarm on this thread a while back. Much of the criticism revolved around their draconian cacellation policy and whether or not it was really an exceptional enough restaurant to justify it. I've eaten there twice and really enjoy the food, but could do without much of the rest of it.

Obviously I had a strongly positive reaction to the interior of Union, so it's really hard for me to know where this review is coming from. If they want to see some REALLY ugly restaurants, I'd be happy to provide a list. I also don't agree that Union's food follows the "good ingredients prepared simply" formula. In fact, I think Lark may fit that description more than Union does, and both do have great ingredients as the foundation. There's real creativity and impressive technique at both places though.

Looks pretty tasty to me, potentially at least. It's right across the street from my office, so I'll make a point of checking it out when they open. It will be nice to have another lunch option in the area.

Surprisingly enough it appears that the new Silver Cloud Inn at Broadway and Madison isn't putting in a generic dining space. No clue what the menu will look like, but the interior is kind of funky and reminds me somewhat of Fish Club or one of Wolfgang Puck's places.

Yes, Ephesus is at 5245 California Ave. Very good food, nice space, sometimes spotty service. Never been to Mezze in Kirkland. Is it good?