little ms foodie

A friend and I had dinner last night at Bandol. We arrived at 6:15 for 6:30 reservations and the place was really quiet. They have a happy hour from 3-6pm with food and drink specials.There was a group of after workers in the bar and 1 table of diners. We sat at the bar and had a kir and talked to the bartender Sky who was very nice. Decided to eat at a table in the bar so we could continue to have Sky wait on us. They don't allow smoking in there until 9pm. 2 types of bread, one like a foccacia but not crisp on top, the other was likened to a baguette but again too soft. We asked about the breads and they don't make them inhouse but he wasn't sure where they got them. I suggested they get to know Macrina ;) Shared the braised duck crepe which was served with fresh peas and greens and a rosemary oil. YUM!! We really wanted an order of pate but the one was headcheese which wasn't doing much for me and the other wasn't set yet. My friend had the quail with lentils and roasted fennel while I had the Wed. special- rabbit in mustard sauce. Both were excellent. Tender and flavorful meat with wonderful sauces. We shared a plate of frites with bacon- this is truely lardon so if you don't like the fat stuff stay away. The fries were good, not as salty and crispy as the ones at Cassis but still very good. Also shared a bottle of Bandol for namesake. The wine list is good. They have choices by the glass, pichet or bottle and are very reasonably priced. For dessert we each had a glass of Sauternes on the house because of not getting the pate we wanted we were told. Very nice. We also shared the plate of 3 cheeses but since neither of us do Blue ( I know, I know...) we had them double up on the sheeps from the Pyranees and then there was a really nice goat. Great atmosphere, really nice service. dinner for 2 with wine and tax was $112. Will go back for more and am looking forward to working in the area again and having lunch there too.

I have to say that my dining experience at Taillevent 3 years ago still tops all dining experiences. From the service (AMAZING) to the food (creative, decadent, original and soooooo tasty!) it was such a perfect evening. But how can you go wrong with any of the Michelin starred restaurants?

http://www.riedelcrystal.com/index.htm Riedel is the best glassware IMO and is carried by Williams Sonoma and even Amazon.com. We obtained ours thru our bridal registry also. Start with a few pieces -champagne, chardonay and cab glasses. Then you can add on!

Riedel Glasses without a doubt. We registered for ours, depending on the style you want Williams Sonoma carries them, as does Amazon.com! If you are just starting a set I would go with 6 chardonay glasses and 6 cab glasses. From there you can start adding...champagne, reisling, pinot noir, cognac, etc, etc. Check out their site: http://www.riedelcrystal.com/index.htm

I had breakfast at Peso's although it's been a year. It was really good and not expensive. I like the Queen Anne Cafe, not a dive but one of the best chicken fried steaks IMO!

Hubby and I had lunch of frites ther today, oh how I love a hole in the wall! Very cool. We each ordered a medium cone. Neither could finish more than half (and let me say that my hubby eats a lot!). We each ordered the sauce sampler. With 5 sauces for each we had almost everything on the list. Then the guy gave us a sample of 2 new sauces they are working on- Adobe chili mayo and sundried tomoto pesto. Both very good- the Adobe is hot and smokey. My favorite sauce was the fritesauce. Coming in next would be the roasted red pepper and the rosemary mayo. Now let's talk bargain!!! If you order a small frite with one sauce and a bottle of water it will run you $4! Nice! As always egulleters- thanks for the heads up!!!!

Does this place have a name? Excuse me if I missed it somewhere!

Whole Foods has the sockey for $24.99 per pound fillets. Bought some for the grill tonight but will wait until the prices come down before buying more or the King. question of the day.... what's higher? the price of gas or the price of CRS each relatively speaking?

I'm resurrecting this post because the Memorial weekend is a great weekend to head to the Willamette Valley and taste fantastic wines. It is one of the 2 weekends a year that all of the wineries are open. If you get a chance to go I highly recommend, just 30 mins west of Portland. We drink north Oregon wines about half the time and they are really exceptional IMO! Also restaurants like Tina's, Joel Palmer House and Bistro Maison are making this area a must for foodies like us! cheers! p.s. please ignore bad spelling! thanks!

Although I can usually find it (unless I'm on the eastcoast) it is hard to find a really good sidecar, which is my dessert preference! I like them made with OJ instead of just lemon juice. When in Seattle, 10 Mercer does them best....and big! I'm a Lillet Blanc fan and not all places have that. Also if I ask for a kir in a restaurant and they say "hu?" I immediately change my order! haha! scary!

Tom Douglass has a great recipe for corn bread pudding that I like to serve with salmon. Also if I do salmon in parchment I like to juilienne vegtables in the packets for a side. Or grill corn on the cob with spicy butter!!

I ate at Bluewater in Feb and really liked it. I thought their menu selection was fantastic and our service was really top notch. It is a tad overpriced but as I told the manager "I forgive you for that because it's so damn good!" I'm not a fan of that suspension bridge, my husband and I went and personally I thought it was a waste of time. But maybe check into the art museum? When I was there in Feb. there was a fantastic exhibit of Chagall. Vancouver is beautiful, have fun!

Fire and Ice on 1st (formerly Ave One and then a Thai restaurant) is closed. There is a for lease sign in the window. Will something ever stick here???

Thanks so much everyone, great suggestions!!! The winner in this 'not contest' is Maximilien. We haven't been there, there is crab on the menu, great view and a trip thru the market after is always fun! And now I have lots of good ideas for more lunches :)

My best friend and I are taking her mom out to lunch when she visits Seattle at the end of this month. We want to take her some place where we can have a long leisurely lunch, pretty surrounding, a real ladies afternoon. She loves all things crab so if that is on the menu then all the better. Someplace in Seattle, maybe a view but not mandatory. I'm mainly a dinner girl.... and always looking for input..... Georgian Room? Waterfront?? help please!! Thanks!

I tried the restaurant when in Portland in March. My friend and I really liked it, we had a great meal and the price was good too -and I knew what everything was on the menu Here's my short report from another site (NO not that one! haha!) <<We had a 1/2 bottle of Temparnillo, olives, almonds, bread, seared fois gras, the special of wild boar in red wine and chocolate (but not mole), chicken in paprika and chiptole, squash fritters, 2 little desserts from Pix Patisserie, dessert drinks of banuyl with chocolate and sherry with manchengo. The bill????? $66 for 2 of us! >>

Whole Foods in Ravenna told me today that it will be around $24.99 a pound and there wasn't that much of it this year. What do you think that means? Just a way to hype the price perhaps? My husband will be very cranky if we aren't grilling CRS this weekend!

ok, where is Mutual Fish? mmmmm grilled shrimp!

I really like Ototo on Queen Anne, right across from Chinois. They have beautiful sushi, fantastic service and a great atmosphere. I'll mention BlueC sushi in Fremont not so much for it's greatness of sushi (it's adverage) but it is very fun to sit at the counter with the conveyer belt and pick your dishes off it! cheers!

When they first opened they served great panini. I'm glad to hear that they reopened in time for spring and summer gelato runs! Yum!!!

While in Portland recently I had the pleasure of eating at Navare. YUM!!! what a fantastic place, and the prices were soooooo good.

Has anyone actually eaten at Bandol? I'm a sucker for great French food. Also next to Le Gourmand in Ballard is their little lounge Sambar. They have wonderful little bites from the restaurant next door, it's very small and cozy, great vibe and Justin the bartender is fabulous!! Great cocktails, ask about specials!

Here's another nod for the Waterfront. I had my wedding rehearsal dinner there last year in the private room and it was stellar. Service is top notch, views are outstanding and they really work with you, call and get some info from them. Also Dahlia has a private room, no view though. And Il Bistro will do a private party in their bar but it's a bit cramped I think. Congrats!!

If you are staying near F Hall you should try out Kingfish Hall for great seafood. Not in the same category as the restaurants you are discussing here but my husband and I had a wonderful meal sitting outside a few years back. Mmmm, I like Todd English's flavor combinations and the way presentations are done. It's pretty casual and they are open for lunch also I believe.

I'm a few in a sea of many I know but my husband and I didn't think Picasso was all that great. We had to tell them to slow down the service as we had the wine pairings and I had 3 glasses of half finished wine at one point. The staff just seemed to be trying too hard and not suceeding. The food was great but we've had better. Anyway Aqua is fantastic and if you go the lobster pot pie is a dream come true! We are having dinner at Lutece this May and at Le Cirque. I really like both Olives and Mon ami Gabi for 'normal priced dinners'. And that mexican place in the Venetian has great tortilla soup and snacks.