creepygirl

Yes, it closed several years ago.

Boyfriend and I went the Bellevue Pagliacci Pizzeria tonight to get the Salumi Primo. Finocchiona tastes really, really good on a pizza. I have to say that I couldn't really taste the fennel, what with all of the competing flavors of salami/cheese/peppers, and it was a tad greasy. That said, it was still really really good.

Yesterday: half a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. Today: Avocado, bacon, and chipotle sandwich. Simple but oh so good.

Yesterday: garlic sausage, lentil, and bacon salad. Today: a dark chocolate peanut butter cup made by my favorite chocolate shop.

Our pictures are finally up now. Any additions to the in captions describing the food or the people in the photos would be appreciated.

Just wanted to say that David, Miran, and I had a great time last night. Thanks to Rocky for setting it up. It was great to meet other obsessed food nuts, and I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk to more of you. My favorite dishes were the salt and pepper things (all of them), the thousand-layer pancake, and the crispy duck. We have some photos of the food and people, but are having some technical difficulties getting the pictures to post on eGullet. Please bear with us as we figure things out.

I was pretty disappointed with La Cocina del Puerco when I tried it a few weeks ago. The tortillas were great, but the meat was way oversalted, and the Parmesan cheese sprinkled over everything didn't help. (What is it with that? If I can get cotija in Bellevue, surely they can, too.) Somehow food that is partway there, but not nearly close enough is even more depressing for me than outright bad food. I also tried the taco truck in Bellevue/Redmond on 148th and 24th (which was mentioned on another forum) for tortas. I got the al pastor torta. The meat tasted dried out, and the bread was just greasy and weird. Moving from the Phoenix area to the Seattle area was an upgrade, food-wise, except for Mexican (and oddly enough, gelato, but that's another thread). I've got Muy Macho and La Carta, and now Frida's on my "want to try" list, but because of logistics, they have to be planned-out events rather than something I try just because I'm craving Mexican food. I may just have to make it myself. Okay, end of mope. We had a lovely dinner at Bis a few months ago, and yesterday we had lunch at Udupi Palace. It was buffet, which I usually don't like, but this was a very nice buffet. Everything was aggressively spiced, and even a milder dish, like a beet and carrot dish, was nicely perked up with ginger. And of course, Amore chocolates alone would redeem the Eastside for me.

The boyfriend and I ordered potato salad the last time we visited. It's really more like boiled potatoes coated with mustard sauce--ok, but it doesn't hold together like a potato salad. I really like the chorizo baguette. The amount of sausage is ridiculously small compared to the bread, but the sausage is so good I don't care. I also noticed a special of pork ear the last time I was there. Now I want to try the fries!

Another Min Liao admirer here. It's a shame if she hasn't continued her food writing. Getting back to La Spiga, boyfriend and I have gone there a couple of times in the last couple of months. I had some of the pasta with butter and truffles, and I wish I'd liked it as much as Min did. To me it seemed a little bland. Also had a pasta dish with quail that sounded wonderful but just turned out ok--the quail tasted just like chicken. OTOH, boyfriend and I seem to be the only people who like the piadina--it tastes sort of like a chewy cracker to me, if that makes sense. I've had the non-crescione sandwiches and thought the bread-to-filling ratio was fine. Anyway, it seems like the simpler the dish, the more I like it at La Spiga, so I'll probably stick with things like the pasta with beef ragu and the sandwiches there.

Rocky, another friend of mine wants to go, so it should be creepygirl + 2 if there's still room for more people. Thanks for making all the arrangements.

At 7 Stars Pepper, I've liked the Ant on a Tree (ground pork, glass noodles, and gingery spicy sauce), some smoked pork dish whose exact name escapes me (sort of bacon-y pork with green chiles), the previously-mentioned chong-gin chicken, and some of the lamb dishes. Also, he House Special Barleygreen noodles, with a bunch of ingredients, including egg, at Shanghai Garden are particularly good. Happy eating! (Edited for stupid typo)

I liked St. Clouds, so I'm sorry to hear that it has deteriorated. On the positive side, I had a good brunch just down the street at Supreme a month or two ago. The pancakes with fig compote were really good. I hope to go back soon.

I agree there may be an element of that in the Food Network viewership. I've noticed that many of the ads on Food Network are for convenience foods that I'm not interested in--Uncle Ben's Flavorful Rice and Good Seasons Ranch Dressing, to name a couple off the top of my head. It always seemed odd to have those juxtaposed with a show involving, say, a fruitcake made from scratch, (including shelling the pecans and grinding the spices). If the ad execs are properly targeting these ads, it means that a sizeable portion of Food TV's audience may be watching for fantasy/entertainment value, but sticking with convenience foods for even the most basic things to make.

Can't speak for anyone else, but my dissatisfaction with the chains is not that I'm comparing them to more expensive places, but that their food usually isn't as good as non-chain food that is priced the same or lower. I can get a banh mi in Seattle for $2 or less that's better than anything I've ever had at one of the chain sandwich places, for example.

Thanks for this blog, Amir. I'm always fascinated by the cheese-making process when I walk into Beecher's. Thanks also for the heads-up about the Flagship cheese--boyfriend and I stopped by Beecher's today, tried some, and liked it a lot. It's going to be consumed with a lot of meats from Salumi, I believe.

Please sign me and my boyfriend up as well. I'm excited--I've never had Taiwanese food before.

My boyfriend and I are interested, depending on the date.

LMF, if you haven't already, you should check out Amore Chocolates in Bellevue. I've seen chocolate dipped orange peel there before, and they have some terrific creams and truffles as well. -cg

Spicy food can exacerbate acid reflux, which can cause, among other things, nausea and vomiting. And if I had ever had spicy food make me vomit, I would be "picky" about eating spicy food, too. I agree customers need to cut the waitstaff and the chefs some slack. But cutting slack should go both ways. What good does it do to assume the worst possible motivations from the customers? Why not give them the benefit of the doubt?

Boyfriend and I went to Nell's for dinner last night. It was a weird experience. The waiter brought us our entrees before our appetizers. When we told him what was wrong, he apologized and brought us our entrees, and comped boyfriend's beer. My celery root soup had a nice fresh taste, and boyfriend's duck terrine with mustard was great--rich, but not too rich, and the mustard and pickled vegetables were a nice touch. Then we waited quite a while for our entrees. My duck confit was rich and savory, but the cabbage was a bit oversalted. Boyfriend had risotto, which he thought was good. I usually find risotto boring (I think it's the texture that bothers me), so I can't say whether this was a particularly good one or not. Dessert was blah. I had the pear tart, which was dry and flavorless (though the accompanying ice cream and caramel sauce perked it up a little). Boyfriend had the chocolate peanut butter brownie, also way too dry, and not nearly chocolate-y enough. I'm getting very frustrated with desserts in high-end restaurants. They all sound great, but it's getting harder and harder to find ones that are really a capper to a great meal, rather than just a bland sugary concoction of empty calories. I guess I'm going to have to learn how to bake.

I'd wanted to go to Harvest Vine for years now, but was scared off by the discussions of crowds and people waiting to get in at 4 p.m. on a Sunday etc. We decided to try it out Wednesday night to celebrate me passing the bar exam. It was a great dinner. Highlights included the venison with matsutake and oyster mushrooms, the confit of squab, the peppers stuffed with trout salad and the incredible goat cheesecake, which we both agree is one of the best desserts we've had, ever. We really enjoyed the wide variety of flavors in the dishes we tried. It wasn't very busy while we were there, and our waiter said that it's fairly easy to get in on weekdays, though to be sure you should make reservations to be sure. Can't wait to go back!

Picked up some romanesco broccoli, or as my boyfriend dubbed it, "fractal broccoli" at the Bellevue farmer's market last week. Not only does it look very cool, but it's absolutely delicious roasted. Sort of a cross between broccoli and cauliflower in taste. Hope they have some more this week!

My boyfriend and I would be interested, depending on the date and time. It sounds great.

For some people, though, getting to the point where they can get anger under control and calmly and objectively make their case may take longer than the dinner takes. I don't get angry very often (it's been years since a restaurant experience made me angry), but when I do, I need time and a little distance from the situation to calm down. Which is more important, voicing a complaint immediately, or controlling one's emotions while making the complaint?

Boyfriend and I went to Bis On Main in Bellevue last night. It was packed, and very noisy. The acoustics are bad, so I had a hard time hearing my boyfriend or the waiter at times. We were intrigued by one of the appetizers on the regular menu, salmon gravalx over a potato cake with dijon creme fraiche. We ordered it as a starter. It was terrific. The salmon was just ever so slightly heated to draw out its flavor and oils, and the potato and creme fraiche flavors were a good match. On to the $20 menu: I had the tomato and zucchini gratin, boyfriend had linguine with a pea vine pesto. Gratin was rich and well-balanced. You really couldn't taste the pea vine in the linguine; perhaps it was too delicate a flavor to be showcased in pesto. That said, it was very good pesto pasta. For entrees, I had the steak and boyfriend had the Cornish game hen. The balsamic glaze on the steak was terrific, and my steak was gorgeously rare throughout. The game hen had a wonderful flavor to the meat--I'd forgotten that chicken can have such a strong flavor. I opted for the creme brulee for dessert and boyfriend selected the cheese plate. Creme brulee was kind of a default dessert selection for me as I wasn't interested in the ice cream or sorbet flavors of the day, and didn't want the cheese plate. It was very, very good. Boyfriend's cheese plate was good, even if I don't quite consider it dessert. The menu had a suggestion that patrons support other downtown businesses, such as Amore chocolates. While I'm thrilled that someone besides me is getting the word out about Amore, I couldn't help but think that the dessert menu would be enhanced by an assortment of Amore truffles, or the wonderful Amore chocolate chip cookie. I think I'll make another trip to Amore this weekend . . . But I digress. Overall, a very nice experience at Bis, for under $60 for the dinners, an appetizer, and a beer. Glad to have a more upscale option close to home.