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My understanding of their policy is that they take reservations if you want to come in during the first half-hour after they open, otherwise you're on your own. Have you heard otherwise? Scout.....where did you end up eating and what did you think??

I engaged in some cow-tippin' in my youth. Spent a couple summer vacations on a farm in Eastern Washington. It is not a safe activity on a couple different fronts...

Goeduck neck sliced into rings and deep-fried....you'll never go back to calamari! Disclosure: I've only had this once in my life and I do still eat calamari......

New Food Fast definately, if you can find it (fast or otherwise). It seems to be rare and elusive these days..... The 'no salt' observation is really interesting and not something I'd noticed before. Many of her recipes do have an Asian bent to them and include soy sauce or fish sauce (as Rhea points out).

Overall, this was a fantastic dinner that, in my opinion, cements Brasserie Margaux's place as one of the really fine restaurants in town. Although Arnie Millan (former owner of Avenue One, current wine consultant) rubbed me the wrong way in person, he and the chef created some exceptional food/wine pairings; probably the most consistently good matches through a multi-course meal that I've had. The wine tasting part of the evening was definately pitched at a level for wine novices, which I didn't have a lot of patience for, but that's probably more about me than anything else. I wish we'd had a digital camera so that I could have pulled a Schielke and showed off the nice presentations. My only general critique would be that the pacing was too fast, maybe because it was a weeknight. Spinach Salad with Tiger Prawns, Mango, Snow Peas, Avocado and drizzled with a Champagne vinaigrette. Willakenzie Pinot Blanc – Oregon 2001 What made this salad was the amazing flavor combination of mango and avocado, not something I'd had before. The peas added a nice texture contrast to the soft mango and avocado. The prawns had nice flavor, but were a little soft. Russet Potato crusted Black Cod atop roasted Corn and Fava Bean Succotash with roast Pepper Jus L'Ecole 41 Semillon Barrel Fermented 2001 A tremendous dish. Very thin and crisp potato crust on top of a wonderfully moist and tender piece of fish. Again, an amazing combination of flavors and textures. The sauce was great, with good roast pepper flavor and just a hint of chili pepper spiciness. Lamb Chops en croute with Onion thyme confit and black diamond truffle sauce De Lille Cellars D2 Cabernet Blend 2000 Although this was the course I was most looking forward to going into the meal, it turned out to be the least of the five. A double-cut lamb chop was posed vertically on the plate and wrapped in phyllo. For starters it wasn't a great piece of meat and mine was undercooked. My other dissapointment was that the truffle sauce neither smelled nor tasted much of truffles despite having good sized chunks in it. Why is it that dishes containing truffles so often fail to deliver the pungency of truffles? Truffle oil seems to go a whole lot further than the actual fungus. I will say that the onion/thyme confit was superb, sauteed in foie gras apparently. I think the confit wrapped in phyllo by itself would be excellent. The D2 was surprisingly smooth for being so young. Forest Mushroom Sauté with truffle and herb oils, balsamic syrup, Goats Cheese and crispy potato gaufrettes Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir, Oregon 1999 As mamster, prescient food critic that he is, predicted, this was the best course of the meal. Imagine the very best execution you can based on the description, and that was it! Truffle and basil oil, sweet balsamic, a generous amount of goat cheese, perfectly cooked mushrooms over a bed of fresh mixed greens with a terrific wine that drew out the earthiness of the ingredients. I could eat this for weeks.... The Drouhin was my favorite wine of the night. Warm Pomegranate Gingerbread with Meyer Lemon Sauce and Candied Walnuts Yalumba Museum Release Antique Tawny – Barossa Dessert Wine A very nice desert, but I think I was too much in shock from the mushroom course to fully appreciate it. Didn't care too much for the Australian tawny, very syrupy without any of the edge or complexity that real tawny ports have.

I'm still in and will see you all at noon....

Nancy Leson's column today confirms your findings: Just what Seattle needs, more event space!!

Hiram's? Really? That's a drag. Both the first and most recent incarnations had some of the best calamari in town. Please God, don't let them try to put that horrendous Italian place back in that replaced Hiram's the first time around....

Scrat and I were there and really enjoyed both the food and wine. I plan to post a full-on review in the next couple days (hey, you in the peanut gallery, cut the groaning).

On a related note....I happened to see Donna on with Martha (no, I don't watch regularly!!) a few weeks back and thought a couple things were interesting about it. First was that I've never seen Martha suck up to a guest that much (damn it, I said I don't watch it regularly!) and also that Donna's training/background is in home economics, not as a chef per se. I'm currently weighing whether or not to fork over the extra $ to for an international subscription to her mag. I have to say that I think after 5 (or 6?) books, she has ridden her particular look/feel about as far as it can reasonably go. I'm hoping that her next effort will incorporate something new.... Edit: Also meant to add that I have wondered sometimes if Donna is overexposed, and thus widely despised, in Australia the same way Emeril is in the US and Jamie Oliver is in the UK. If any Aussie natives can comment, I'd love to hear about it....

Count me it too. I've been wanting to try this place ever since nightscotsman brought it up....

I an unabashed Donna devotee. I have all her books and think they are the best cooking resource available for everyday type meals. My wife and I have given her books as gifts to some cooking-phobic friends and the accessibility of her recipes has really helped them understand that they can cook good tasting food and don't have to eat out of a box.

There actually was an abortive attempt by UPN to create Iron Chef USA with William Shatner in the role of Chairman Kaga (their first and probably greatest mistake). The cooking in the one episode I saw (Kerry Simon vs. Todd English) was actually very interesting, but virtually all other aspects were atrocious. Only two episodes were filmed, then the whole project withered on the vine. Iron Chef USA

"And I think I'll call you Lunch! Helooooo Lunch!....." or how about 'Chuck', short for Chuckroast......

A while back, I found out about a ranch near Walla Walla called Thundering Hooves. I haven't had any of their meat but have heard raves from those who have. You have to order in pretty large quantities, but maybe we could buy and eGullet cow and split it up. They also have pork, lamb and poultry....

And I've never ordered cassoulet and not finished it in one sitting, whatever the ultimate consequences were......

Welcome to PNW eGullet Randy..... I forgot to include in my last post that the Sunday cassoulet at Cassis is $18 if I recall correctly. Also, I checked the Maximilien web page and the cassoulet is on the regular dinner menu for $22

I had a bottle of '95 that I drank a couple of years ago that I thought was excellent. Haven't had the luxury of trying all of the other vintages however....

Right you are MsR! I think Cassis' cassoulet is excellent, particularly if you like your cassoulet heavy on the duck. I've never tried Au Buchon's. If it take 3 days, they must be rendering their own duck to make the confit, or they're just really slow cooks.... I also had a really good, but very different style, cassoulet at Maximilien. I'm not sure if its a regular menu item though. Edit: to correct the fact that I am apparently 'n' impaired....

Yes, the turnip roulade with juniper berry coulis filling is one of my all-time winter in Seattle seasonal favorites...

Don't know, but probably not from around here. Of course, this is what I see as the danger of declaring one's commitment to local, seasonal foods, especially in this part of the world....

I believe I've talked up Brasserie Margaux here before and when I received the menu for their upcoming wine dinner, I thought it was worth bringing to everyone's attention. Between the wines being served and the really tasty sounding menu, this is one of the most tempting one of these special dinner events I've seen in a long time. The dinner is next Monday, the 20th. Brasserie Margaux Wine Dinner Menu

I agree that Las Margaritas is well above average for Seattle-area Mexican, but if you ever want to do some seriously good Mexican food, we should do some sampling in South Park and Tukwila.

Care to mention your source for this qoute?!?!?! Two Thai women that I went to grad school with said that the best place in the greater Seattle area was Noodle Boat in Issaquah (close to Lake Samamish), wonder if that is where this blurb is referring to....

When I was there in November, Chef Hawksworth said that they had just recently begun serving lunch.