hungry_moose

Stopped by Fran's at U-Village today for some truffles. I purchased 8 truffles (bitter sweet, dark, Chambor..) and some spiced macadamia nuts. I was almost shy to ask for a sample because the worker seemed so "formal", but while I was paying, she grabbed a little silver tray and dashed in the back. Then she came back with 6 different chocolates as samples. I chose a truffle sample. Nice! I also asked about their ice cream. They have both ice cream and sorbet. The home made flavors change monthly, and next month they will have the grapefruit/Tequila sorbet -- supposed to be very good. I will have to try it. Love you Fran's! hungry_moose

Wow, thank you everyone for all the kind hearted responses! Kaspar's! What a nice surprise, and Cafe Zoe too (Lark, Harvest Vine? Holy Moly). Special thanks to Girl Chow for your detailed post and advice -- we do go as far as Federal Way/Auburn, and dined at Wild Wheat (Kent) with our child. Love their tomato basil soup and bread - yum yum! We also ask for the check right away, so that we can dash in case things get out of hand. I realize and accepted the fact that our lives changed after the little one (for the better) and some sacrifices come along with it. However, it's great that some options are out there in case we don't want to get a sitter (since most week days, we are working and away from our little one). Thanks again! hungry_moose

Alright, other than Mamster, I don’t know if any of you have little ones, but here’s the question. What decent restaurants would you recommend taking children to? I know the selection may be limited, but places like Tutta Bella, Nishino, Mashiko, Wild Ginger – I would feel comfortable taking kids. I guess not Lark or Harvest Vine. If you have some suggestions (all cuisines / greater Seattle Met area), I would really appreciate it (as I don’t want to offend other diners). I also choose to dine at lunch or the opening hour of dinner, so that we can get in and out before the crowds start (and before my 1 year old’s bedtime). Merci.

Very nice piece ExtraMSG. I will tell my parents to try Bewon, they are always complaining that there are no good Korean & Chinese restaurants in Portland. They love visiting Seattle so that they could eat all the yummy food (Sea Garden, Ho Ho’s, HoSoonYi, YetGore, Shin Sung, So Gong Dong, WooreOk, etc. – they don’t like PF Chang’s). A tasting menu at a Korean place, what a shocker (in a good way)~! I feel that Korean food has so much potential to appeal to a wider audience, but no one has really done it in the PNW (at least not that I know of). L.A. has some good places in Bev. Hills where 80% of clientele are white, NY has hip places such as Clay – where models gorge on Dor Sup Bibimbop and Jap Chae. These restaurants have slightly Americanized the dishes, but very tasty in any case. It’s always nice to see all types of non-Koreans dining at Korean restaurants. The numbers are increasing BTW. Maybe I need to take up this venture in the near future and see what kind of clientele it will attract……you bet service will be kicked up several notches, restrooms spotless, and you will be able to communicate with the servers. I need a trip to Korea for some research into combos like Kalbi/Nengmyun specials and goldfish cakes filled with sweet red beans. Dreaming….. hungry_moose

Thank you Ms. Ramsey! That article explains everything, I look forward to visiting the chocolate factory when it opens! hungry_moose

Regarding Essential going into Red Hook - is that true? I heard that an ex-Starbucks exec (another SBUX exec besides the one that opened Tutta Bella) is opening a chocolate place at old Red Hook place in Freemont. He was to have a chocolate roasting/making tour and sell some high end fresh chocolates there. I wonder what happened.....I was so looking forward to touring a chocolate plant! If anyone has the scoop - DO TELL! hungry_moose

I ADORE Fran's also. I've been addicted to her truffles for some time now. I got my sister hooked also, and she brings me a box when she comes over now. My fav is bitter sweet truffel with gold on top. There's another truffle that has a wine flavor, but the name escapes me now, but it's great. I also love the fig ganache. I want to try the figlets and their ice cream. What I love about Fran's is that her chocolates are fresh, they smell fresh, taste fresh, heavenly. I like their coffee bean nuggets also. IMO, Frans out ranks Maison du Chocolat. I will try and ask for a sample the next time and see what happens. Restrain yourself from buying a whole box of sea salt caramels, you have to eat em while fresh and you may get sick....sharing would be good. I heard that she moved her gorgeous Bellevue location because an Indian restaurant moved next door and the aroma affected her chocolates........I wonder if that is true? Now I rather spend my money on Fran's than yoku moku treats. Worth every cent. hungry_moose

BBox sounds great, but I'm a little hesitant to try it. When I was at Monsoon recently, the service was painful. There was only 1 waitress serving the entire restaurant for lunch, 3 cooks were in the kitchen, but the orders came out oh so painfully slow. The entire restaurant was waiting forever to get the lunch, we were all were looking at each other in disbelief of the slow service. We were all getting mildly upset as well. I hope Eric reads this board because the food did not justify the painful period of waiting. Maybe he did not notice what was happening at Monsoon because he was so busy opening up BBox? His sister was busy telling someone how to unload the vegetables from her car up front. I will not return for a long, long time, and hesitant to try another one of Eric's restaurants. -hungry_moose

I like Men's Pocky, it's dark bittersweet chocolate flavor. If you enjoy dark chocolate this will be your favorite pocky! How about those Giant Pocky sticks? Those are outrageous. Don't buy imitation pockys from Korea or China, the taste is way different/bad. hungry_moose

That is steep for the pellegrinos. I agree with Mamster that the pizzas are very reasonably priced. Gelatos are cheap too. Looks like Ms. Leson paid a visit there recently. nancy tutta review

Anything cooked by Emeril. Yuck. I swear he is on 24hrs a day on the Food Network! Urrrrgh.

I love cheap kitchen crap as much as my high-end kitchen stuff too. My favorite crap is the 2 cheap black plastic handled paring knives that I got for free at a Wal-Mart knife demo. That was our first visit to Wal-mart, and boy was it crazy! I reach for it more than my Global paring knife. It stayed sharp, despite years of abuse! I used to have a small paring knife from Subway, which I loved, but lost..:( Re: Sponges Do you love those yellow sponges sold at the kitchen shops? The kind that you buy dry and flat, but it pops up big when wet? I was wondering if those were any good. I buy my sponges at Costco and toss them every 2 weeks to prevent bacteria build up. Always looking for good sponges though.

lovely place. ate the pizza margherita on saturday. delicious with dollops of fresh mozzarella. big al ate the tutta bella, but mine was better. saw lots of people eating the house specialty - salad pizza. i'll try that the next time. they need to figure out a way to serve the pizza so that the middle does not get soggy from sitting on the plates....also had their chocolate gelato - yum yum. looked like they had orangina or orangina-esque beverage. gotta have that next time. liked the friendly atmosphere - you're in a different world once you step in from the 'hood'. i thought they "revitalized" columbia city - still looked liked the hood to me. did i miss the nice part of c-city? at least i can stop by mutual fish on the way home. hungry_moose

My fave E. side places are: 1. Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue 2. Cactus in Kirkland 1. Good dish to try is Shistwook or farmer's dish (garlic marinated chicken wings). Take your significant other or they will hate you for your garlic breath! The Bellevue place run by Tony (son of the fellow who runs the Queen Ann's M. Kitchen) is so much better. 2. Try their tapas during dinner - yum yum. I prefer the Kirkland location better than Madison Park. Better tasting food. Hungry_Moose